You are a station officer who is currently working with the best crew you've ever had. They're smart, self-starting, hard working, and they all get along great together. Best of all, they're fun to work with, and two of them in particular are like a professional comedy team at times. Sometimes you feel as if you have laughed for the entire shift.

Still, sometimes you worry. At times people get a little carried away with the jokes and it isn't uncommon for sex, race, religion, and politics to be the source of humor. Sometimes the humor is pretty graphic. It is never mean spirited, and the jokes are self-deprecating more than aimed at others, but still. A couple of years ago, there was a harassment investigation on the department and the officer was implicated. You don't want to condone any behavior that would get you or your crew in trouble.

So what should you do? In such circumstances, people tend to take extreme positions — either deciding that the behavior is totally okay because everyone else thinks so, or deciding that it is too risky and coming down hard. Either of these approaches is likely to have a bad outcome.

Some officers take a hands-off approach to joking around in the station. As long as no one is hurt, as long as no one complains, then they figure it is probably all right. This attitude just about guarantees a bad outcome eventually. There is tremendous pressure in any group to "go along to get along" even if an individual feels very uncomfortable with the behavior of others. That person may wait a long time before complaining, and at that point it may be too late to remedy the situation.

Even if everyone on the crew is on board with the tone of station life, when officers exercise no influence over behavioral standards then they have basically given away a significant aspect of their authority and responsibility. Maintaining professionalism among the crew is part of the company officer's job. Such influence does not have to be heavy handed, but there should always be an element of control from the top down.

Too controlling
It is possible to be too controlling, however. Some officers allow fear to lead them to decisions and actions that make no sense. For example, one officer who had recently attended a fairly draconian sexual harassment class started turning off the TV set every time a female firefighter entered the room. He said he was afraid that something being broadcast might offend her. He did this — much to the annoyance of the rest of the crew — whether they were watching a movie or the evening news. This action did nothing to exert positive influence over crew standards, and only served to isolate the one woman on the crew.

Company officers should always see themselves as critical evaluators, whether they are on a fire scene or joking around with the crew over coffee.

The key to crew humor is moderation and vigilance. Inclusive humor helps to solidify teams, and can even be therapeutic when you've just spent the last hour cutting a child out of a wrecked car or scraping someone's brains off the sidewalk. Medical studies show that laughter can promote both physical and psychological health. But like anything else, humor can go too far, even when there is no intention to harm anyone. Firefighters are notoriously competitive and are more than ready to engage in "can you top this" types of interactions with their peers. What might begin as innocuous kidding around can turn into behavior that is clearly inappropriate by any standard.

It is the company officer's job to maintain a standard of professionalism even when having fun in the station. Playing this role can be challenging when you yourself are engaged in the group interaction. You don’t want to always stand aside from your crew, isolating yourself and promoting what some call the "sterile" work environment. But neither do you want to be so involved that you lose sight of what is going on.

Company officers should always see themselves as critical evaluators, whether they are on a fire scene or joking around with the crew over coffee. It is the officer's place to see the big picture, and to be able step aside to see the situation from different points of view. Critical evaluation during station down time might include asking yourself, "How would I feel about this conversation or behavior if I were a citizen walking into the fire station right now? Would I be okay with my spouse seeing me act like this? If my supervisor or a city council member walked in at this moment, would I continue doing what I'm doing? Would I feel all right with a video of this scene being shown on the evening news?"

If the answer to all these questions is yes, then that is pretty good indication that the behavior is professionally appropriate. However, if any of these questions cause a serious shudder, then it is time to step back and exercise the influence over crew behavior that is part of your job. Putting the brakes on a situation that is getting out of control does not make you the bad guy. It is part of good leadership, and ultimately your crew will thank you for it.