By Division Chief Trevor Wilson
The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) boasts robust planning and goal implementation processes, but that was not always the case. Prior to 2019, goal selection was limited to the uppermost levels of the organization and completed behind closed doors. The key drivers were pressure from the authority having jurisdiction, critical operational needs and leadership-level pet projects. Formal implementation and assessment processes did not exist. As a result, many goals were either forgotten or rolled over year-after-year.
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Impetus for change
The impetus for change started in 2015 when Fire Chief Ernest Malone made official his desire for IFD to gain international accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). After a rocky start, serious progress was made in 2018 under Planning Chief Matt Henss, Strategic Planning Officer Michael Tiernan and myself, serving as the accreditation manager. Our team completed IFD’s first community risk assessment and five-year strategic plan that year.
The strategic planning process included an audit of the core competencies found in the CFAI’s Fire and Emergency Services Self-Assessment Manual (FESSAM). A department must be found credible in every one of these industry best practices to gain accredited status. The audit uncovered close to 40 challenges IFD would need to overcome before hosting a peer review team.
Executive meetings
These findings presented a considerable obstacle. We needed to create a new system, one that would improve accountability and ensure timely progress. Following the lead of departments like Orange County Fire Rescue in California and the Atlanta Fire Department, we determined that the best way forward was to hold bi-weekly executive staff meetings.
The first meeting of the month featured the deputy chiefs standing in front of the executive staff, planning division and select program leads to share their bureau’s latest key performance indicator (KPI) data. Two weeks later, the group reconvened to report on goal progress. Chief Malone and Assistant Chief Michael White asked questions and provided feedback.
The new process resulted in significant dividends. The deputy chiefs were better informed about the status of their bureaus. Program leads knew their efforts were being assessed and learned how they fit into the department’s bigger picture. As a result, each of the core competencies was properly addressed — in fact, 52 of 59 annual goals were completed between January and the end of August. The department was able to welcome a peer review team in January 2020 and sit before the CFAI’s Board of Commissioners for the first time that March.
Original implementation (2019): KPIs and key questions
The department had been tracking KPI data for a few years. Many of these data points were selected based on data needed for the Insurance Services Office’s (ISO’s) Fire Suppression Rating Schedule and the accreditation process. Others came from the program leads. Each lead was asked, “If you had to defend your position from budget cuts, what would you point to as the most important things you are responsible for doing or measuring? How would you know if you were successful objectively? What data points would you provide as evidence?”
Once the program leads’ data points were identified, up to three more questions were asked:
- Do you already track this data?
- If not, do you currently have the means to track this data?
- If not, is it possible to purchase or develop the means to track this data?
If the answers were all “no,” we shelved the idea and looked for an alternative. Otherwise, the planning division asked the leads to begin capturing the data and reporting out on it each month. The goal was for them to share this data with their deputy chiefs ahead of the executive staff meetings to improve situational awareness and proactively develop contingency plans as needed. Some programs went as far as to develop internal dashboards.
Turning to the annual goals, the accreditation manager met with each program lead once a month to discuss their progress. Each goal was reviewed, as well as the annual commitment the program lead had made heading into the year. The leads would discuss how the past month had gone, share any issues or obstacles and then discuss their plans for the following 30 days.
A presentation was then created with each goal having two slides. The first slide contained the goal, objectives and annual commitment. The next screen shared the previous commitment, actions taken and their next commitment. The deputy chiefs and program leads would present this information and provide context as needed.
Both the KPI and goals meetings took a significant amount of time. Each one ran between 90 and 150 minutes. This may seem like a lot, but the attention to detail and accountability allowed IFD’s culture to shift significantly in a very short period. The real key, though, was vocal and consistent support from Chief Malone.
Program evolution
IFD stayed true to the CFAI’s mantra of continuous improvement. The annual planning and goal implementation process saw minor tweaks through each of the next five years. The first significant change occurred during the annual planning process for 2020.
Having satisfied the FESSAM’s core competency demands, the program leads were free to begin attacking their goals from the strategic plan. The new process started by completing each program’s annual program appraisal document. The strategic plan was then thoroughly reviewed, and a decision was made regarding which goals and objectives they wanted to tackle. The leads were then allowed to add additional projects if their bandwidth allowed for it.
This shift was crucial in that the program leads were now pursuing the goals they wrote and objectives they chose. They had ownership of the who, what, why and how. Planning’s role evolved into helping them stay focused and removing obstacles. The tone of the meetings improved greatly as people became self-motivated and self-accountable.
Tracking goals
In 2021, the planning division began using an Excel document to chart each bureau’s goals, due dates and annual commitments.
The biggest change was moving from monthly sub-commitments to quarterlies. Each quarter began with a commitment and ended with an assessment of the progress made. The efforts of each month were captured on this document, as well. After reviewing the previous quarter, a new commitment was made.
The shift to quarterly goal commitments aligned with a shift in the executive staff meeting’s format. The first meeting of a quarter featured every bureau reporting out on their KPI data. The next five meetings served as goal progress updates where only one bureau would report out. These changes significantly reduced the length of the meetings. They were down to 45-90 minutes while still satisfying the original intention.
Situational awareness
Another major shift occurred with a schism between the executive staff meetings and quarterly planning meetings. Chief Malone reestablished a more traditional monthly executive staff meeting that involved only the division chiefs and higher, as well as the chief financial officer. The quarterly planning meetings (QPMs) expanded the roster of attendees to include all program leads and many direct reports.
Taking a page from the U.S. Army and former Deputy Chief Kevan Crawley, the format of the QPMs has shifted from reporting out on KPIs and every goal to more of a situational awareness approach. Each program lead completes a document informing the chief if a goal is completed or delayed (if it is on pace, no status update is needed). The form then asks for the most significant developments over the past 90 days and plans for the next 90 days. Leads provide a brief status update on their budget, equipment and staffing levels before closing with any questions for the chief or other members of the administrative staff. These files are collected and compiled into a packet that is shared before the meeting.
There are significant benefits to the QPM approach. All who attend a meeting should leave with a clear understanding of the department’s current efforts and issues. Each program lead is given face time with the chief and the ability to ask any questions directly. The chief gains information from primary sources and has a chance to assess the team’s professional development. The format also allows for increased communication among the admin staff and the chance to present a united front on seemingly minor issues that are having a large negative effect on the department.
Planning chief role
The final piece of the puzzle has been the planning chief informally performing chief of staff-like duties within the department. The monthly planning meetings still focus on goal progression, but their biggest benefits come from the planning chief’s ability to remove obstacles and aid in the professional development of the program leads.
The planning chief meets biweekly with Chief Malone and Assistant Chief White to provide status updates and “carry the mail” for the program leads that sometimes falls through the cracks. The planning chief’s ability to solve problems and get answers then helps further solidify relationships with the program leads. As a result, they are more receptive to executive coaching, thus strengthening their buy-in and the department as a whole.
Tips for replication
If our process is one you would like to implement, here are some keys:
- Inclusiveness: It starts with casting a wide net when creating your strategic goals; at a minimum, it is suggested to include the program leads in any process that creates goals for their programs (a sense of ownership can go a long way).
- Legitimacy: Use data and direct stakeholder feedback to determine your path forward; goals need to be defensible and beneficial to the department and community; annual program assessments can prove valuable here.
- Communication: Explain the process to everyone, from the program leads to the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ).
- Explain how goals will be selected.
- Publicly share the goals.
- Decide upon a planning meeting cadence and send the invitations. Ideally, the person facilitating these efforts will be positioned somewhere above the program leads but below the top two levels of the organization; they need a small amount of formal power but not so much that it impairs their ability to build authentic relationships. If you do not have a full-time position to facilitate these meetings, decide who will be the facilitator at each level (deputy, assistant, fire chief, etc.). Regardless of who is facilitating the process for the department, leads should meet with their direct supervisors regularly to ensure their efforts are understood and the commander’s intent is followed.
- Explain the reporting process and expectations thoroughly.
- Provide opportunities for members of all levels of the administration to directly interact with the fire chief.
- Consistency: Stick to the meeting schedule; remain in open conversation about the goals and progress; protect against the “daily whirlwind” leading to complacency.
- Transparency: Publicly assess (at least internally) how goal implementation is progressing on at least a quarterly basis; publish the results internally and share annually with the AHJ.
While coordinating all these efforts is a full-time position, the process is easily scalable.
Aligning authority and responsibility
The IFD’s experience shows that meaningful planning reform is less about adopting a single tool and more about building a disciplined system that reinforces accountability, ownership and situational awareness. IFD moved from opaque, leadership-only goal-setting to a transparent process grounded in data, regular cadence and clear expectations. Executive staff meetings, KPI tracking, quarterly planning meetings and a clearly defined planning chief role created structure without stifling initiative.
Most importantly, the process aligns authority with responsibility. Program leads are empowered to select and manage goals they helped create, while senior leaders maintain visibility and strategic control through consistent review and direct engagement. Over time, this balance has reduced meeting fatigue, improved decision-making and strengthened professional development across the organization.
When leadership visibly supports the process and protects it from the daily operational whirlwind, planning stops being an annual exercise and becomes an operational discipline that delivers results.
Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have any questions. I can put you in contact with the next planning chief.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trevor Wilson, EFO, CFO, currently serves as the division chief of planning for the Indianapolis Fire Department. He and his team helped guide IFD to its first ISO Class 1 classification and CFAI internationally accredited status. He has also served CPSE in a variety of roles (peer assessor, team leader, and contractor with the Technical Advisor Program). Wilson is the founder and owner of Indy Public Safety Consultants. He holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, a master’s degree in management and leadership, and is in the process of obtaining an EdD in organizational leadership through Marian University.
