On Thursday, May 12, 2016 from 0900 hours to 1600 hours, the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District conducted their annual strategic planning workshop with all of their Officer’s for the purposes of updating their current Strategic Plan for FY17-FY22.
Annually as part of the District’s budget preparation District personnel reviewed their Mission and Vision Statements for possible revisions. This review was an assignment prior to our workshop that Officers did with their assigned station personnel. Additionally we reviewed our Performance Measures, our report card, on how GREAT of job Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District Personnel are doing. Our Performance Measures cover four (4) basic areas of performance, Exceptional Customer Service, Internal Processes – Service Delivery in saving lives and protecting property, such as Cardiac Arrest Survival & # of Trauma Alerts to Trauma Center within 60 minutes, # of Structure Fires per 1000 structures and # of civilian fire deaths, Fiscal Efficiency – % budget expended by quarter and cost per capita and the final area is Improved Health & Safety of Employees – Average # of lost hours of employees from on the job injuries.
Before we began our actual workshop, our personnel participated in a Team exercise. The goal of this exercise was to encourage Leadership, Team Work, Effective Communications, Creative Thinking and Critical Problem Solving.
Each Team had to build a section of a 3 section self-supporting paper bridge using the materials provided. Each section of the bridge must be able to connect and support the weight a plastic water jug that is between ¼ – ½ filled with water for a minimum of 60 seconds and pass the test of being driven over without bridge failure.
No Team will be able to see how the other constructs their section of the bridge. Teams will be separated by rooms and the only communication will be through the door or wall.
Personnel were divided up into 3 Teams (A-Shift, B-Shift, C-Shift) with Administration staff and Fire Prevention personnel divided up between the 3 Teams.
Each Team will have access to unlimited amount of paper and/or newspapers and masking tape. Each Team will have 30 minutes to build their section of the bridge.
Team leaders will be given a briefing together, the total length of the bridge was to be 8 feet long x 2.4 feet wide x 1.5 feet high and must be able to support the weight of a plastic water jug that is between ¼ – ½ filled with water for a minimum of 60 seconds and be driven across without failure of the bridge. Each section must be free standing, it cannot be attached to a wall, furniture, person, or clothing. Each Team was responsible to construct a section of this 3-section bridge and at the end of the time, each section must be able to connect and support weight and must be 8 feet long x 2.4 feet wide x 1.5 feet long. Masking tape can only be used on the construction the bridge and cannot be used to attach the bridge to a fixed object.
After the briefing, the 3 Team Leaders were given 3 minutes to discuss this project between themselves. Then after the 3 minutes, they went into their separate rooms and communicated their project to their Team members and then they will have 30 minutes to construct their section. The only communication allowed was through a wall or door, they were not able to see any of these sections being built. No cell phones, no texting and no picture taking and sending via email or text messaging or any form of social media.
At the end of the 30 minutes, the Team Leaders will have 2 minutes each to connect their section. Team Leaders can use the assistance of their Team members for this connection. Once all 3 sections of the bridge are connected, it will then be tested for weight by driving a car over it that contained a 20 ounce bottle full of water and then the placement of a 1 gallon bottle.
Our bridge successfully passed the test!! After this weight test we then held a discussion over this exercise about what was the most challenging part of this exercise, which was communication, and about Team work, Effective Communications, Creative Thinking and Critical Problem Solving.
After the exercise we then began reviewing FY17 Revenue projections, FY17 continuation and FY17 budget requests.
Another assignment that our Officer’s had was to conduct a SWOT Analysis with their assigned station personnel. They were to hold a discussion with their personnel over the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats related to the Fire District as they see it. At our Workshop, each shift /station listed their information on a large notepad and then these items were discussed for possible development of strategic goals for FY17-FY22 and if they became a goal for FY17 it would be linked to the FY17 budget
