24/7 Software Blog

“The ideal Italian pizza, be it Neapolitan or Roman, has a crisp crust flecked with dark spots — marks left by a blazing hot oven. The dough is fluffy, moist and stretchy, and the toppings are piping hot. A pizzeria's brick oven pops these out to perfection, but intrepid home cooks attempting to re-create Italian-style pizzas have more than likely discovered facsimiles are nigh impossible to produce,” writes Angus Chen in their recent NPR article entitled “Pizza Physics: Why Brick Ovens Bake The Perfect Italian-Style Pie.”

"Even if you prepare [the pizza] the same way, you cannot get the same result with just your oven at home," says Andreas Glatz, a physicist at Northern Illinois University and pizza enthusiast, in Chen’s article.

According to the NPR piece, “The fact that you need a vaulted brick oven to bake a great Italian-style pizza is well-known, but Glatz and Andrey Varlamov, also a pizza-eater and physicist at the Institute of Superconductors, Oxides and Other Innovative Materials and Devices in Rome, wanted to know why. The secret behind a pizzeria's magic, they concluded in a paper published on arXiv.org last month, is in some unique thermal properties of the brick oven.”

“They started off interviewing pizzaiolos, or pizza makers, in Rome who were masters of the Roman style of pizza. For this, the bake lasts 2 minutes at 626 degrees Fahrenheit. (Neapolitan pizzas usually bake at an even higher temperature — at least 700 degrees.) That turns out a ‘well-baked but still moist dough and well-cooked toppings,” Glatz says in Chen’s article.

“The same settings in a conventional steel oven produce far less ideal results,” explains Chen.

"You burn the dough before the surface of the pizza even reaches boiling, so this is not a product you will want to eat," Glatz further explains in the NPR piece.

If you’re a pizza lover, today you’ve learned there is an optimal way to make it.

And that got us thinking about your operation.

We’re firm believers that there’s also an optimal way to run your operation.

That’s why we decided to the take learnings we gathered from Chen’s article to discuss why using a methodology will help create the best results for you.

Keep reading; we’re confident you’ll see the similarities between pizza physics and operations too.

“There has been a car theft in parking lot GG.”

“A thunderstorm is approaching at 15 MPH.”

The calls are coming in.

“We have…”

You turn off your radio for a moment.

You stare at the mirror knowing you only have thirty seconds before your operations coordinator sends out the bat signal because you haven’t responded to your calls.

Cupping your hands under the faucet, you let the water run over them.

You slowly splash your face to make sure this isn’t a nightmare.

“Yep, this is real,” you mutter to yourself.

You put on your glasses, turn on the radio, and rush out of the restroom.

While your team is panicking over the radio, you open the restroom door to the thousands of customers moving throughout your property.

Your goal is to keep smiles on their faces and to ensure they never find out anything is ever wrong.

It’s a big goal, and not always achievable for your team.

More calls are coming, but they aren’t incident calls.

It’s your team.

You can hear the panic in their voices.

A few variations of “We weren’t prepared for this” make their way over the radio.

You head to the operations center.

“There’s no way to prepare for all of these incidents,” you tell yourself.

But, we’re here to tell you there is.

You’ll need to employ Proactive Operations because incidents occurring on your property is an instance of when not if.

“Netflix says its faulty forecasting caused it to miss its target for new subscribers, falling short by more than a million even as it reported quarterly earnings that beat analysts' expectations,” writes Scott Neuman in their recent NPR article entitled “Netflix Falls Short On Subscriber Target, Spooks Investors.”

Neuman explained, “The streaming service that has ventured in recent years into original productions, such as The Crown, House of Cards and Stranger Things, reported a profit of $384.3 million, or 85 cents a share, up from 15 cents a share the previous year. Revenue was up 6 percent to $3.9 billion.”

“However, investors appeared spooked by the missed subscriber forecast, causing shares to fall by 14 percent to $345.63 in extended trading Monday,” the NPR article continues.

Neuman’s states that according to The Associated Press, "The company gained 5.1 million subscribers worldwide during the quarter, more than 1 million below the number that management had believed it could. It marked the first time in a more than a year that Netflix hadn't exceeded its subscriber growth projections. As of June 30, Netflix had 130 million subscribers, including 57.4 million in the U.S."

This article hit home for us even though Netflix is a different business in a different industry than you altogether.

All organizations are working hard to drive growth, and while an innovative company like Netflix is doing everything possible to ensure growth – they too can hit low months.

Do we chalk it up to poor management, processes, say it’s an anomaly, or they’ve just had a bad month?

Next month should be better, right? That got us thinking.

We say it depends on your approach.

“Taxi,” you hear the guy to your left scream.

He’s waving his arm with hopes of getting the attention of a cab.

But, no luck.

Large groups of people rush the taxi line as the day ends.

Many of the customers are in groups of two or more.

They flood the available taxis leaving anyone riding solo struggling to catch a cab.

“Taxi,” you hear him again as he flares his arms.

Now he’s flustered.

As you’re about to walk over to help, someone from taxi services approaches him.

“Sir, would you like a cab,” he asks. “Yeah, I’ve been trying to wave one down, but they are all taken before I can get their attention,” the frustrated man responds.

“Would you like another drink before you leave,” asks the staff member.

Confused by the question, the man replies, “Sure, I could use one, why?”

“Give me your phone number, enjoy a beer at our restaurant, and I’ll hail a taxi for you,” Jerry, the staff member, suggests.

Jerry takes the man’s number and directs him to the restaurant still open to customers.

How’s this for customer service?

Are you wondering how Jerry can perform first-class customer service?

He uses the go-to solution proactive operations rely on to make customers happy before, during, and when your property closes for the day.

If his customers need something, he and his team get it done.

We have good news; you too can efficiently manage the needs and requests of your customers.

Keep reading because this article explains how to perform best in class customer service.

“Starbucks announced on Monday it plans to eliminate plastic straws from its 28,000 stores worldwide by 2020,” writes Jennifer Liberto in their recent NPR article entitled “Starbucks: Goodbye, Plastic Straws.”

According to Liberto, “The company will broaden the manufacture and use of what some in social media have dubbed the ‘adult sippy cup.’ It's a plastic strawless lid that will come to replace single-use plastic straws that now inundate its coffee shops.”

“The company says the move, when fully implemented, could mean a billion fewer plastic straws across its stores each year. And it's a part of Starbucks' $10 million investment in creating recyclable and compostable cups around the world,” Liberto explains.

"For our partners and customers, this is a significant milestone to achieve our global aspiration of sustainable coffee, served to our customers in more sustainable ways," Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive officer for Starbucks, said in a statement, according to the NPR piece.

While reading Liberto’s article, we quickly recognized how Starbucks’ drive as a sustainable organization offered a lesson for change to be applied to your organization.

Yes, the “adult sippy cup” can educate your team.

And in fact, it’s a two-part lesson we’ve identified.

Did you happen to catch it?

Don’t worry if you didn’t. It doesn’t entirely jump off the page. For a moment, we had to contemplate the nuances ourselves.

But, it is valuable, and we’re going to discuss both parts below.

So, are you ready?

You walk into the Administration office.

“Where are we at,” you ask your team.

Last night’s event was massive.

The size of the event was more than your staff is used to managing.

The number of issues and incidents captured was overwhelming by your operational standards.

Today your team is inundated because of all the files to review.

“Incident #1023 is missing,” one of your operation coordinators shouts as you walk by their cubicle.

You pick up your pace, walk into your office and shut the door.

It’s only 9 AM, and you’re already anxious about today’s call with your General Manager.

After telling yourself that everyone will have to spend today sorting through the files, you run out the door to gather your team and share the game plan.

“Hey team, stop what you’re doing for a moment and let’s get a strategy together for getting through this day,” you yell across the office.

Immediate silence takes over because they’ve been waiting for you to propose a solution.

Everyone in the office turns with a troubled look on their faces.

You find out why quickly.

The phones are ringing off the hook.

“What’s going on?” you ask your operations manager, Brian.

“Customers from last night, especially VIPs are calling to discuss the brawl that ‘ruined their night’ on the suite floor,” he responds.

“Customers want to review and discuss the incidents from last night, but everything is so disorganized we just can’t provide the information they request.”

Now, you’re panicking.

You need a solution, or you’ll lose your customers.

How would you handle this at your property?

Can you effectively communicate information about incidents with your customers when they call to discuss?

Keep reading; we have a simple yet powerful fix for your documentation needs.

You’ll learn about the robust documentation capabilities of a world-leading incident management system, and how to review and discuss incidents with customers efficiently.

Are you ready?