Background

In emergency management agencies the need for effective information flow to enhance shared understanding and collective learning at the team and organisational level is critical. Timely interactions and collaborations within and between both same-site and geographically isolated “teams” are crucial for achieving seamless information flow and coordinated effective action. Communication breakdowns in such teams of even a minor nature can easily lead to unnecessary and unacceptable property loss at best, or life threatening consequences at worst

Project Statement

The goal of the project is to work with stakeholders to improve teamwork effectiveness and subsequent organisational (and cross-organisational) learning. To this end the project aims to:

• Identify, map and model individual and collective work practices employed in IMT environments
• Identify, map and model what cultural and structural (e.g., ICT’s, knowledge management processes) enable and constrain effective IMT work and subsequent organisational learning
• Evaluate existing training approaches used for teamwork effectiveness and develop strategies for agencies to consider in training
• Evaluate the impact of innovations in information technology on teamwork operations and
• Develop new strategies to enhance effectiveness

The research approach used will involve the following activities:

• a comprehensive literature review of team-based work effectiveness indicators (TBWEI’s) that are relevant in an IMT context (includes analysis of secondary data such as bushfire reports and inquiries);
• Interviews with key personnel involved in IMT work;
• Observations of collaborative IMT operations and post-incident interviews when operationally convenient;
• Stakeholder workshops to evaluate the data and to identify and develop improvements in IMT practice;
• Collaborating with agencies to identify and implement relevant innovations to address specific agency needs
• Evaluation of strategies developed with stakeholders.

Benefits include:

• Better understanding of the ways in which IMT groups work together
• Better understanding of the ways in which information flows through organisations and the way knowledge is managed before, during and after incidents for organisational learning
• Better understanding of what enables and constrains successful IMT operations and information flow
• Improved training strategies in communication, teamwork and coordination of incident management operations.
• Enhanced reliability and responsiveness IMT operations at times of fire.
• Application of the findings will lead to improved preparedness and collective action that will mitigate the effects of future disasters in Australia.

The Protecting Firefighters Workshop held prior to the Bushfire CRC / AFAC Conference on the Gold Coast in September 2009 played a critical role in combining three research projects including Effective Incident Management Teams, Safe Behaviour and Decision Making, and Firefighter Health and Safety.

The workshop, utilising the synergies that exist between the different subject areas, helped form a unique specialist course and a useful research adoption product for the fire industry.

As a result of this work, an Information Package was developed to assist understanding, to build knowledge of the research, and to provide tools for personnel in various roles in order to make tangible use of the research. To read through and take advantage of the Information Package, click here.