24/7 Software Blog

“Yes, certainly. We can take care of that for you,” you respond to Shari over the phone.

Shari has requested a proposal to host an event on your property.

You have a lot going on during event days like today, but always have time to seed another possible sale.

“Of course,” you continue.

While you and Shari continue your conversation, Jason from your Executive team walks up to the counter with a cell phone.

He puts the cell phone behind the counter.

“Chris found this phone near men’s restroom 103-A,” he whispers to avoid interrupting you.

You nod from habit.

Eight minutes later, you finish your sales call with Shari.

As you reach for the stapler, you see the lost cellphone Jason left behind.

You grab the phone. “Shoot, what was this for,” you exclaim.

Because your department oversees the only lost and found location and you cannot recall who dropped this phone off on your counter, it’s your responsibility now.

Since you were focused on your conversation with Shari, you didn’t even see who brought the item over to you.

It is only one item but imagine the effect on your operation as more lost & found items make their way through your lost and found department.

It gets worse when the item doesn’t have details of where it was found or who found it.

How do you manage this?

How do you ensure all employees and departments are held accountable to get items back to customers?

Who could even be accountable in this scenario – besides you?

You have enough responsibility.

You don’t want poorly managed lost and found as a reason to tick off your customers.

Today, you need to employ lost and found software.

“Facility managers define their operation,” you tell the group.

You can’t recall where you initially heard that but know you like it.

Maybe you read it in a blog.

Today, you’re presenting to a group of facility managers.

You’re a 20-year veteran in the industry, so you know the importance of these future leaders.

They create the foundation, the processes.

They develop their team’s talent and bring goals to fruition.

But, what does it take to achieve the level of being an effective facility manager?

You ask the group.

“Poise,” one gentleman says.

“Modern technology,” a lady in the back of the room shouts.

“Now, you’re on to something,” you reply.

You might be thinking that it’s a surface-level concept.

From the way you train your team to how often you achieve a perfect compliance rating.

Yes, that’s worth applause.

But, while all of that is commendable, it is not enough.

You need details.

It requires proven actions – habits.

“What are the specific measures facility managers need to take,” you continue asking.

“How do you ensure you become a highly-effective manager?”

Even if the group is not sure, keep reading, because we’re going to show you.

“Police have always relied on data — whether push pins tracking crimes on a map, mug shot cards, or intelligence files on repeat offenders. The problem with all that information is that it has traditionally been slow and hard to use,” writes Martin Kaste in their recent NPR article entitled “How Data Analysis Is Driving Policing.”

"I would have to log into 19 different databases. I'd log in, print out all the tickets that were written to you, and lay them on my desk. Then I'd go and run your criminal history on another database, and print that out. And then another database to see how many times your name was associated with crime reports," says Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Dennis Kato in Kaste’s article.

Later in the article, Kaste also shares that “At the Olympic Division station, Officer Jennifer Ramirez reviews her daily mission sheet printout. She eyes the areas she'll target, ‘because these are the hot spots, these are where the crimes tend to happen, this day, this time, based on the crime mapping that we do."

Hot Spots, ok, now we’re talking.

That’s right up your alley.

Agree?

And the longer we spent reading this article, the more we realized its alignment with how Proactive Operations are handling ‘incidents’ to maximize performance.

Do you see the similarities here?

If not, we recommend reading Kaste’s article – after this one of course.

It’s an informative read with lots of facts about how policing is evolving, much like 21^st-century operations.

We’d argue that many things are congruent between policing and running a proactive operation.

So, keep reading; we’re going to share the insight we took from Kaste’s article that might help you enhance your incident management initiatives.

Ready?

“You did what?”

You snarl at your marketing manager.

Once again, the marketing team has oversold their sponsorships.

This error attacks your budget.

It forces you to be reactive.

But, what has you upset the most is that they decided to tell you this morning.

The morning of the event.

They’ve done this before, and you are tired of it.

“We need to fix this now,” you assert to Sarah, your marketing manager.

She apologizes for the breakdown in communication.

Her marketing specialist did not inform your team, but Sarah takes full responsibility.

“There has to be a way to improve communication throughout each department,” you say.

The two of you begin formulating concepts.

You must first understand what’s causing communication challenges before you can address how to improve it.

Keep reading; this article will help you identify where there might be a breakdown.

Then, you’ll learn how to fix it.

“Each World Cup, the sportswear giant Adidas designs an official ball to be used in the tournament,” writes Merrit Kennedy in their recent NPR article entitled “The Science Behind The World Cup Ball.”

“And small changes in the design can create significant differences in how the ball responds during play,” Kennedy continues.

"It's an interesting phenomena that the world's most popular sporting event for the world's most popular sport and the most important piece of equipment in that sport is changed every World Cup," says John Eric Goff, a physics professor at Lynchburg College in Virginia, in the NPR article.

According to Kennedy, “The new ball is called the Telstar 18. It has six panels and a slick black-and-white design inspired by Russian cityscapes. It's meant to be a nod to a less technologically advanced predecessor, the Telstar ball used in the 1970 World Cup.”

Kennedy explains later in the NPR piece, “The technology used in making the balls has changed significantly since that 1970 World Cup ball. Earlier Adidas models featured 32 panels stitched together, Goff says, but more recent models have fewer panels that are thermally bonded.”

“And the changes have sometimes had what appear to be unintended effects on the physical properties of the official ball. For example, Goff points to ‘the dreaded 2010 Jabulani ball that was used in South Africa," shares Kennedy.

We love the exciting complexities and effects of science.

But, we love helping operations become proactive even more.

Kennedy’s article poses an interesting lesson for us here.

It’s not groundbreaking but does showcase fundamentals that could help your property achieve Proactive Operations.

So, do you see it?

“It’s time for a new CMMS,” you tell your lead engineer, Fred.

He smiles and says,” Well, it’s about time.” He’s been tired of your cumbersome, legacy software for a while now.

“There are plenty of modern systems out there,” Fred informs you as he walks over to his computer.

“But, where do we even start,” you ask.

His daughter taught him how to “Google” everything, so he’s a pro.

Fred searched the internet and stumbled across this article.

“Here we go,” he shouts.

“24/7 Software wrote an article on where to start, how to determine your objectives and selection process, and the questions you need to ask.”

Interested, you walk over and begin reading.

We get it; saying computerized maintenance management system is as hard to pronounce as buying one.

That’s why we always say CMMS and wrote this article to simplify things for you.

So, are you ready to find the best maintenance software solution in the marketplace for your needs?

Let’s begin.