Teamwork checklists

Good teamwork is an increasingly important part of emergency management. When teams aren’t working effectively a variety of problems can result, that include: confusion, miscommunication, differing plans and unexpected actions. It is important then to ensure that teams are performing as well as possible. To help people think in more detail about how their teams are functioning the CFS and researchers from the Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC have joined together to develop a straight-forward, practical set of teamwork checklists. The checklists contain a number of questions that help people consider the communication, coordination and cooperation of the team. If issues are identified then this prompts a discussion with members of that team about how to resolve the issue. A number of high level resolution strategies are suggested in the checklists. The tools provide a very flexible way to look at teamwork. The tools can be used by team-members; team-leaders; or by people close to, but outside the the team (such as group officers). The tools can be used as a health check during an operational response, to identify suspected problems, as a debrief tool or to promote better teamwork during training. The research conducted on the checklists has been very positive and suggests that the checklists provide useful information that helps people identify issues in teams. If you are interested in finding out more about the teamwork checklists please contact Mark Thomason.