Do you owe something to your coworkers? Something beyond the minimum that the job requires of you?
When you show up for your shift, are you required to inquire about their vacation or their kids’ birthdays? Are you obligated to show up with a smile and a kind word? To buy someone a soda or to sit down for someone even after they’ve already had their scheduled break?
The answer to each of these questions is ‘no.’
You aren’t required to be curious about your coworkers’ lives or to seek information about them beyond the minimum needed to work together.
You do not have to come to work with a smile, a good attitude or team spirit.
You aren’t mandated to offer assistance, even if you see a fellow employee struggling.
For some, working in 911 is defined by doing “what is required” and no more. If it isn’t in the SOPs or the job description, it isn’t part of their job. For those who choose such a path, a career in public safety can be a detached, impersonal, two-dimensional journey that evokes little passion or purpose.
They are part of a functioning workgroup. No more, no less.
When a third dimension is added, however, a simple workgroup can transform into a high-performance team that is deeply invested in the success of fellow coworkers and awash in a culture of support.
The third dimension: Going above and beyond what is required or expected, being guided by passion and purpose alongside the more standard requirements spelled out by job descriptions and SOPs.
When people come to work dedicated to the betterment of their coworkers, it’s easier to keep coming back.
When people come to work with genuine curiosity and open mindedness about their coworkers, a foundation of trust is cemented.
When people choose to engage with their coworkers – even if only while on the job – a sense of ‘team’ begins to emerge.
None of these efforts is necessarily expected or required, but each informs the experience that others have at work.
This does not mean that everyone who works in the comm center should aspire to be close friends.
It does mean that 911 telecommunicators who show interest in and care for their coworkers can literally createand cultivate a culture of belonging and support – and in an industry so often devoid of job satisfaction and career longevity, belonging and support are worth their weight in gold.
911 telecommunicators who go beyond what is required at work:
- Reach out to fellow employees to check on them
- Celebrate the successes of others, even when they, themselves, aren’t involved
- Help others before asked
- Relieve the person they’re sitting down for earlier than required
- Step up for a task when no one else will or can
- Show gratitude and extend grace
- Maintain an even emotional keel, even when it’s easier not to do so
It’s likely that none of these actions are spelled out as part of the job description or listed in departmental SOPs, but they all help heighten a shared team atmosphere in which support and belonging are emphasized.
Coworkers feel these actions deeply and personally.
People who choose to get more involved at work tend to do so because they love the rewards that come from it. They know that 50-60 hour weeks are easier to handle when they’re part of a high functioning team. They know the lows that often accompany public safety work are better dealt with when others have your back.
They also know that the good energy you put forth tends to come back to you.
If you ask anyone who has experience working in a 911 communications center about the people who stand out to them, they’ll tell you stories about coworkers who went well above and beyond what was expected. They’ll tell you how it made them feel and about how this support made a job that should have been awful much more enjoyable. They’ll tell you that none of these actions required enormous amounts of effort or energy. They were just unexpected and deeply appreciated when they occurred.
The power of a coworker who chooses to do more than expected cannot be quantified, but in exemplary, high-functioning comm centers across the country, their impact is driving the success of the centers in which they work.
Do you owe something to your coworkers?
Technically, you owe them no more than the minimum effort necessary to ensure a functioning workplace.
But daring to give more — to go above and beyond what is expected — can have a lasting impact across the board for your comm center, your coworkers and the industry at large.
Minimum effort gets the job done. Doing more redefines the job that we do and the way it gets done.
Following SOPs and meeting expectations defines what we do.
Taking our cues from passion and purpose changes who we are.
About Kris Inman:
Kris Inman is the Director of Program Development for The Healthy Dispatcher. A 29-year veteran of 9-1-1, Kris retired in July 2023 as Director of Springfield Greene County 9-1-1 in Springfield, MO. An awarded speaker and instructor, Kris has delivered standout educational sessions, keynotes, motivational talks and yoga instruction to dispatchers across the country. He is also a long-time college adjunct instructor, teaching courses in communication and public safety leadership. Kris holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Missouri State University. He is also a registered yoga instructor.