To make these peer-to-peer learning opportunities more widely available throughout the year, Origami Risk recently held the first of what will be an ongoing series of client forum webinars—client-only events in which a select group of client presenters share how they are using the system. Given the ongoing challenges that organizations are facing as they deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of the first client forum webinar was titled “Using Your Existing Technology to be Agile in a Rapid Shock Environment.”
During the webinar, representatives from three organizations discussed how they are leveraging the Origami Risk platform to access and track the impact of the coronavirus on operations, monitor the reopening of locations, and facilitate communication and keep stakeholders apprised of ongoing developments.
Using Technology to Access Impact and Track Risk
According to one of the client presenters, while the month of March was a blur of activity, it was an Origami Risk webinar—in which solutions for tracking the impact of COVID-19 such as new incident types and map visualizations were detailed—held that month that provided a spark for how she could use the system to help assess the impact of the coronavirus on an organization with approximately 10,000 employees in the U.S. and another 10,000 in Europe, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Less than an hour after sending a text to her client executive, the incident screen was activated. This allowed her to, among other things, relieve their HR team from the burden of collecting COVID-19-related incident data in spreadsheets and make those data points available for analysis.
Over the months that followed, that organization’s use of the system has expanded to include additional insight into what is happening in the field. Automation tools in Origami Risk helped make this possible. For example, in response to a question asked in the webinar, the presenter described how data event triggers eliminated the need for her to watch emails and immediately send a notification to a location’s representatives if a test for the coronavirus comes back positive.
Using Technology to Help Facilitate Reopening
Among the challenges organizations face as they take steps to reopen are differing dates, phases, and requirements within the countries, states, and municipalities in which they operate. How the system is being used to address these issues was another topic discussed in detail during the client forum.
In fact, representatives from the risk and safety teams of the client organization that demonstrated their audit intake solution in the March webinar mentioned in the section above also discussed how their use of Origami Risk audit intake functionality has evolved to help facilitate the reopening of operations throughout North American-based locations. What was initially a brief survey that went out to the field within 24 hours to collect responses to questions such as, “Are you still operating? Are you at a reduced capacity? Are you closed? If you are reduced, is that at 50% reduction, at 25% reduction, etc.?” has very much evolved.
Via anonymous entry portals and the Origami Risk mobile app, respondents are now answering questions that help representatives of the presenting organization understand if reopening activities have begun, the capacity at which facilities will be operating, and the estimated date of reopening. In addition to tracking any special requirements that might be in place for particular locations, respondents are able to alert management as to any areas that require specific attention.
In addition to the flexibility of data collection tools, automation plays a role in this area, as well. For example, one of the presenters explained how automated emails are generated by the system to alert recipients that a location will be opening in x days. This organization is also working to include reopening checklists to these facilities ensure mandated guidelines have been met.
Using Technology to Respond to Needs and Communicate Progress
Client forum presenters also discussed some of the ways they are using Origami Risk to help their organization to respond to specific needs and communicate progress.
One of the presenters outlined how she and her team are using the platform to help the healthcare organization manage physician certificates so that the practice managers can be sure that additional healthcare providers from other states are able to deliver care in the areas where it is most needed. To do so, a portal link is delivered to providers, who fill out and submit their information. If parameters are met, practice managers receive a document immediately. If not, then staff are able to quickly evaluate and take action to get the necessary details.
Participants also spoke about the ways in which they are communicating the progress of their efforts to help make sure those responsible for making decisions have the data they need to ensure their organizations is moving forward with reopening and other activities in the safest ways possible. For example, in addition to the dashboards made available to executives, one presenter described a daily report exported from the system and sent to the organization’s CEO that shows, among other details, the number of COVID-19 cases, the number of those infected who have recovered, how many have been able to return to work.
Making the Most of Technology in a Rapid Shock Environment
As the scenarios discussed by presenters during the client forum demonstrate, the need to be agile in a rapid shock environment is far from an abstract concept. Over the past few months, our clients have shown resolve and ingenuity in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful to be able to help them as they do so.
To find out how you can view the client forum webinar or learn more about the solutions discussed, contact your client executive. If you are not currently an Origami Risk client, you can get in touch with our team here: info.origamirisk.com/learn-more-COVID-19.