Team Purpose Goals and Plans - Coursework Example

TEAM WORK EFFECT Name of student Name and Number of Course Name of Professor Date Team Purpose Goals and Plans This report is about management of a disaster and entails working in a team. Our team is going to react to flooding situation in Michigan. As the frontline manager I will be responsible for the overall process and will develop my team accordingly through delegating duties to my subordinates. The office of the emergency department in Michigan operates on the mission of providing mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from natural and human made disaster within Michigan (State, 2013). Michigan acknowledges various preparedness partners, which help in providing help and security during disasters. Some of the partners responsible for preventing and helping flooding include the American Red Cross, Attorney General the lawyer of Michigan, Department of Community Health Michigan, Education department, Environmental Quality department, Human services, military and Veteran Affairs, and Sate Police. The departments provide quality information that helps in preparing for flooding possibilities and disasters like Tornados. When a flooding disaster strikes, the following features are at stake. Electricity supply is likely to be affected especially when poles and electrical supply lines are interrupted by strong winds. For example in June 27th 2013 100,000 homes and businesses were left without power. Roads become impassable for motorists and the rest of the road users due to flooding. Most of the households face risks especially when flooding water finds their ways to their houses. Learning becomes interrupted with flooding and most business activities are affected. Crops and plants in the field are not usually spared. In addition to this, domestic animals usually face the challenge. Most of the families end up lacking feature with challenges of disease outbreak due to flooding. Allocation of Individual Work My teams will be comprised of 5 departments which I shall delegate duties. The goal of our team is to save Michigan City from the current flood that has swept the state in the last one week. I shall be working with the following heads of department; mitigating officer who will be responsible for planning and research unit. Operations management department will be responsible for coordinating preparedness and response unit, training and education department is also amongst one of the departments which will be coordinating public information, education and community outreach. Corporate service department will be dealing with administrative and financial services. The last department is the project management department, which shall be coordinating the management of various projects as we continue with the rescue operations. Providing emergency responses is important but depends on delivery of information. Before and during flooding, most households experience failure in communication which is important for the safety of the residents. One way in which Michigan emergency department uses to control and prevent damages is through providing education to schoolchildren. Students are taught how to communicate and how to respond to emergencies. Different countries have different means of preparing for disasters like floods; the first step is usually done by the meteorological stations where they assess any potential threat in the climatic pattern of a region. When warned of potential flooding, the following precautions are taken: sandbags are filled to ward off floodwaters; evacuation of areas with potential destruction is done according to local emergency recommendations. Liaise with a Team The citizens usually need freshwater after flooding thus are told to fill clean bathtubs, large pans, buckets, etc., and stored in case water services are interrupted. Electricity, which is the major power control, is turned off to prevent major accidents. Most of the feeding cafes need thorough inspection during flooding incidences. This is to ensure that people are provided with clean food. Communication of incidences of disaster is important in preventing death and damage of property. First alert calls are provided to the communities existing around these areas. A meeting is quickly called and recovery plans are put in place with the stakeholders available. This includes the police, Red Cross, Human Resource department, and responsible community stakeholders. After this meeting, the media is immediately contacted so that they can avail this information to the rest of the public. The media is informed on the immediate course of action that the residents are supposed to take. Disaster warnings are also available through radio and through social sites. This helps in quick access to the information. A mobilization center is then quickly launched and appropriate personnel, equipment, and resources are made available to receive people affected. Under severe circumstances, people and animals will be airlifted to safe areas. Upon reception these people and animals are received in the new temporary home where support such as food and billeting is provided. To avoid further damage, methods of disseminating safe information to all the people around the community are adopted. It is important that continued communication is available to keep in touch with people affected. On the other hand, safe handling of potentially hazardous materials is necessary to prevent leakage and spread through the flooding water. Monitoring of the situation is important to ensure that people comply with the minimum safety standards. Health care facilities should be readily available for treatment and care of injured people. Due to cold weather, treatment from shock is necessary. Through the support team leader in the event of the emergency, traffic control is necessary, security, community restoration, and site restoration as well. Under such circumstances, most of the affected people need help and contribution. It is important that help in terms of food is verified and stored properly to avoid dangers of disease attack. Financial contributions are necessary at this point and the emergency coordinator must open an account for people to contribute their donations. Encouragement and Reward The team is encouraged to work hard by a number of factors; the floods affect everyone of us both emotionally, materially and physically, once the team has seen the amount of damage done by the flood they are moved to work effectively to mitigate these effects, also the words of the team leader will push them to work hard ,as the overhead leader it is my duty to go from one department to another giving words of encouragement to the staff so that they do not loose hope, I have also spoken to the departmental heads to help whenever necessary and encourage people this can be through a pat on the back or congratulatory words (Guffey, 2010). Most of these people are volunteers who have offered their free services even though there will be some compensation when the disaster ends, during the time people are working, snacks and refreshments are provided to ensure no one works on an empty stomach, this is also a source of motivation and a token of appreciation. Team Conflict The kind of work my team is doing is so strenuous and may result in conflict of interest especially if leaders do not stick to their specified duties. it is important to ensure less team conflicts and more cooperation through advising the team members on how to react to conflicts when they arise to ensure effective delivery of services. Clashes may arise from perceptions, goals, and values. Without management of conflicts, teams develop complacency and fail to deliver their goals. (Alessandra, 2002) Working as a team Team work is a very important aspect as it incorporates into one all the strengths of individuals and camouflages individual weaknesses, (McGourty, 2001) because it is a culture of any group to work together as one to achieve the best results it is my duty to ensure good teamwork to enable effective and efficient achievement of our goals in the flood situation, working as a team has enabled the individuals focus on one objective without worrying about what is happening in the other department. Providing emergency responses is important but depends on delivery of information this will help the group members to have knowledge about what is going on within the ground such as how each department is fairing in its section keeping the people organized and efficient, therefore working as a team is important because it enables the team to do a lot of work within a short time unlike when it is one man doing the same job. Conclusion In conclusion, the State of Michigan is most of the times affected by floods resulting in deaths and loses of property worth millions of dollars, the authorities aim at preventing loss and damage of property but more effectively from preventing deaths. The department of emergency preparedness continues to provide training and education to the citizens and volunteers to help prepare for disasters such as flooding and is ready at anytime of the year to help when disaster strikes. This has continuously helped to reduces cases of death since people are now aware of what to do and how to carry out their rescue activities when flooding occurs. The recent case of flooding on June showed no casualties. Works Cited Alessandra, T. P. (2002). Communicating at Work. New York: Fireside Publishers. Guffey, M. E. (2010). "Business Communication: Process and Product." . Toronto: Thomson South-Western,. McGourty, J. &. (2001). Team developer: an assessment and skill building program. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Plan, T. N. (2009). The National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan , 35-37. State, M. (2013, June 23). Michigan Prepares. Retrieved 2013, from Michigan Prepparedness: http://search.michigan.gov/search?affiliate=mi-som&query=disaster%20preparedness Read More