Selecting, Managing, and Motivating Your Overhead Team James Cooke Sonoma County Sheriff's Department Search and

Rescue Team
Table of Contents: A. The Importance Of The Overhead Team B. Selection
1. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD OVERHEAD TEAM MEMBER 2. CROSS TRAINING 3. TRAINING FOR SUCCESSION

B1. Selecting Section Leaders

THE "GARAGE TEST" CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL SEARCH MANAGERS CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL PLANS SECTION LEADERS CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS SECTION LEADERS CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL LOGISTICS SECTION LEADERS

C. Managing and Motivating The Overhead Team C1. Managing and Motivating Before The Search
TRAINING EXERCISING TEAM BUILDING

C2. Managing And Motivating During The Search

CRITICAL ROLE OF THE SEARCH MANAGER THE FINE ART OF COORDINATION MANAGING THE INFORMATION FLOW MANAGING BY WANDERING AROUND POSITIVE URGENCY AS A MOTIVATOR

About the author:

James Cooke is a volunteer with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department Search and Rescue Team.

James Cooke -- 72223.2140@compuserve.com A. The Importance Of The Overhead Team

A search is like starting a new business. There are resources to be found, staff to be managed, a business plan to follow, and work toward a goal. About 90% of all new businesses fail in their first year, primarily due to poor management. Most searches that fail to meet their goal (finding the missing person, preferably alive) also fail due to poor management.

All Search and Rescue Teams spend considerable amounts of time training. Most of that training is geared toward developing filed search skills, and rightly so. Far less time is spent developing management skills. This lack of training time in management directly translates into poorly run searches. Development of a well-trained, cohesive management team should be one of the most important goals of every team.

B. Selection
1. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD OVERHEAD TEAM MEMBER A primary requirement for a good overhead team member is field search experience. It is not possible for anyone on overhead to understand the needs and problems of the field searcher unless he or she has experienced the challenges of being a field searcher. In my early experience as a field searcher, I was constantly frustrated by how long it took to get teams into the field. I vowed that, should I ever be on overhead, I would make it a goal to get teams into the field within an hour after they arrived. There is no substitute for actual field experience in sensitizing overhead team members to the needs of field searchers. The need for field experience should not mean that the best field searchers get put on the overhead team. There are some team members who perform admirably in the field but have no desire or aptitude for management. A position on the overhead team should not be viewed as a "promotion" but as a change of assignment. A mix of good searchers and good management is absolutely necessary for a good search team. Most successful overhead team members have some characteristics in common, at least in my experience. Some of these characteristics include; Previous Management Experience. Many overhead team members are either managers in their business lives or small business owners. They have already experienced the day-to-day problems of managing a business and can apply those lessons learned to the search environment. Team Players. Managing a search is very much a team activity. Persons who want to be superstars will not only not succeed in search management, they will demoralize and fragment the rest of the overhead team. Flexibility. Managing a search is a constant exercise in rolling with punches and changing priorities. A rigid personality has great difficulty in this type of fluid environment and becomes frustrated and depressed.

Assertiveness. This does not mean aggressiveness, however. Assertiveness requires strength, not belligerence. The assertive person is willing to speak up even if it means causing a confrontation. The assertive person needs respect rather than love. The assertive person is focused on the goals of the team rather than their own ego. The assertive person is honest with their opinions while considering the feelings of others. No overhead team can succeed without assertive management. While not all-overhead personnel have all of these characteristics, it is unlikely that someone with none these characteristics would be a good choice for the overhead team. 2. CROSS TRAINING A key failure of many overhead teams is the lack of cross training of their team members. Since Search and Rescue Teams are primarily made up of volunteers, it is impossible to know in advance which overhead personnel will be available for any particular search. It doesn't do any good to have the best plans leader around if that person is not available for this search and there is no else than can step into the role. It is important that a plans leader, for example, understand the duties and responsibilities of the operations leader, and vice versa. While neither may be completely comfortable in their counterpart's roles, they will be able to step in if the need arises.

3. TRAINING FOR SUCCESSION None of us is getting any younger. Just as in business, there must successors groomed to step in when the current leaders leave. The best way to assure succession is to include promising newcomers in your overhead team after they achieve their required field experience. Assign these "trainees" assistant positions, working with your section leaders, so they can learn from example. When you have training searches, let these assistants assume the section leader roles with normal section leaders acting as observers. The assistants will experience the challenges of the search, and the section leaders can give constructive feedback for improvement at the conclusion of the training. When you continuously train all your overhead team, including trainees, you are naturally training for succession. Willingness of your veteran leaders to share their training and experience makes the new overhead team members feel part of the program rather than outsiders.

B1. Selecting Section Leaders

THE "GARAGE TEST" How does your garage look? My own subjective view is that your garage is predictive of your success on the overhead team. I cannot give you any evidence that this is true, but I'll give you a summary of my own ideas of the garages of overhead team leaders; Search Manager: Two cars, only one of which can fit in the garage. A lot of tools, but low mechanical ability prevents their use. Not very well organized, but can probably find most things if given time. Plans Leader: Two cars, both of which can fit in the garage. Tools all on pegboard with neat outlines. Shelves are organized and probably labeled. Cleans oil stains from floor regularly. Operations Leader: Two cars, but one of them is probably a truck that won't fit in the garage. Lots of tools all in tool boxes for easy transport. Garage might appear sloppy, but can find anything in a flash. Always in the middle of a lot of projects that will be finished tomorrow. Logistics Leader: Has about 5 cars and trucks, but none of them can fit in the garage. Doesn't even call it a garage, but a workshop or warehouse. Has enough tools and materials to rebuild a railroad locomotive. Accumulated material for the past 20 years, all of which might be useful someday. Doesn't know where everything is but knows where to go to get a new one, usually free or wholesale.

On a more serious note, there are some common characteristics shared by overhead team leaders. My observations of these attributes include; CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL SEARCH MANAGERS The search manager must be a coordinator. He or she must be able to step back from the swirl of the minute-to minute activity of the search and see the big picture. The search manager must let others perform the roles they are trained for without micro managing the search. The search manager must be goal oriented. The goals of the search have to be uppermost in the search manager's mind, and he or she must be able to communicate those goals to the rest of the team. The search manager must be able to convey a sense of positive urgency. When the tendency to panic becomes strong, the search manager must be able to defuse and redirect the team toward urgency and away from panic. The search manager must be a communicator. The ability to convey your ideas and goals to everyone from the individual field searcher to the sheriff is vital to the smooth running of the search. The search manager

should feel comfortable running planning meetings, and should be able to take constructive criticism without becoming defensive. CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL PLANS SECTION LEADERS Plans Section Leaders must have a love for detail. They must be able to sort through the mountains of information that are generated during a search and see the clues that lead to the missing person. Plans Section Leaders must be organizers. They will have to convert an abstract map into an organized, clear search plan. They must be able to establish a schedule and stick to it. Plans Section Leaders must be goal oriented. They will help establish the goals of the search, and they must be able to communicate their goals and keep the search effort focused on the goals. Operations Section Leaders must be decisive. They will have to make many minute-by-minute decisions as the search grows and changes. Operations Section Leaders should be action oriented rather than analysis oriented. Getting teams in the field, even if turns out to be not in the best location, is better than having teams sit around until all information has been gathered. Remember that a large percentage of all searches are resolved by luck rather than information, so having enough teams in the field quickly can find the missing person even if we don't have any other information. Operations Section Leaders should be acutely aware of the needs of the field teams. Searchers with good maps, good transportation, and good food are happy searchers. Since all of these items are provided by other sections, the Operations Team Leader has to act as an advocate for the field searchers to keep pressure on the rest of the overhead team to make sure these needs are met. No other section leader has closer contact with the people that actually do the work of searching. The Logistics Section Leader has to be a good scrounger. The amount of material resources needed to conduct a search can sometimes be overwhelming. Communications, food, transport, etc., are absolutely vital to the success of the search, and a good Logistics Section Leader knows where to get everything. The Logistics Section Leader must have some technical skill. Whether it is the ability fix a broken vehicle, set up a base camp, or establish a radio net, the Logistics Section Leader must have skills he or she brings to the job. There is no training as part of the MSF course that trains the Logistics Section Leader for the task.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS SECTION LEADERS

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL LOGISTICS SECTION LEADERS

C. Managing and Motivating The Overhead Team C1. Managing and Motivating Before The Search
TRAINING The overhead team should be a permanent part of your search team organization. It is not possible to develop good management skills unless everyone exercises and trains for their task, and this applies to the overhead team as much as to a technical rescue team. A minimum training level should be the completion of the Managing the Search Function course. This course at least gives everyone the same basic orientation and a common set of terms and functions. In addition, overhead team members should be encouraged to attend any other training that is available, such as BATSAR, SAREX, and SAR City. All of these offer courses that will help the overhead team member improve their skills as well as putting them in contact with overhead team members form other Search and Rescue Teams. A lot of training in overhead is gained by talking with and listening to other overhead team members.

EXERCISING Table top searches and mock searches are two types of exercises that will improve the skills of your overhead team. Table top searches will help the overhead team get used to the paperwork and working in cooperation with each other. A good table top search sharpens your skills in tactics and resource utilization. Three to four table top searches a year seems to be a good number to keep the overhead team interested. It should be the responsibility of different overhead member to create each table top search, either as a unique search or from an actual search from your own area. Creating good table top searches is an art, and training is required to create a realistic and satisfying table top search. Mock searches should be an opportunity to practice skills that have already been learned. It is a mistake to think that persons without the requisite training can be thrust into an overhead role during a mock search and expect that they will have a good training experience. The only result will be frustration and bad feelings. This is the ideal environment for assistant section leaders to step into the section leader role, however. The assistant can experience the stress and problems of managing the section without the risks of an actual search. The section leaders can act as observers and give the assistants some pointers as the search progresses. The most important part of either the table top search or the mock search is to have a lessons learned section. Every exercise exposes weaknesses in our organization, and the final part of these exercises should always be a review of these weaknesses and developing some goals toward eliminating them. TEAM BUILDING The overhead team must have a definite, major purpose. That purpose should be the management of resources and plans to efficiently search for, find, and recover the missing person. Every member should understand and agree with this goal, and any weakness that interferes with the goal should be strengthened or eliminated. The overhead team must think of itself as group working in perfect harmony toward a common goal. This does not mean there are never any disagreements among members of the overhead team, but it does mean that everyone is treated with respect and that any disagreements are always resolved in favor of the missing person. New leaders are trained and motivated by the present leaders. If the present leaders are secretive, non-supportive, and ego driven, new leaders will drop out rather than put up the abuse. Unfortunately, the new leaders that survive will have all the defects of the present leaders and the destructive cycle will continue. The concept of mentoring is very important for the developing of new leaders. Each present leader should take the new leaders under their wings and share with them the lessons they have learned. Persons hoping to be leaders should actively seek out persons they admire and respect to establish this mentoring relationship.

C2. Managing & Motivating During The Search

CRITICAL ROLE OF THE SEARCH MANAGER The search manager has several critical functions to perform during a search. If these functions are not performed, the organization and success of the search always suffers. The search manager must have a positive mental attitude. The search manager must believe the search will be successful. This positive mental attitude will be conveyed to the rest of the overhead team, as will a negative mental attitude. Doubts and negative thoughts will become a self fulfilling prophecy. Self-discipline is a prime requirement of the search manager. He or she must know the plan and follow it. If the search manager changes the operation with every twist and turn of the search, the rest of the overhead team will have no confidence in the plan and will start to run their own operation. No matter how much experienced you have or how smart you think you are, there is no substitute for following a well conceived plan.

The search manger must have a healthy dose of skepticism. The nature of searches is to generate false clues. Most information we receive at the beginning of a search is not correct or is only correct in part. The search manager must only believe and act on facts that can be proven, not assumptions or hearsay. Many a search has gone wrong due to a hasty assumption that a fact was or was not true with no evidence to back it up. THE FINE ART OF COORDINATION One of the most difficult aspects of management is how tight to hold the reins. The search manager naturally wants to know everything that is happening during a search. In most cases, the search manager also wants to act on the information, even if this means make a unilateral decision. The reason an overhead team exists is to break the task of search management into manageable pieces. One person cannot manage all aspects of the search. The section leaders must be left to manage their part of the search as they see fit. If the search manager is constantly interfering with the operation of the various sections, teamwork will never develop. The search manager should view him or her self as a consultant, not the boss. He or she should be ready to offer advice or counsel when it is requested, but otherwise should serve in the role of coordinating the operations of the different sections. In addition, the search manager does not, and should not, know every detail of the operation. Section leaders are trained to deal with problems as they arise and generally do not need the "help" of the search manager. While the usual problems of the minute-to-minute aspects of the search are being solved, the search manager should be thinking about the next operational period. While the search manager should be in the background, he or she must also be prepared to step in if things start going terribly wrong. Obvious incompetence, bad attitudes and outright insubordination must be dealt with swiftly and decisively. The search manager is the one the rest of the team will look to to solve these types of problems, and failure to do so will lead to immediate morale problems. The balance between too much control and not enough control is precarious and fluid. Only experience and making and learning from mistakes teaches this art. MANAGING THE INFORMATION FLOW Information is the lifeblood of a search. What clues have been found, what team is doing what, what resources are available, and what still needs to be done are all examples of information that needs to be collected and analyzed for a successful search. Some ways to manage this information flow include; Use the Forms: Information not written down only exists in your mind. For everyone to know what is happening, you must use the ICS forms that are appropriate for the search. These forms should be part of your training routine and should be used on every search no matter how small. If you don't get into this habit, you will be way behind the power curve when your search turns into the "big one". Use Technology: Computers are a wonderful tool if you have people that know how to use them. Getting information managers on overhead who understand computers and the Search and Rescue programs that are available should be a prime interest of every search manager. Good use of computers can speed up signin, log clues, and help planners. That being said, however, you must understand that technology is not a substitute for good organization. The teams that benefit most from computers are those that already have manual systems that run smoothly. If it seems like you can never find the right forms and sign-ins only get done on yellow legal pads, a computer will only make this worse. Computers need logic to run, and poor planning and organization will only generate more mounds of paper that no one will have time to look at. Use Meetings: Planning meetings are absolutely necessary for information management. Every search manager should try to hold the first planning meeting within three hours of the start of the search and every four hours thereafter. Meetings should include your section leaders, investigators, agency representatives, and any other resources that you think are critical to the success of your search. Use the planning meeting form and establish your goals and objectives for the next four hours. Listen to the concerns and problems of the participants with a sympathetic ear and include their concerns as part of your goals. These meetings are also a good time for rumor control, to separate fact from fiction. By having regular meetings, everyone hears the same information and no one feels left out.

MANAGING BY WANDERING AROUND The search manager and section leaders must be visible. This means they should spend as much time as possible walking around the command post, watching what is happening and getting a general feeling of how the search is going. You can learn more about how well a search is going by spending five minutes watching from a corner than all the reports and meetings in the world. This is a good time to give words of thanks and encouragement to everyone who is working so hard towards the goal of finding the missing person. Don't forget to pay occasional visits to staging areas as well. Take the time to thank the searchers for their efforts and listen to their comments. Many times, you will hear a different set of concerns from the field searchers than you will hear from your management team, and both should be taken seriously. Remember, the role of the leader is to be seen and listen. You can't fulfill the leadership role if your head is buried in a computer or you are constantly meeting behind closed doors POSITIVE URGENCY AS A MOTIVATOR The last, and possibly most important, role of the search manger and the overhead team is to create an air of positive urgency. This means that the search must always be treated as an emergency, but not as a crisis. No matter what our emotional state, the search plan must be followed to assure ourselves that we have done everything possible to find the missing person. The tendency toward having the search degenerate into a crisis is ever present, and must be checked by the leadership. Assignments should be completed quickly but without rushing. Additional resources may be needed, but we don't need to over emphasize the critical nature of the search. During the initial stages of the search, adrenaline will be flowing and the leadership will be spending most of it's time suppressing the "fight or flight" aspect of the adrenaline surge. As the search wears on with no success, however, the adrenaline wears off and depression sets in. This is the most critical point of the search. The search leadership must continue to display the positive urgency referred to above, as well as the optimistic view that the find is just around the corner. Positive urgency, self discipline, and optimism are expected of the leader. If you cannot display these traits, you should think about whether or not the overhead team is the right place for you. The missing person deserves no less than best we can give.