EOC Supervisors need to be big picture thinkers: One of the ongoing challenges I've seen over the years is that people performing the job of EOC Supervisor get sucked into the details of one portion of an EOC activation. Call it "tunnel vision" or having the "blinkers on," but instead of being the orchestra leader, seeing all and directing activities, they end up "playing the tuba" on some particular project.
Perhaps it is because typically we function day-to-day as project managers. You have a project and you manage it. Being the EOC supervisor is a juggling act and you can't do it all, therefore you delegate (think ICS span of control) but then after delegating you can't just focus on one aspect of the activation.
You only get the experience you need from being in the fray. My military experience of being an operations officer for 10 of the 20 years I served as an infantry officer is what helped me. I've been in EOCs that consisted of a poncho over your head to being in multi-million dollar facilities. Flooding, wild land fires, snow storms, windstorms, train crashes, shootings are just some of the actual events. Disaster exercises give you the stress of trying to do this when lives are not on the line, and there is no better crucible than a good exercise to put you through your paces.
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Perhaps it is because typically we function day-to-day as project managers. You have a project and you manage it. Being the EOC supervisor is a juggling act and you can't do it all, therefore you delegate (think ICS span of control) but then after delegating you can't just focus on one aspect of the activation.
You only get the experience you need from being in the fray. My military experience of being an operations officer for 10 of the 20 years I served as an infantry officer is what helped me. I've been in EOCs that consisted of a poncho over your head to being in multi-million dollar facilities. Flooding, wild land fires, snow storms, windstorms, train crashes, shootings are just some of the actual events. Disaster exercises give you the stress of trying to do this when lives are not on the line, and there is no better crucible than a good exercise to put you through your paces.
