Management by Message

VOLUNTEERS CORNER ❘ By JERRY KNAPP

Many leaders in volunteer fire departments (VFDs) are younger members, and that is a good thing. We often discuss the gaps between Generations X, Y, and Z in terms of how best to train a variety of age groups, but we often miss the most important communication gap among the generations. Older members use face-to-face or (at least) verbal telephonic communication methods. Younger members tend to rely almost exclusively on text and e-mail. This is fine for social messages, but it creates huge problems when we try to use the same communication methods for department management purposes.

• Bringing Fire Department Communication to the Next Level
• Be First, Be Right, Be Credible: Communicating During Emergencies
• IMPROVING COMMUNICATION
• The Art of Communicating

Management by message (MBM) is not an effective leadership tool, period! MBM is when a leader tries to lead an organization by sending text or e-mail messages in place of face-to-face, effective, and complete communication and regular meetings. This article will show why MBM does not work; how it works against you; and some simple, time-tested management alternatives.

The common misconception is that MBM seems like an effective communication tool. Consider that a boss can instantly, through smartphones and computer, send subordinates, superiors, and coworkers direction, decisions, or updates. In reality, these messages are often very short and incomplete and only a fraction of what is necessary for long-term success. Other downsides to texts and e-mails are that the receiver may be engaged in another project at that moment your message rings in, he may forget about your message or see it as an interruption of his current task, or he may misinterpret your message. MBM creates organizational friction, which is the “virus” and first step for the disease that creates a toxic work environment. For this discussion, your organization may be as small as two to three subordinates or as large as a multicompany fire department with numerous subordinate officers on both the house and line side.

Did you notice the title of this article? The letters “MSG” may be understood by most to mean the word “message,” but it could be read as “monosodium glutamate,” a flavor enhancer for food, while some readers may think that message is a misprint. Consider the effect on the reader; this interpretation can actually turn into an instant loss of credibility for the article, author, and publisher even before the first sentence is even read! Either way, if there was some confusion, the message was ineffective, and there was no way for the reader to resolve it or the sender to know it. In essence, the message was not effective; it was fire and forget and hope it does the job. Hope is never a plan for anything.

Negative Effects

We have all experienced it: You read a person’s e-mail and perhaps get a bad impression from it, or you just forget about it. In your mind, you may be at odds with the writer as soon as you read it, creating long- or short-term organizational or interpersonal friction. The e-mail and how you interpret it has (intentionally or not) caused friction, and this is not good for any organization whose goal it is to succeed and thrive. Left to fester, this small amount of confusion could grow and accumulate, creating big interpersonal problems and the resultant toxic work environment.

Another negative effect of MBM is that the true value of interpersonal interaction is lost. It is easy to have a negative attitude toward the e-mail itself; it is much harder to have those same feelings as you look into another person’s eyes. Consider that, if you had this conversation in a face-to-face meeting, you are more likely to try to understand the issue and help fix it or, at a minimum, read the body language and facial expressions to see if there was a malintent involved or simply lack of a successful communication because of poor word choice in the message or bad interpretation on your part—the receiver.

Similar to MBM, “hallway leadership collisions” also have a negative impact and cause friction. Hallway leadership collisions send a message to the subordinate that he is not important enough to share the leader’s time in a professional manner. Leaders who do not adequately communicate with their employees by regularly meeting with them and providing thorough directions, decisions, coaching, and so on will continue to create friction and a poor, nonproductive work environment. These collisions also foster negative attitudes such as, “I would have liked to work on that with you,” “Why did you not consider my thoughts or input before you took this action?” and so on.

Hallway leadership collisions may be the only time a subordinate can communicate with his leader. Hallway leadership collisions are not usually good; they are an ambush by either side and where a leader can drop or offload a partial task or communication, leaving the subordinate with incomplete information and a bad feeling of not belonging. Conversely, the subordinate can ambush the superior with a problem or an issue he thinks important. Ambushes are a great “wartime” tactic, not a good management tool.

Positive Meetings

Leaders with multiple subordinates need to engineer “cooperative collisions” among the leader and subordinates. These are meetings that result in cohesive teams—where the boss sets the time and place for a meeting, follows an agenda during the meeting, and readily accepts and encourages input from staff members. Staff meetings allow the boss to set goals and the subordinates to collaboratively work together, eliminating friction from the start and thereby creating a positive team-based work environment, preventing friction, and encouraging teamwork.

Meetings are not random collisions but powerful planned leadership tools/events to set a course for spontaneous or directed cohesions, not collisions, among team members. Simply, two heads are better than one to resolve a problem and, coupled with brainstorming, good leadership, and decision making, get the problem solved and improve teamwork and work satisfaction for future successes. Cohesion, not collisions!

Numerous staff members working on the same problem will produce unique solutions that you, as a leader, never dreamed of! As painful as meetings can be, they provide dedicated time; space; and, most importantly, a vehicle for effective communication, unit cohesion, brainstorming, cooperative thinking, and productivity.

Organizational friction is minimized by regular meetings. Much like a football team, in the huddle (meeting), the quarterback (leader) sets the objective and tells all players what their individual role is to achieve team success. In effect, the quarterback calling the play in the huddle has decided the organization’s objective and sets a course for everyone to follow and achieve it. Fire department leaders must provide an environment that enhances and promotes teamwork, not friction.

The following alternatives to MBM are experienced-based leadership and management tools that will help you successfully lead your organization. They will provide clear missions, establish and track goals, and provide brainstorming and other assistance to subordinates for complex tasks.

1. Annual meetings. At least once a year, gather your subordinate leaders and set objectives with timelines for the coming year. This gets people in leadership positions and their subordinates aware of you and your organization’s major goals for the year as well as interim target dates for shorter or longer time frames. They also set the stage and put you in charge to run the organization, assigning responsibilities to subordinates and minimizing the need for subordinates to take on goals (maybe with good intentions) that may run counter or simply interfere with major organizational goals. Many fire departments and districts are required to have an annual organizational meeting to reestablish business relationships, similar to banks, insurance companies, and so on. It is no accident these annual organizational meetings are written into many state laws. Communicate organizational goals by clearly posting your own annual goals for everyone to see and be reminded of. Brief them at membership meetings to receive member input and remind them of objectives.
2. Regular staff meetings. The value of regular staff meetings cannot be overemphasized. A staff meeting is led by the boss and attended by his staff—i.e., all subordinate leaders. Publish an agenda in advance of the meeting to make the time devoted by attendees more effective. Staff meetings are the foundation of successful teams, such as the Navy SEALS, businesses, church groups, and so on. If you are a VFD chief, your subordinate leaders must feel as if they are a member of the team—your team. Regular staff meetings (at least monthly, although weekly is much better) are critical parts of your management toolbox. It is a time where you can make assignments, check on progress of previously assigned missions, provide assistance to subleaders in need, reinforce policies and goals, highlight and reward achievements (formally or verbally), and discuss personal problems of difficult members supervised by your subordinates and issues facing your organization such as a budget cut. Like a coach, staff meetings are a time to assign positions, responsibilities, and goals and to clear up any questions or disagreements your staff may have. Regular staff meetings also result in decision making that subordinate leaders may need. For example, while discussing an item, one of your leaders wants to do it one way, and another leader is pushing for a different method. You are the boss and will decide which one the team will use. The old expression, “I don’t have to like the decision, but once I have it, I can drive on to success,” applies here.
3. Officer meetings. Also known as staff meetings, these must be led by the chief. A simple speaking sequence for the meeting would be having subordinates initially brief their current actions, accomplishments, and the next week’s/month’s planned work. Next, have a limited discussion among attendees that will help solve problems and move their group as well as the entire organization forward as a cohesive team toward success. The boss talks last. At meeting’s end, you and all others in attendance should now have a clear path forward to do your work.
4. Monthly full membership meetings. These usually take place in VFDs and are similar to regular staff meetings, providing a path for each member to contribute to organizational goals and question current process or projects. Most importantly, they allow the members to be heard by both leaders and peers so they feel like they have input and are valuable team members. It is also vital to remember that the strength of any VFD is the variety of talent, expertise, and experience in the meeting room. At your next meeting, look around and ask yourself, “What skill, knowledge, or experience does he have that can be useful to our overall success?”
5. Standups. This management technique is short and very effective. I worked for a large emergency services organization as a planner in the operations section. My bosses and coworkers were all team players, experienced and highly professional. Unfortunately, the section, as a group, was just not working effectively. There were no interpersonal issues or intergroup competitions, just some hard-to-define organizational friction. We completed the missions, but something was just not right. One morning, the boss came in, coffee cup in hand and a smile, and told us we were going to meet every morning at this same time, same place (in our office, not his) to do a “standup.” As the name implies, we did a standup meeting. The boss provided all changes and updates from the previous day, and we went around our group talking about what we accomplished yesterday and would attempt to accomplish today. We also mentioned upcoming events, status of plans, after action reviews, and any meetings with adjacent or supporting units. Standups should only take about 15 minutes, so yes, bring your coffee to keep the atmosphere cordial and informal. In a matter of days, morale in the entire section improved; we were a more productive and happier group that was better positioned to support the overall agency mission.

Lessons Learned

Texts and e-mail provide instant gratification to the sender, but they are a poor management communication method. The boss gets his message out instantly, which is often a real advantage. However, messages are only one tool and, like all our tools, have specific uses. Additionally, these instant-messaging tools have significant disadvantages and are not the right tool for managing people or, especially, VFDs.

MBM is like a sprint. You cross a short distance quickly, getting your message out. You don’t know if or how well it was received, and you don’t know if your message did what was intended. Time spent in face-to-face meetings provides thorough understanding of your message, allows time to digest and question it, and is more effective in the long run. It’s like the old fable of the tortoise and the hare; pacing yourself by using time-tested communication skills will always win in the end and offers a better product, creates less friction, and results in a more positive work environment.

JERRY KNAPP is the chief of the Rockland County (NY) Hazmat Team, has a degree in fire protection, is a 46-year veteran firefighter/emergency medical technician (EMT) with the West Haverstraw (NY) Fire Department, and is a former paramedic. He served on the technical panel for the UL residential fire attack study. Knapp is the co-author of two Fire Engineering books: House Fires and Tactical Response to Explosive Gas Emergencies. He is the author of numerous feature articles in Fire Engineering and state, national, and international fire service trade journals and the author of the Fire Attack chapter in Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II. He retired from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, where he served as the plans and operations specialist at the Directorate of Emergency Services.