Rio Must Employ Proactive Operations to Be Olympics-Ready

“We’ve got a lot to cover today, so I need everyone to take their seats,” you shout to your new team.

You’ve been hired to oversee operations for the legendary Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

You decided to take on this role to expand your experience and gain insight for the upcoming season back in the United States.

“Welcome everyone,” you say to the group. “Today, we’re going to cover the standard operating procedures for the opening ceremony,” you continue.

You read the ISS 24/7 blog and are an advocate of Proactive Operations, so you get things done.

“This is how we’re going to ensure the ACDA Principle™ is executed for the ceremony in a couple of weeks,” you explain.

You begin discussing how the Principle will apply to Maracanã Stadium, but before you can move onto infrastructure, hands start raising throughout the room.

“What’s Proactive Operations and the ACDA Principle™,” asks a young lady in the middle of the room.

At that moment, you realize your purpose for today’s meeting needs to shift. You must educate your team on Proactive Operations.

You have to get the word out.

Proactive Operations is the only way your venue and the rest of Rio will be Olympics-ready come August 5^th. It’s how you ensure success.

Employing a proactive operation starts with educating your team. Does your team understand the importance of strategy, infrastructure, and technology? Would your property be prepared to host an event like the 2016 Rio Olympics?

Keep reading to see how your current operation measures up. Are you ready?

The Olympics’ History of Problems

In Catherine Schoichet’s recent CNN article “Is Rio ready? Other Olympic host cities faced problems, too” she discusses the problems encountered by other Olympic cities in the past. However, it’s vital that Rio does more than only recognize the challenging history of Olympic cities.

We’re not saying Rio is entering this feat blind. But, we know the importance of covering all bases. Whether we’re reviewing the Mexico City massacre of 1968, or the deadly hostage crisis of 1972 in Munich, or the more recent security fears of Sochi in 2014, we know Rio must be show-ready for August 5^th.

The opening ceremony is only a couple of weeks away. This fast-approaching event requires guest-facing and behind the scenes services to be ready for potential threats to everyone’s safety.

Our experience shows us that the only way to ensure a safe experience for guests, staff, and the surrounding city is to strictly follow the guidelines of Proactive Operations.

Even more important is – how you apply the proactive mindset to supercharge your operation.

Keep reading; we’ll start with your strategy.

How You ‘Get the Gold’ in Proactive Operations

Identify the limitations of your operation.

The best way to do this - implement a strategy that covers all critical areas of a complex operation. You recall the ACDA Principle™ from our introduction above, right?

This principle allows you to address all aspects of your organization. Ask the right questions to recognize your disadvantages. Use the answers to formulate solutions.

In the Principle, we have four key areas that build a foundation:

1. Awareness
2. Communication
3. Documentation
4. Analysis

Each component is vital and equally important, but we recommend following the order above to achieve the greatest success.

Addressing each area with your team, ask questions and scrutinize your operation following these four parts.

There are several questions you must ask yourself when taking on this exercises. The examples below are only a start. You’ll quickly notice that other issues will begin to surface.

• What methods do you use to increase awareness?
• Are you using radios to communicate with your staff members?
• How do your mobile response teams conduct on-scene reporting?
• Can you review your data tomorrow and one year from now?

We have lots more questions that we recommend that you ask. Check out the original article on Proactive Operations here to learn what you must ask.

Infrastructure Paves the Way for Success

Part of being proactive means building a robust infrastructure. You need one that is reliable, which is why you must build it from the ground up.

Establish your strategy. Next, create a solid foundation on which to build a world-class – Olympic-ready – operation.

The integrity of your infrastructure affects the longevity of your operation. It holds everything together.

Your infrastructure is what enables a streamlined operation. It ensures the proper flow of information, whether that is communication or data itself.

You need to organize your departments. You also need to limit the amount of noise that interferes with operations. You can do this by forming command centers, each with a particular purpose.

Let’s use a stadium in Rio as our example. Maracanã Stadium is hosting the opening ceremony, which means 78,000+ excited fans.

For each stadium location, employ a front-of-house command center, which includes personnel from:

• Guest Services
• Parking Operations
• Police
• Fire Rescue
• Security
• Administration

This place is where you’d want to get a bird’s-eye view of the event. This structure will provide you with ‘situational awareness.’

You must have a designated individual for dispatching information and communicating with your back-of-house command center. This command center includes crucial departments like:

• Maintenance
• Information Technology (IT)
• Housekeeping

Two distinct control centers at each location ensure effective communication. Direct information to the correct department allow for proactive management.

You set up your operation this way, so nothing slips through the cracks.

Technology Is No Longer a Nice-to-Have

It’s time to maximize the performance of your operation.

You’ve addressed your strategy. You’ve found your infrastructure for controlling the flow of information throughout your operation.

Whether you’re Olympic-ready or not, technology is a must-have in today’s operational environment.

Web-based solutions maximize your operations ability to be high-performing.

• Text communication
• Incident management systems
• CMMS
• Lost & Found
• Mobile applications

The operational landscape has evolved. Now you have access to a plethora of all-encompassing solutions to heighten your effectiveness.

Whether someone slips on a wet spill or a seat breaks, these solutions let your staff manage the issue or incident.

You can use technology to accomplish anything.

• Use text communication to have two-way and discreet conversations with guests.
• Rely on your incident management system to communicate incidents to need-to-know personnel efficiently.
• Prevent more equipment from breaking throughout your property using the preventive maintenance aspect of your CMMS.
• Ensure a lost wallet is not only returned to its owner but also promptly.
• Arm your mobile teams with the ability to keep incident reporting honest through complete and accurate capturing of vital incident

We can go on and on.

Do you see how deploying this technology increases your awareness, enhances your communication, and ensures accurate and complete documentation? Technology is a no-brainer for proactive leaders.

Now, take that real-time data and review it to optimize your operation for the future events to come.

An effort like this can only result in one thing: a gold medal in Proactive Operations. Where do you stand on the winners’ podium?

Over to You

Rio is around the corner. We don’t believe in waiting until the last minute, which is why you’ve got to get started today.

A proactive leader never waits. A dynamic leader understands the importance of strategy, infrastructure, and technology.

Would your property be ‘Olympic-ready’ if the time came?