What most people don't see

Midway through a 10 day multi-country trip across Asia a client commented about how impressed they were with our ability to maintain so many details and be steps ahead of an ever changing schedule. They recognized that we had done a significant amount of planning and preparation to make sure they could enjoy their trip and not get bogged down in the details. The discussion led to exactly how much time goes into planning vs the actual trip. I pulled up this picture and explained that so much of what we do is preparation but we hadn’t really ever quantified planning time. We discussed how planning and preparation begins long before the trip, on each flight for the upcoming country and each night for the next day. It is an ongoing process from beginning to end and that if we did track the time would often match or exceed the actual detail.

As the graphic shows we looked ok into many aspects of a detail and prepared for an abundance of contingencies even before we deploy to a destination or adventure. This happens for every detail no matter how big or small. The scope and complexity carries on every detail which drives us to use a template to capture as much as possible and remain consistent in our planning.

We use a standardized RAVEN Operational Plan template, but each plan is built from the ground up and with tailored information detailing the Resources, Attendees, Venues, Emergencies and Notables for a given detail. Each heading has sub categories that build depth into the document.  However the information never gets too wordy or robust to the point that the plan becomes a hindrance to the operation.  The importance of building this information out is imperative to making informed decisions when deployed. Having solid intelligence and knowledge of support capabilities as known and pairing that with the situation at hand at a moment's notice give us an edge.

The outcome of a RAVEN Ops Plan is rapid informed decisions, faster response times and fewer delays all the while keeping people safe and as on schedule as possible. In all honesty, the team often considers many of the routine contingencies during the planning phase based on experience, knowledge of the client, the area of operation and intel results. When an interruption occurs it is highly likely that it has already been talked through by the team. Building and communicating the plan acts as a rehearsal and brings the entire team into alignment. This ultimately means a safer experience with less interruptions from the client.

Proper planning is and will always be a foundational principle to our protective work. It’s become such a mainstay that it crossed over into the consultation and training services as well.

Preparedness is not just what we do, but who we are.