Our top 5 tips on how to improve your incident management

By Chronosoft

Did you know Chronosoft was founded off the back of a fatality at an event our Co-Founder and Director, Edward Swete Kelly , was working?

Ed was working in a control room at a mass participation event, a festival in fact, and at the time they were using a number of different solution, from pen and paper to excel spreadsheets. None of these systems worked together or integrated in any way.

Ed walked away from that event knowing there was a way to improve control room systems and procedures and he, alongside Co-Founder and Director Andrew Craik , Co-Founded Chronosoft. You can listen to his story here.

If you work in Events, then you know something always goes wrong no matter how much you plan and prepare. As the market leading provider of control centre and incident management software solutions, we are going to share with you our top five tips to improve your incident management.

Top tip 1: Engage change

It’s a timely reminder that many legislative and insurance requirements are pushing for higher standards in incident management for the events industry to ensure a duty of care has been met and processes have to evolve to meet these standards.

If you have identified areas in your current systems and processes that could be improved, push for investment in updated technology and/or training where you need it.

Top tip 2: Capture data accurately and in a timely manner

There’s so much to consider when you’re in charge of an event or location where massive crowds gather and with that comes so much data it can be daunting to decide where to focus and what data is a priority. Not to mention ensuring it is accurate!

But what if a control room could be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to data capturing and analysis? Imagine if your team, instead of simply responding to incidents, could be freed up to spend more time predicting where an incident might break out and organising a pre-emptive strike to ward off the danger and you can be ahead of the curve.

Real-time data through automations and integrations in your processes is game-changing for incident management and effective control room management. In one of our other articles, we discussed traditional versus modern incident management processes and how embracing technology can seriously benefit your event. It can reduce admin time and human error to improve accuracy, leading to higher quality, objective data which is more valuable and useful in litigation and review processes.

Top tip 3: Have network fail safes in place

Imagine how catastrophic it can be for crowded spaces when the network slows down and the event management systems used by organisers fail. How can you fulfil your duty of care without the power to communicate?

Small data can make a big difference. When a network is under strain, the smaller the amount of data you’re trying to send the better. The problem with a lot of apps and software is that they try to send and receive too much information all at once. The key to keeping our flagship incident management software, Chronicler, running is shrinking the amount of network bandwidth being consumed by sending fewer data packets needing only a small amount of connectivity to function.

Always, always, always have a back-up.

For our clients using Chronicler, we use virtual servers deployed across two physical locations for network redundancy. And these can be set to mirror each other identically, so if one fails, the other steps up and takes over to ensure continuity. When you’re running major events, arenas, stadiums and critical infrastructure, it would be irresponsible for organisations to not have sufficient fail safes in place.

Top tip 4: Learn together

The post event debrief is a fantastic opportunity where all organisations, staff and teams come together to analyse the event’s performance, review reports and incidents and compare the results achieved.

If you have invested in real-time data systems, you could have the debrief meeting as soon as the event is finished, otherwise it is appropriate to have the meeting within seven days of the events completion.

These meeting are crucial for improving future events and execution and are an opportunity to hear from all teams and organisations their feedback. It’s important to try and remain objective and constructive in these meetings and ensuring the data you have access to is accurate and high-quality to allow for more productive analysis.

Top tip 5: Invest in modern tech

We have seen some incredible advances in technology and know the best events and venues are using it to become more proactive and less reactive leading to better, safer experiences for patrons.

The best events and venues are using technology to become more proactive and less reactive leading to better, safer experiences for patrons. This experience is the future of the control room and why investing in technology is key to the future of experience delivery.

Chronicler is our innovative incident management platform and is a completely customisable platform that enhances your existing operations, ensuring your team have the right tools to be more proactive and can focus on what they need to.?

There you have it! There are our top five tips to improve your incident management. We hope they give you some ideas for how you can get the most from your team or incident management solution. Let us know your top tips, or how you get on if you implement any of the above.?