Software superstars: software tips for 2021

Today, we are taking a look at some of our software superstars who are using our systems to their advantage during the Covid age. 2020 (and 2021 so far) has been a really difficult time for everyone and businesses are no exception. Having to implement strange new rules, closing their doors and then reopening with harsher guidelines in place to stop the spread of the virus. Having the right software to help manage your business is vital now more than ever! The right software isn’t just going to make your life easier (which ours does), it’s also going to manage risk. During Covid, risk management has become more crucial than ever for most businesses. With rules and regulations constantly changing, risk has dramatically increased. If you aren’t properly adhering to guidelines your business can be whacked with a stiff fine. That’s why taking advantage of the capabilities of our software has never been more important!

So we asked some of our valued clients how we have helped them over the past year, here's what we heard back:

“The use of Op Central through the pandemic has allowed us here at La Porchetta to remotely connect & keep our franchisee network up to date with any communications eliminating any barriers that they may experience.” - Adrian, Digital Marketing Officer at La Porchetta

“We moved to the Op Central platform right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although many would say we were crazy to do this, Op Central was crucial in ensuring that we kept our franchisees informed and up to date. We have since continued to enhance our use of the platform and work closely with Op Central to help evolve the platform in the most user friendly experience for our franchisees that it can be. Happy to say that the team at Op Central has been there with us through this journey and continues to support us.” - Peter, National Franchise Systems & Development Manager at Snap Printing

Here are a couple ways we help our clients during the Covid age:

Creating Covid safe manuals

Ensuring your employees know everything there is to know about being Covid safe in your workplace is vital. By simply popping a Covid safe manual in with all your other training manuals, your half getting the job done. The information is out there, but that doesn’t mean it's easy to find. With our software, you have the option of linking policies and procedures to several different manuals or sections in just a few clicks! Meaning, your staff can find the information they need in multiple different places. Take a look at how you can interlink policies and procedures below:

While you can provide helpful content in writing, we recommend getting a little creative here. Insert some images you created (perhaps on how to properly wear a face mask) or some fun and instructional videos (like the proper handwashing technique). With video content, you can adjust viewing settings to make the videos mandatory to watch all the way through. At a click of a button, you can ensure your staff are watching the videos all the way to the end (and not skipping past important things). Don’t forget, you can link to external sites in manuals too! A good site to link to might be the Department of Health website, so staff can find out more about why particular procedures are in place. 

Introducing mandatory quizzes or a sign off

Quizzes and sign offs are extremely effective when it comes to ensuring staff understanding of new policies and procedures. When you make a relatively minor change in manuals, but want to make sure the change has been read by your staff, a sign off might be the way to go. When a completely new procedure has been added or drastic changes have been made, a quiz might be the best way to ensure understanding. It isn’t quite enough to put information out there, you need to be sure your staff are complying. Non-compliance can lead to brand damage, poor service or (in more serious cases) legal intervention. No one wants that for their business that’s for sure! But by using our software efficiently, risk is greatly reduced.

Making use of automatic and manual alerts/reminders and reporting

It’s all good and well updating your manuals, but you need to make sure everyone knows you have updated them! When you update policies and procedures using our software, automatic updates are sent out to all users immediately. Notifications go out via email and as a smartphone push notification for our app users. 

If you have set a quiz associated with updated policies and procedures, or have elected that staff must sign off, notifications will go out to employees who haven’t yet completed the questions/sign off. This can be done manually at any time too, but with the help of automatic notifications, you don’t have to worry about constantly reminding staff (and reminding yourself to remind them!)

Now that you have updated your procedures and implemented quizzes, it’s time to take a look at staff compliance. Our system’s reporting function allows you to see which employees have completed the tasks and which haven’t. You can filter this by location and individual policy to address any trends or potential issues. This aids in ensuring compliance and allows you to follow up with staff if necessary.

Effectively using the news function 

The news section located on your dashboard is a great way of sharing information easily as soon as it arises. This is the best way to share information that isn’t necessarily a new policy or procedure, yet is still important to the businesses daily functions. For example, when Victoria went into a snap 5 day lockdown, you could have popped an article on the dashboard to explain the lockdown and what it means for your business. The news articles can also be set as mandatory reading, so you can elect for staff to sign off on the reading. 

By implementing these strategies, you will have covered all bases to make sure your business, your employees and your customers are safe. 

To learn more about what our software has to offer, schedule a live demo or get in contact with our friendly team!