What sort of reports will I receive? Make sure that you’re working with someone who provides clear opinions in writing. And since you may want to make changes to your operation or doc- uments based on the review, it’s import- ant to select someone with whom you’ve got a good rapport, and who will answer your questions to your satisfaction. Do we plan to seek ACCT accreditation? If ACCT accreditation is your goal, be sure to select a reviewer on the list of ACCT Qualified Operation Reviewers. They will ensure that your review covers all the required bases. Many of these qualified reviewers are also happy to help check for more than just your compliance with ACCT standards. As mentioned earlier, an accreditation review doesn’t cover every aspect of your operation. THE BOTTOM LINE Regardless of the route you take, an operational review is likely to turn up some unexpected findings. It helps to have a fresh set of eyes look at your operation from a different perspective, with a different frame of reference. It’s possible that you will find some obser - vations unpersuasive, but also likely that you will discover truths to which you were blind. Addressing these can unlock future growth and prosperity, and prevent incidents that make the news for all the wrong reasons.
inspection, seeking a pass/fail grade on your operation, you’re thinking about this wrong,” Pingle adds.
The major con to hiring a pro is cost. While you can limit a review to a specific part of your operation, a good review may be expansive—and expen- sive. It could take a few days and make it difficult to operate concurrently. Whether the expense is worthwhile depends on how you value the result- ing information. “Our operational review [part of the ACCT accreditation program] costs more than our structural inspection,” Pingle notes. On the other hand, “as it’s something we’re looking to do every five years, we’re thinking about the cost differently,” she adds. FINDING THE RIGHT REVIEWER There are a lot of qualified people out there performing operational reviews. It’s OK (even recommended) to select someone because you like to work with them. “One of the most important things I look for in a reviewer is someone who has been a course manager or owner-op- erator,” says Korey Hampton, owner of French Broad Adventures in North Car- olina. “Someone who’s been a high-level decision-maker about things from train- ing programs to weather policies, and then has implemented and seen them work in the field. It’s helpful to get the feedback of someone who’s been there and had to deal with the unforeseen problems that may occur.”
WHO TO CALL If you choose to give this review thing a try, here are some ways to get it done. Peer review. A peer reviewer is some- one from outside your organization who’s doing a review of your program, often for free. Maybe it’s a friend with a park, and you choose to audit each other’s programs. For those with limited resources, this is a great way to start the process. It’s nice to have a friendly face reinforce what you’re doing well or point out some shortcomings. However, such a review carries some risks. Anything written down becomes discoverable, and your friend could suddenly be called to a courtroom if something happens on your course following his or her review. Internal review. An internal reviewer might be an employee who is simply trying to look at all the pieces while re- moving themselves from the situation, someone from another department (if that exists in your organization), or a new, experienced staff member, such as a newly-hired manager. However, some internal reviewers may have tunnel vision and normalize the small risks one deals with every day, and their findings may be incomplete. External review. An external reviewer is an individual or organization that is fully independent from yours and has no other relationship with your busi- ness. Such a reviewer has no existing biases, positive or negative, about your current operational practices. Ideally, external reviewers are experts in the systems and equipment you use. They can cite their sources and differen - tiate between opinions, facts, standards, and regulations. Another benefit: employing an inde - pendent external reviewer helps diffuse the legal liability you may be exposed to. Just like a course inspector, a good reviewer is insured appropriately.
As you begin to seek a reviewer, here are a few questions to settle:
What will be the scope of the review? If you suspect that you have a problem with guides using their phones, or that commands aren’t being used well on your canopy tour, this is information that can help you decide what you’d like a reviewer to look at. You may choose to have a comprehensive review of your operations, or you may choose to review just your operating procedure documents, for example. Some like to break a review into pieces, focusing on one section every season.
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