I often find myself wondering how
we select who writes textbooks and what goes in them. The more time I get on the job, the more I
realize our occupation leaves out some pretty major things in its curriculum. Whether it is professional development,
strategy and tactics, or fire suppression there is a constant “this is how we
do it for the test, not on the job” issue in many training programs. I feel this mentality is what causes us to
skip or breeze over certain things. One topic
I don’t remember being taught in any fire officer class was time
management. If it is in there, I can
assure you they don’t spend enough time on it because I don’t recall it. How ironic!
While this article will not touch
on the education debate, I will say that having a college education does help
with time management. You have to
organize your assignments and determine how long it will take you to complete
them. College is where I learned I am a
procrastinator, which is not necessarily a good thing. However, I did learn I do some of my best
work with a looming deadline which has helped me complete my responsibilities
while riding in the seat. Just another
part of my college education which I found helpful as I moved up in rank.
If you are anything like me you
spent a lot of time thinking about what you would do whenever you earned a
position supervising a company. However,
one thing you probably gave little or no thought to is managing your time once
you achieve a position as a company officer.
If you had descent role models or some sort of professional development
then you may have half a clue of what to do your first day in your new
role. If you had crappy bosses and were
forced to figure out most things on your own then you will likely show up to
your new assignment like the first day of kindergarten; scared and
confused. Although many are quick to
forget, promotions generally require additional responsibilities rather than
fewer. These additional responsibilities
require reassessing your daily routine.
Furthermore, let me be the bearer of bad news and inform you that there
will be all kinds of things which will take up your time. Many will not be very productive or have
nothing to do with your responsibilities as the company officer.
First and foremost you have to
understand the responsibilities of your new position. Do you have additional equipment to check in
your new riding position? Has your morning turnover procedure changed? Are there new systems or files to check and
fill out each morning? Do you have to
report your personnel and unit status to a battalion chief or communications
center? Are you responsible for creating
training sessions? What is the status of
your subordinate’s evaluations? Do you
have to approve time off or other staffing procedures? Are there lists of long term projects,
inspections, or maintenance to work on?
These few things are the tip of the spear as far as daily functions the
company officer is responsible for. Now
work in company training, emergency responses, incident reports, etc. and you
can see how the list of things to be done compiles quickly. These new responsibilities can be extremely
overwhelming, especially if you were not afforded any type of training or
development prior to becoming a company officer.
The key to dealing with all of
these responsibilities is managing your time.
While it will likely take a few shifts, you will eventually fall into a
routine just as you did as a firefighter and/or apparatus operator. Focus on completing the daily tasks first and
then try to make a tentative schedule for completing long term responsibilities
such as evaluations and inspections.
Obviously things come up and we have to answer calls as well, so don’t
be disheartened when your schedule doesn’t work out exactly as planned. One strategy I have found which works well
for me is to make a plan for the following shift in the evening before I go to
bed. I take this opportunity to review what
was accomplished during the current shift, ensure all my reports are filed
appropriately, and identify what was not accomplished and will need to be moved
to another shift. From there I make a
tentative list of what needs to be done on our next tour. Another tactic I have found helpful is saving
report templates on a USB drive. For
repetitive types of training such as inspections, driver training, apparatus
maintenance, etc. this will greatly reduce the amount of time you spend writing
training reports.
Once you have finally found your
groove you will find that distractions will surely ruin it. Distractions take on many forms from cell
phones to senior officers. The key to
distractions is identifying them and developing a strategy to deal with them. Cell phones are a double edged sword for the
company officer. I use mine to
communicate with my apparatus operator in the morning while I complete my
morning tasks. This way he can keep me
informed of deficiencies without us having to meet face to face for each
one. The problem is you can easily get
distracted by Facebook, games, and other applications. You will have to figure out your own way to
manage cell phone usage. Another
distraction is random requests from outside sources. The Battalion Chief may call up with some
short notice assignment or training session.
The senior officer of your station may decide their plan for the day is
more important than yours. An off duty
or former member may stop by for a visit.
You may have issues between crew members which need to be
addressed. The public may drop by for an
impromptu station tour. You will even
have days where you are simply not as motivated. None of these situations is necessarily negative,
but will still impact how you complete your tasks for the day. Regardless of the cause, you have to find a
way to mitigate these distractions just as you would on an incident scene. Control the distractions you can and learn to
accommodate the ones you cannot.
One of the most potent enemies of
time management is what I refer to as “leeches”. They can be anyone from your junior member to
the Chief of the Department. I call them
leeches because they will approach you with a request for assistance
completing one of their tasks. However,
the term assistance is just a disguise and what they are really doing is pushing
their responsibilities off on you. At
face value someone asks you to help complete a task or project. Next thing you know everyone else is hanging
out and you are the only one working on the project. The new company officer will likely continue
on as they are trying to fit in and remain “part of the crew”. Additionally, a newly promoted company
officer can be extremely intimidated to say no as they don’t want anyone
thinking poorly of them in their new role.
This is a serious issue for new company officers who have senior men and
senior officers who are not motivated. Remember,
sometimes you just have to say no. It is
better to decline additional tasks or duties than accept them knowing you
cannot complete them along with your other responsibilities.
Finally, learn when to delegate
tasks to other members of your crew.
Contrary to what some believe, it is not practical for the company
officer to complete every task without assistance. While some responsibilities will be yours and
yours alone, there are plenty of other tasks which can be delegated. Station chores, apparatus maintenance, even
training duties depending on the experience level of your crew can be
appropriate tasks for delegation to subordinates. Delegation is a wonderful tool for
professional development and to observe their strengths and weaknesses. It can also be a source of pride and
accomplishment for your subordinates as they are tasked with taking the point
on an assignment. Delegation does not
make the company officer look weak when used appropriately, but rather it makes
him looks smart. Just be careful to
avoid delegating officer level tasks to your subordinates. Doing so makes you a leech as well as provides the perception that you cannot handle them yourself.
Time management will be crucial to
ensuring the company officer completes his new responsibilities. Learn how to minimize your distractions and
steer clear of time leeches. Fight the
urge to bite off more than you can chew and learn how to say no when
appropriate. Utilize delegation whenever
appropriate which will free up a little time as well as help develop your
subordinates. There will be times where
you will have to respectfully excuse your crew, reorganize you game plan for
the day, or change your plan completely to accomplish the most important
tasks. A little thought and planning
will help you find your stride much sooner, allowing you to focus your time in
the most efficient manner.
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