Fire department team development can be described as trying to hammer square pegs of business, military, or non-governmental organization theory into the round holes of fire department team development. Fire departments adapt and modify items from those organizations to meet our unique needs in a 24-hour, all-hazards, high-risk environment. An example is Fire Commissioner Quinn adding a 1958 Pitman elevating boom to the Chicago fireground. A recent effort in another fire department to create a formal mentor program was enthusiastically advocated. That program was well-intentioned but it did not “go viral.”
Instead of social engineering by General Order, we should help individuals develop collaboration skills the same way we teach Crew Resource Management. Focus on the skills, tasks, and responsibilities of the individual. CRM trained firefighters have practiced skills that:
- Enhance communication
- Maintain situational awareness
- Strengthen decision-making
- Improve teamwork
Harvard Business School Professor Francesca Gino analyzed collaboration efforts in a wide range of industries and advocates that a psychological approach to developing collaboration. Some of the six collaboration tools are familiar.
1) Teach People to Listen, Not Talk.
This includes techniques like asking expansive questions, using active listening techniques to focus on the listener and being comfortable with silence.
2) Train People to Practice Empathy
In an earlier article, I mentioned the Phoenix Fire Department’s effort to change the response to “snivel” calls. It is a challenge to always be empathic. The Phoenix recruit academy added a day of community service to promote taking care of all of the “Mrs. Smiths” they encounter.
We do care. A few times a month the Company Commander Facebook newsfeed has an article describing colleagues going the extra empathetic mile for someone.
3) Make People More Comfortable with Feedback
In our structured environment, feedback is considered the first step to formal discipline. We need to increase the importance and role of the fire officer as a coach instead of a high school hallway monitor. It is how you develop your sphere of influence and develop righteous fire company performance.
Three feedback rules Pixar uses are:
- Be straightforward in both how you address a person and what you say about him or her.
- Identify the particular behavior that did or did not work.
- Describe the impact of the behavior on the situation and the team.
4) Teach People to Lead AND Follow
One advantage of working under a command and control structure is that firefighters have experience with both leading and following when operating in high-stress, compressed time, limited information emergency incidents.
New fire officers learn the concept of delegation. Apparently, this is an underdeveloped skill set in the corporate and non-governmental organization world.
5) Speak With Clarity and Avoid Abstractions
This is a challenge for some new supervisors because we hate to be the bearer of bad news or difficult decisions. It is important that the fire officer speaks directly and with clarity.
6) Train People to have Win-Win Interactions
Firefighters are hard-wired to collaborate to resolve a challenging problem. The corporate world has a challenge with turf wars and the lack of information sharing.
In considering the 6 tools to improve work collaboration, we are experienced and comfortable with some of them and need to develop proficiency with the other ones.
The Snorkel Squads have evolved quite a bit. Steve Redick catches the second response of a 2017 Rosenbauer “snorkel” in this 13 minute Chicago fireground video:
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Donnelly, Jim (2012 January) Not Some Little Squirt: Chicago’s 1958 Snorkel Revolutionized Firefighting. Hemming Motor News.
Gino, Francesca (2019 November-December) Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration: Six new tools for training people to work together better. Harvard Business Review. (97)6 pp 73-81
(2018 August 20) How to listen like a Servant-Leader
(2018 September 3) Nine Steps In Building a Fire Officer’s Sphere of Influence
(2019 September 9) 5 Steps to Built Righteous Fire Company Performance
(2018 August 27) Responding to firefighter concerns, issues and problems raised during a listening session
Petrillo, Alan M. (2017 April 5) Chicago (IL) Fire Department Takes Delivery of New Squads. Fire Apparatus and Emergency Equipment (22) 4
Featured Image: Restored Original Chicago Snorkel Squad 1, a 1958 GMC Model 354/Pitman elevating boom with shop-constructed bodywork.