One of the greatest challenges in leading a volunteer fire department is keeping everyone happy and keeping morale at a high level. Without morale, you will struggle to keep your membership numbers where they need to be. The most dangerous threat to morale are the ones who like to talk behind other’s backs, gossip and “stir the pot” around the firehouse. How do we police this unwanted threat? (more…)
Perhaps one of the most important assets of a Volunteer Fire Department is the comradery and the family-like atmosphere. It’s a bond much like our real family. So, why not include our real family? Without our families and the support they give, putting in enough time to the Fire Department to make a difference would be a challenge. We must learn to include our families as much as possible in many ways. Bringing our families together will strengthen the bond between all of the members, which will reinforce the Fire Department as a whole. (more…)
We write a lot about leadership because the Chiefs and Company Officers play a large role in the success of a Volunteer Fire Department. I’m not trying to belittle the rest of the membership. It goes without saying if we didn’t have the regular membership comprised of Firefighters and support staff, we would have nothing. However, the membership needs a group of educated, experienced and mature leaders to manage the direction and culture of the department. (more…)
Have you ever considered taking a break from the Volunteer Fire Service because of a lack of time? We all get to that point in our lives when we have finished college, gotten married and settled down with a good career, new home and maybe children. Free time just seems to go away, putting the Fire Department lower on the priority list. This can become discouraging, so what can we do to balance life and the Fire Department? (more…)
We talk a lot about how to recruit and keep new members. It seems to be a big concern all over the place. It is hard to find good people who want to serve their local Volunteer Fire Department. What about the members we already have? Have we slacked on keeping the members who have been on our departments for 8, 9 or 10 years motivated? I’m not talking about our Company Officers and Chiefs, I’m talking about the Firefighters who have put their time in, don’t need to prove themselves and don’t need to be introduced to your Fire Department. (more…)
Our Checklist for Success are the basic elements every volunteer Fire Department should be following to successfully retain your membership. I will be adding to the check list as time goes on, since we all know the Fire Service is constantly changing.
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What is the difference between Empowering and Delegating? We in the Volunteer Fire Service rely on our members more and more these days to keep the Fire Department functioning the way it is supposed to in order to serve the communities we protect. There are so many requirements these days; training, certifications, refreshers, documentation, inspections, maintenance and more. As leaders, we could take on these tasks ourselves, or we can delegate or EMPOWER our members to do the work. (more…)
When and if there comes a time that your volunteer fire department isnt able to get the membership to respond and keep up with the incidents, what are your solutions? Do you go to your tax payers and try to hire full time staff? This seems to be a trend that is common all around the United States, and seems to be an unfortunate one for the traditions of the volunteer fire service. –
For years now the primary source of notifying volunteer and call firefighters has been via pagers that beep or vibrate, depending on your preference and tolerance for getting startled out of a dead sleep at 2:00 am. This has been a reliable means of communication and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon. In most places, gone are the days of the whistle or siren on the roof of the fire station. To the ones who still hold on to this classic tradition, good on you! (more…)
Delegating a project or duty can be one way to get things done in a timely fashion and may encourage some teamwork, but what about instead of “delegating”, we “empowered” our members? What will empowering do for the member and for your entire department? (more…)