How do you manage continuous operations?
Borrow One Idea: Staff Duty
The military is a 24 hour operation, even during peacetime when units are stationed on domestic bases. Not a lot happens in the evening hours, but at battalion headquarters and higher, there must always be a small team in the office, just in case. In the US Army this is called staff duty.
In the United States armed forces, the duty officer is generally in charge of a unit headquarters in the absence of the commander. Their duties include inspection of soldiers on guard duty (also called watchstanders in the Navy), being in charge of quarters at the company and battery level and staff duty NCOs at the battalion level, inspection of the arms rooms, motor pool and unit dining facilities. The duty officer will contact the commander and senior NCOs if emergency messages are sent to the unit. The duty officer usually carries a notebook and briefcase with a series of phone lists and checklists put together by the unit adjutant to guide the officer through their tour of duty.
Staff duty consists of an officer, a non-commissioned officer, and a soldier, assigned for a 24-hour period. During the day they sit somewhere within the headquarters building, in proximity to the commander and staff, acting as quasi-receptionists for the unit. At night, the officer has a list of things to periodically check while the NCO and soldier man the empty HQ.
Mostly what you do on staff duty is wait for the eruption.
Is it a weekend night? You are waiting for a call about a DUI or drunken fight.
Is a unit in the field? You are waiting for a call about a training incident.
Are you in Korea? You are looking at the clock at 3:59AM wondering if the go-to-war sirens are going to sound in a minute, signaling the start of an 8-16 hour training exercise.
The primary goal for someone assigned staff duty is to complete the 24-hour shift without anything interesting happening. Zero eruptions.
As a Lieutenant, I dreaded staff duty. It felt like a waste of a 24-hour period and usually led to an unproductive workday. So much time was consumed hanging out in the headquarters during the day, watching the battalion staff work, seeing the Battalion Commander interact with people casually, and tracking who was coming and going and why. I did not see value in any of this.
It took me years to realize there was value in all of it. Exposure.
A battalion headquarters is not rarified air, but as a Lieutenant with actual things to manage in a company or battery, it is not a place you are going to spend time. Visits to the battalion were reserved for when you needed to ask for something, sit in the back of the room during someone else’s briefing, or get grilled for something your unit did or failed to do.
Staff duty was the one acceptable opportunity to hang out and watch how the headquarters worked.
Leadership offices and the c-suite are, more frequently than not, rarified air. Separated by floors, glass walls, card access, or sometimes in entirely different buildings, by design most employees lack exposure to their ‘headquarters’.
But what if companies had staff duty? Not because arms rooms and motor pools need regular inspection, but because we appreciated the benefit of providing increased exposure for junior leaders.
This week, borrow with pride and imagine how you can institute a staff duty concept. What would it take to create a system in which developing leaders or younger team members could be habitually exposed to senior ways of working and the functions of the inner headquarters? How might this benefit team members and in what ways might it be helpful for executives? How do you manage continuous operations?
Get Familiar With: Continuous Command Post Operations
Not everything should or needs to be treated like a continuous operation, but life is trending in that direction. Continuous news feeds, global business networks and supply chains, omni-channel commerce, remote work technology, and on-demand everything have eliminated many of the barriers that define ‘business hours.’
Most companies and organizations handle the management of continuous operations poorly. Fatigue and degrading efficiency are as likely to result from attempts at continuous operations as the intended outputs.
This is due, in large part, to most organizations and business leaders having little or no experience establishing or maintaining continuous operations.
9-1. Army operations are continuous, and units operate at the same level of intensity for extended periods. Units and organizations must man, equip, and organize CPs to execute operations and sustain command and control (C2) without interruption.
9-2. During continuous operations, CP personnel perform several routine and recurring tasks to establish, operate, and move CPs. With the assistance of their staffs, commanders develop processes and procedures for performing these tasks. The collective whole of those processes and procedures are encapsulated in SOPs to govern CP operations.
FM 6-0, 9-1 through 9-2, PDF page 143
At the center of a continuous operation is the command post, responsible for providing continuous coordination and support for the mission.
There is a physical component of continuity for a command post that is not unimportant. But what is more important for a high performing command post is continuity in information flows and decision support.
How do you manage continuous operations? What is required to establish and maintain continuous operations? When are continuous operations needed and when are they onerous? Do you and your teams have standard operating procedures to facilitate consistent performance during inconsistent circumstances?
The Guided Discovery for this week will review the US Army’s guidance for continuous operations in a tactical command post operations and what is required to provide consistent command and control for leaders in pressure-filled environments.
Learn More: Suggested Reading
FM 6-0, Commander and Staff Organization and Operations
Pages 9-1 through 9-16 based on printed document (PDF pages 143-158)
Discussion of the processes and actions for effective and efficiency management of command posts
These materials will be the focus of Thursday’s Guided Discovery
Catch Up: Last Week’s Content
Study: CCIRs
Guided Discovery: Command & Staff
Always be asking:
1. What is the connection with my leadership development?
2. How does this change my thinking on management?
3. How does this influence planning for life?
4. What can I borrow with pride to use this week?