The team works much in a fashion of the simple hierarchy described in Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. There is a group of people at the bottom, or deckhands, who have very little interaction with the boss, or captain. In between those two levels lies a mediator, the senior deckhand, who communicates with both levels but handles most of the problems with the lower levels on his own and doesn't get the boss involved.
Over the past few summers I worked my way up from deckhand to senior deckhand. Once I obtained the title of senior deckhand my main responsibilities were to make sure that the deckhands were doing what they were supposed to , passengers boarded the vessel safely, and that everything was safe and secure on the boat during the trip. Since the captain is in a pilot house at the front of the boat he cannot effectively see what is happening behind him on the main and lower decks and very rarely has any interaction with the customers. We typically worked in the same group of five people everyday. Each boat had their own "crew" and for efficiency reasons thy would keep the crews together everyday.
In order for the day to run smoothly the crew had to work together and has to respond efficiently to any problems that arise during the day. Parts on the boat break, there are unruly passengers, recreation boats causing havoc on the river, and weather are just some of the obstacles that the crew has to overcome everyday. One way the team to be effective team has to have a common commitment toward the their working relationships. In order for everything to run smoothly people need to talk about their specific roles with each other and work to gather to try and make everyone happy so that the boat can operate successfully. Also, in order for the team to be successful we need to hold each other accountable if anything were to go wrong. If something goes wrong blame shouldn't necessarily fall solely onto the captain, but rather everyone who messed up should take blame to keep the tensions low and have an productive work environment.
A couple of problems arose last sumer, such as both the generating and engines failing. However, with the proper teamwork and training we were all able to work together and keep passengers calm, and fix the problem enough to get everyone off the boat and to safety. The captain was able to relay to me, the senior, that there was a problem with his steering and throttling and I was able to relay that information to the deckhands and we were able to work effectively because everyone knew there role and how to properly work together as a team.
You described this teamwork mainly in situations where something has gone wrong. How frequently does that happen? While taking such a tour wasn't high on my list of activities for next summer, you scared me into not doing so even if the opportunity show avail itself. (When my family visited Washington DC a few years ago, we did have a ride in something called a Duck, which was amphibious so we got a tour both from the land and from the water.)
ReplyDeleteSo I wonder if you could describe how the team functions when everything goes well. You said the captain doesn't interact much with the passengers. Does any of the crew interact with the passengers in the ordinary case? Or is there some recording that plays while the tour is underway?
The other thing that you might have talked about some is the preparation needed before the tour and the training needed for the deckhands. Understanding how those things happen would give a better sense of what the team is about.
I would say overall it is a relatively safe operation and everything runs smoothly for the most part. We typically run 9-12 tours a day all summer long, and each boat will have 2-3 problems over the course of the summer. But very similar to a crew of an airline, you always have to be prepared for the worst case scenario. You are responsible for the well being of the passengers so you must constantly be going over safety and mechanical drills. Drills range from man- overboard drills, what to do in case of a passenger having a heart attack or heat stroke, and drills that simulate loss of propulsion in the engines. Since the tour lasts 90 minutes, and there are no places you can really stop along the river, crews have to be CPR certified. The summer heat in Chicago can sometimes cause problems to arise and they must be handled accordingly.
ReplyDeleteTraining together as a team makes us familiar with each other and helps us to handle all sorts of situations effectively. On an ordinary day though however, crews are responsible mostly for taking customers tickets, directing them to available seats, and keeping unruly kids quiet throughout the tour. There is a live docent, or tour guide, that gives the actual tour, but they are not part of the team in the sense of they are not properly trained on the boats, they are just there to give the tour. On a normal day the crew is there to ensure that the customers a great tour experience and enjoy their time in Chicago.