Planning Training Programs
DEPARTMENTS
TRAINING NOTEBOOK
Fire department training programs often fail to adequately fulfill the needs of the department. In addition, the firefighters being trained sometimes do not understand why they are learning certain things or how the training fits within their overall job.
The solution to this problem is to properly plan your training programs. You should list the subjects you wish to cover during training and decide how you will conduct your program based on your present and future needs.
The planning process will allow individuals to see how training fits into their overall job. It will also help firefighters relate the different parts of the training program to each other.
Before you plan a training program, put the training process in perspective. The training officer may view an effective training program as his ultimate goal. Training should be viewed not as the end, but as an ongoing process—as the means to an end.
The end, in this case, is making more effective the other areas the training program is designed to support, such as fire suppression, fire inspections, public education, code enforcement, and vehicle and equipment maintenance. Without these other areas, we would not need a training program.
To maintain the proper perspective when designing a training program, you should ask, “What department program is the planned training going to support?”
Now, the big question is: How do I plan a training program? Here is a guideline that outlines one method: person or a small group of people should coordinate the actual preparation. Anyone affected by the plan also should have input. This includes officers and firefighters. You may want to involve resource personnel:
- Step I. Identify who will be involved in the planning process. One
a) City administrators, who may obtain funding for and a commitment to the plan;
b) School board representatives, who may provide facilities for the training and offer their expertise in preparation or presentation;
c) Community organizations, such as the Lions, Elks, or American Legion, which may provide funding, equipment, or facilities;
d) Business owners or organizations, who may provide funding or facilities;
e) Other emergency services and mutual aid fire departments, to avoid duplication and provide program support;
f) Any other individuals who may provide facilities, equipment, funding, and expertise, or who may be part of your training program.
- Step II. Review your existing system. Identify and document your present training system. Who is involved in training? (For example, does the training officer prepare and present all lessons or are others involved?) What facilities, training manuals and aids, and technical knowledge are available?
- Step III. Identify current strengths and weaknesses. Review the facilities, equipment, training aids, and training expertise that are available.
- Step IV. Identify problems. Steps II and III will lead right into this step and should give you a clear picture of some of the problems. Also get input from your firefighters and officers, either through informal sessions or through a formal survey.
The input not only should include a look at present problems, but also should consider future department programs. For example, if your department is planning to initiate a home inspection program in the future, your survey should include questions on the training needs for this program.
Also ask for possible solutions. This will help you in some of the following steps.
- Step V. Identify solutions to your problems. We have taken a close look at our training system and our strengths and weaknesses, and we have identified problems. Now, we must look at some solutions to these problems.
First, list the alternatives that will solve the problems at hand. Next, decide which solution is the best one. This sounds simple, but it means you will have to logically assess both the pros and cons of each possible solution.
Remember, not everyone will agree with your solution and you may receive criticism from others within your organization. You can minimize this criticism if you request input from everyone involved and make changes based on this input. However, in the end you still may not please everyone.
- Step VI. Set goals and objectives that will solve the problems you identified in Step III. This forces you to concentrate on those items that need fixing and ensures you are not working on problems that are already solved. Make sure your goals are realistic and that they connect your existing system to the solutions you identified in Step V.
Once you have established a goal, identify objectives that will fulfill your goal. Your objectives should be easily understood, measurable, and realistic enough to be met. Do not go into detail on how specific tasks will be completed. Leave this to the people who will be implementing the plan.
- Step VII. Identify resources and funding. Now that we’ve identified solutions to the problems in the form of goals and objectives, we must figure out where the resources and funding are going to come from. This step will be easier to carry out if you have involved resource people early in the planning. It will also help if you are already using multiple sources of
- funding for this or other programs. Don’t restrict yourself to traditional funding and resources that are possibly already strained.
- Step VIII. Document the plan. This is the time when you must write down the final version of the plan. If you have documented the results of the other steps, this one will be relatively easy. If you have not documented anything up to this point, this will be a fairly frustrating and time-consuming task.
The format you choose can help you organize the important information into a readable and understandable document. I like to use the following format as a bare minimum:
- Write out the problem;
- Identify the goals to deal with the problem;
- State objectives that will fulfill the goal;
- Identify a time frame to implement the goals and objectives.
You can add extra information as you think necessary, but remember that the plan should be easy to understand and use. Some of the background information is better suited to a filing cabinet or an appendix to your plan.
- Step IX. Final review and input. After the plan is organized and completed, you should ask those people who have had input or who will be affected by the plan to review it and make appropriate comments. Based on these comments, you may want to rethink parts of the plan. This step will also ensure that the people involved in implementing part of the plan are aware of the total picture and can see where their part fits.
- Step X. Plan and assign implementation. This is an important step and should not be overlooked. Without an implementation strategy, some parts of the plan will never be worked on. This is also the stage where you should be able to balance the resources you have with the workload created by the plan.
- Step XI. Evaluate and revise. No plan should be chipped in stone. It should be flexible enough to accommodate changing conditions and unexpected circumstances. Establish and execute a periodic review of the plan. For example, you may want to review a five-year plan at six-month intervals during the first year and annually thereafter. During this review you can also change any parts of the plan that don’t seem to be working.
Proper planning will force you to set some priorities and help you make sure that the people who are carrying out the training program have guidance and support. The bottom line is that proper planning should result in a more effective and efficient training program.
