Fire Officer Handbook - CH 4 Fire Officer Communications Flashcards
According to the text the communication cycle consists of what 5 parts?
1) message
2) sender
3) medium (with noise ie radio)
4) receiver
5) feedback
What 5 techniques may help improve your listening skills?
1) Do not assume anything - do not anticipate
2) do not interrupt - let them have a full say
3) try to understand the need - find underlying issue
4) look for real reason
5) do not react too quickly - don’t jump to conclusions
What is the purpose of Active Listening?
To help the fire officer understand the fire fighters viewpoint to solve an issue or problem.
The fire officer needs to keep the chief officer informed about what 3 areas?
1) progress towards performance goals and project objectives
2) matters that my cause controversy
3) attitudes and morale
How does the fire officer handle the ‘Grapevine’?
A fire officer needs to deal with grapevine rumors that are creating stress among the firefighters by identifying the accurate info and sharing it with subordinates.
What is Environmental Noise?
The physical or sociological condition that interferes with the message, anything that can clog or interfere with the medium delivering the message (siren)
According to the text what are 8 suggestions to improve communications by minimizing environmental noise?
1) do not struggle for power
2) avoid an offhand manner
3) keep emotions in check
4) remember words have meaning
5) do not assume the receiver understands the message
6) immediately seek feedback
7) provide appropriate detail
8) watch out for conflicting orders
What are the 8 key points for emergency communications?
1) be direct
2) speak clearly
3) use a normal tone of voice
4) hold radio mic 2 inches from mouth
5) allow for time in repeater system
6) use plain English, no 10 codes
7) use common terminology
8) avoid other noise sources
What are Informal Communications?
These include internal memos, emails, IM’s, and messages transmitted via mobile data terminals.
What are Formal Communications?
These are office FD documents printed on business stationary with FD letterhead.
According to the text what are Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s)?
Written organizational directives that establish or prescribe specific operational or admin methods to be followed routinely for the performance of designated operations or actions.
According to the text what are Standard Operating Guidelines?
SOGs are written organizational directives that identify a desired goal and describe the general path to accomplish the goal, including critical tasks or cautions.
According to the text, a fire officer should be prepared to make presentations or to speak to groups, and that a verbal presentation should consist of what 4 parts?
1) get their attention (enticing opening)
2) interest statement (immediate and brief)
3) details (organize facts logically and systematically)
4) action
According to the text what are best practices of social media techniques?
Crowdsourcing for creative problem solving
Online collaboration and multimedia information sharing
Developing creative and engaging content
Relationship building and community partnerships
Volunteer networks
Text campaigns
Incentification (causing excitement in what you are offering)
Gamification (game oriented thinking and game mechanics to engage users and solve problems)
According to the text, what 5 ways does Dave Statter recommend Getting in Front of a Controversial Issue?
1) Get your house in order now. Before questions arise.
2) take corrective action on any abuses you uncover
3) if you believe anything could become a problem, consider breaking the news yourself
4) be able to defend policies publicly
5) change the policy if you are unable to defend it publicly
