24/7 Software Blog

“Today has been a nightmare,” you whisper to yourself right before you take a deep breath.

It’s Tuesday, and right after the holiday weekend.

“Did we run a marathon today,” you ask your operations manager sarcastically.

You’re both exhausted from today’s crisis management.

“The calls and complaints won’t end,” Terri tells you.

Several incidents took place that you’re only learning about now.

Too many incidents.

This lack of awareness is unacceptable, but you can’t figure out how to counter this issue.

You run through what you know:

• We have plenty of resources
• We use an incident management system
• All personnel arrive on-scene quickly

You continue to talk through your process to figure out the issue.

You know something is missing.

“How do we increase our awareness of these incidents,” you turn and ask Terri.

But, Terri doesn’t answer because she’s being scolded through the phone by an unhappy customer.

“Do you guys live in the 90s? Why don’t you get a text messaging software already?”

Terri gives you a look.

“That’s it,” she exclaims.

Your current operation is limited.

Although you may have all the tools to respond to issues and incidents efficiently, incidents and customer issues simply may not be coming into your system. 

Think about how information currently gets reported and realize that your customers may not have a convenient way to communicate information to you while on your property.

Hence the surge of complaints after the fact.

You need to use text communication to increase your awareness.

Proactive operations use these solutions to help mitigate incidents as they occur.

Are you ready to be proactive?

“Scientists have taken another step toward understanding what makes the human brain unique,” writes Jon Hamilton in their recent NPR article entitled “What Makes A Human Brain Unique? A Newly Discovered Neuron May Be A Clue.”

According to the article. “An international team has identified a kind of brain cell that exists in people but not mice, the team reported Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience.”

"This particular type of cell had properties that had never actually been described in another species," says Ed Lein, one of the study's authors and an investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, in Hamilton’s article.

“The finding could help explain why many experimental treatments for brain disorders have worked in mice, but failed in people. It could also provide new clues to scientists who study human brain disorders ranging from autism to Alzheimer's disease to schizophrenia,” explains Hamilton.

"It may be that in order to fully understand psychiatric disorders, we need to get access to these special types of neurons that exist only in humans," says Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped fund the research, in the NPR piece.

The article continues, “Researchers have suggested several other brain cells that might be unique to humans. But these cells have either been found in other species, or the evidence for them has been less convincing.”

“It is still possible that these newly identified neurons will also be found the brains of primates like monkeys or chimps, Lein says.” Hamilton continues in the article.

Hamilton further shares, “The brain cells have been named ‘rose hip neurons’ by a team at the University of Szeged in Hungary, which played a key role in the discovery.”

The discovery of rose hip neurons quickly provoked our thinking on the uniqueness of your property.

What makes your property different from, let’s say, a similar operation in the next city?

Yes, you run an operation like others.

Many of the same characteristics and practices exist.

But, there are ones that can be remarkably different.

That’s what we want to find out.

What are those?

Do we disregard them as being unique for your property and should you be paying closer attention to them?

Many best practices, policies, and theories for execution could work across the board.

But, it’s the “rose hip neurons” of your property that could be affecting your performance and adequate understanding of what you need to approach differently than another operation would.

This exercise requires you getting up close and personal with your operation.

Keep reading; we’re going to share the principle you can use to understand your property – and what makes it unique.

You gaze into the distance.

For a moment, you’re thoughtless.

You stare out of the operations center window into the adjacent parking lot.

Shouting relays throughout the room.

But, you remain quiet.

The overwhelming sensation of helplessness has reached its peak.

You’re stressed.

You’re tired – exhausted.

Your operation is always chasing the next incident, and you need a solution to get you out of this mess.

You’re running a reactive operation, and you know it.

Then, as soon as your thoughts leave your mind, they and the background noise crescendo.

It’s back to the reality in front of you.

“We’ve got to triage and handle the high priority incidents right now,” you tell your team.

“We’ve got to choose the most important at this point,” you continue.

Incidents are coming in but at a delayed rate.

Your team responds to an incident, and then another higher priority one is reported.

Your staff sees or hears of an incident several minutes after it has occurred.

This shortfall makes it challenging to respond efficiently.

You’re at a disadvantage.

Your teams are arriving on scene to incidents several minutes too late.

It’s leading to plenty of complaints.

You’re already expecting Monday morning to be a nightmare.

You’re struggling.

But, you’ve got to figure something out before your whole operation crumbles.

You don’t have a choice.

This is your responsibility.

You must fix it.

What are you going to do?

You need an increase in awareness, better resource management, and to gain operational insight to reduce your response times to incidents.

We’re going to show you how incident management systems can help you accomplish this challenge.

We’re going to show you how to be proactive.

Are you ready?

You’re a proactive leader.

Your staff matters to you, and so do your customers.

Not only do you want to be the best leader, but it’s also in your blood to provide everyone that walks onto your property the best experience possible.

You attend all the must-go-to conferences in your industry.

Customer safety and service is what you work so hard to manage day in and day out.

But, while your number one goal is to enhance the customers’ experience, we’ve got a question for you.

Are you doing everything it takes to exceed your customers’ expectations?

We know you don’t want to be complacent or rest on your laurels.

That’s certainly not in your nature.

But, what about the small details that reactive operations miss?

Are you catching those?

We’re talking about the actual small things: a customer’s Galaxy S9 or iPhone X, a purse or wallet or even someone’s umbrella.

It’s said big things come in small packages.

Well, these small “packages” of customer possessions have a significant impact on and meaning to their life.

These are the items they cannot and do not want to live without.

So, what happens if they lose one of their most prized possessions on your property? Do you have lost & found software ready to exceed their expectations?

You walk over to your security supervisor.

“This is the problem we’re having,” you remark.

Joe gives you a blank stare while he waits for you to continue.

“We’re always picking up the pieces when something happens,” you continue.

“You know, it feels like we’re always behind the eight ball,” you tell Joe.

“We’ve been working with an antiquated system,” he responds.

“It’s a combination of pen, paper, and hoping that we’re in the right place at the right time,” he continues.

“It’s a reactive security operation that we’re running here,” he tells you.

“Poor documentation, legacy time-stamping technology, limited if no accountability, and high turnover,” he elaborates.

“That’s what I’m working with every day,” Joe asserts with pursed lips.

You know Joe is frustrated because he’s approached you about upgrading your guard tour system in the past.

Only now have you’ve realized the struggles of operating with an outdated solution and disjointed process.

That’s the problem.

You’re reacting to the inefficient process.

But, Joe’s ready to employ a proactive system.

Today, you’re moving to that proactive guard tour system Joe needs – and we’ll show you what traits should be non-negotiable.

Are you ready to transform your security operation from reactive to proactive?

The same issue keeps happening.

Day 1: “Where’s the resolution for this incident?”

Day 2: “Where’s the resolution for this incident?”

…

Day 247: “Where’s the resolution for this incident?”

You’ve had the same issue pop up for the last 247 days – so far.

And, did you even notice before we just brought it up?

If you did, what do you think cause you to miss it?

Could it have been that it’s such a small concern you probably didn’t think to consider its long-term impact on your operation?

If you didn’t catch it – that’s fine.

But, this small problem might be causing (or amplifying) a big problem in your operation.

Day 248.

Oh, we’re not done yet.

Your problem won’t fix itself.

Day 248: “Where’s the…”

You stop mid-sentence.

You just realized – for the first time – you’ve been asking this question to Kim, your operations manager.

You’re not sure how long either (248 days), but you know it has been a while.

And, long enough that Kim’s response is now a habit.

“I’ve got it written on my notes. Here you go,” she replies as she hands you her notebook without looking.

You assert, “we’ve got to stop this.”

So, what is your next step? Do you know how to improve this part of your process?

Keep reading; we’re going to share how using the Kaizen methodology to remove ‘waste’ like this from your operation.

It’ll support your efforts to achieve Proactive Operations and maximize your performance every day.

Ready?