EMC269 Management or Operations?
To:   Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin
To:   Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio
By:   Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the
      California Governor's Office of Emergency Services  

EMC269 Management or Operations   Release 12/25/00

The question was recently asked "why don't the EMCOMM Bulletins
focus more on operations instead of management?" 

The EMCOMM bulletins have been focusing on MANAGEMENT because:

(1) the fundamental problems of establishing and maintaining an
EMCOMM unit have to do with unit management. When management fails
so do operations, but not often the reverse.

(2) operations and involvement helps in maintaining a unit, but
operations cannot overcome poor management

(3) Operations can vary widely, and tend to be highly customized
according to what part of the country in which a unit is located,
the type of local sponsor and the purpose of the unit. 

For these reasons, it seems important to provide as much help and
information on management as possible. That said, if readers want
more on operations, please e-mail the writer as to what aspects
of operations you want covered and why, along with ideas to get
the process clearly in mind for this writer. Better yet, if you
can write a bulletin on operations please do so. I look forward
to receiving it.

As to the bulletin management focus, perhaps it is time to restate
something covered in the bulletins in the l980's and l990's; that
is, to WHOM they should be DELIVERED, and with WHOM they should be
DISCUSSED.

They are intended to be placed in the hands of, and discussed with,
the paid staff officials responsible for the life of the unit,
as well as the unpaid (volunteer) leadership. If they do not get
them, then some one in the unit can take the responsibility to do
so and get them into discussion.

Prior to the World Wide Web, feedback from government officials
indicated that few radio officers (or unit leaders) had brought
them to their attention or discussed the material with them. With
the advent of the Web page the bulletins became available in
a way that any searcher could find them. However, local unit
personnel should NOT assume their leaders utilize them, although
a great many do. So, if they are not in use in your unit, try and
take the initiative and so they become useful. 

As the primary bulletin writer I try to keep a multiple focus in
mind: the paid staff coordinator and the unpaid managerial staff,
as well as those who will become future leaders as the principles
and ideas are learned, tested and discarded or absorbed.

Notwithstanding the Internet and the World Wide Web, it is still
quite important that someone (usually in senior unit management)
takes the time and effort to put the bulletins into the hands of
the unit paid-staff coordinator unless you KNOW FOR CERTAIN that
he/she gets (and reads them) regularly via the Bulletin Server or
the ACS Newsletter Server. 

What is equally critical is that someone in senior unit management
have the opportunity to discuss applicable topics from the bulletins
with that coordinator. Where the coordinator declines that help
the bulletins can be passed higher up as appropriate. That process
must be diplomatic, but should not be overlooked as it can become
essential to a units continued existance.

Cary Mangum, W6WWW        E-mail: cary.mangum@macnexus.org                          
EOM