The Short Answer

How Do I Stop Firefighting at Work?

Answer

Stop being the only one allowed to decide. Log every question for three days, sort them into three piles, and build a Decision Line with your crew so the small calls get handled without you.

Firefighting feels like a workload problem. It is a decision problem. When every question has to pass through one person, that person becomes the bottleneck: the narrow point every piece of work squeezes through. The crew waits. Estimates go out late. Real work slides to nights and Sundays.

Check yourself. Does your phone ring more than anyone else's? Does the crew call about small decisions they could make? Are you the only one who can say yes? Three of those and this is your fire.

From the Fabled Forest

Doctor Owl orders the same small pizza every time and squares six coins on the counter. Frankie the fox never sees them. He is taking five orders at once, with three order pads in three pockets and a phone buzzing like a trapped bee. Every question in the truck goes through Frankie, so every customer waits on Frankie.

Tired of Putting Out the Same Fires?

Operations ConsultingDr. Paul builds the systems, roles, and routines that let the business run without you in every decision.See consulting options → Business Plan WritingA written plan that lenders, partners, and your crew can follow.See business plan prices → Business Plan TemplatesDo it yourself with an editable Word plan and Excel model for your industry.Browse templates → Small Business EducationFree guides on management, money, marketing, and operations.Start learning free →

For Owners

Why Am I Always Putting Out Fires in My Business?

Three reasons show up again and again:

  1. 1

    Only the owner is allowed to decide

    Nobody said it out loud. It just became true as the business grew.

  2. 2

    Nothing is written down

    So every question feels brand new, and brand new questions go to the boss.

  3. 3

    Deciding yourself feels faster

    Today, it is. Over a year, it is the slowest way to run a business.

The fires never seem to get fixed for a reason, too. Research on process improvement found that fixes fail less from bad methods and more from daily pressure crowding them out. If you wait for a quiet week to fix the fires, you will wait forever.

Source: Repenning and Sterman, "Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems That Never Happened," California Management Review, 2001.

Worked Example

How Much Time Does Firefighting Really Cost?

Say 40 questions reach you a day, and each one costs about three minutes to handle and get back on track. Here is the math:

StepMathResult
Minutes per day40 questions x 3 minutes120 minutes (2 hours)
Hours per week2 hours x 5 days10 hours
Hours per year10 hours x 50 weeks500 hours
If the Decision Line handles 30 of the 4030 x 3 minutes x 5 days x 50 weeks375 hours back

That is roughly nine 40-hour weeks a year, and they are the most expensive hours in the business, because they are yours. Interruptions cost more than the clock shows, too. Researchers at UC Irvine found interrupted people actually worked faster, but reported more stress, frustration, and effort.

Source: Mark, Gudith, and Klocke, "The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress," CHI 2008.

Late nights cost more under Nevada's daily overtime rules for some workers. A firefighting day that keeps staff late can trigger overtime pay fast, so fixing root causes protects payroll. See the Nevada business plan writer page.

The Fix

What Is a Decision Line and How Do I Build One?

A Decision Line is a three-column list the crew builds with the owner. Use the Organize-Plan-Grow steps:

  1. 1

    Organize: log every question for three days

    Write down who asked, what about, and how long it took. Do not fix anything yet. On day four, sort every question into three piles.

  2. 2

    Plan: build the Decision Line with the crew

    Hold a 30-minute meeting and bring the piles. Let the crew write the list. People remember what they wrote.

  3. 3

    Grow: run it for a week and keep logging

    On Friday, look at every question that still reached you. If it belonged in the first two columns, add a line. Expect fewer calls every week. Not zero.

Decide itDecide it and tell meBring it to me
Which crew goes to which yardRescheduling a job for rainAny new commercial account
Swapping plants of the same size and priceA make-good visit after a complaintHiring and firing
Restocking mulch, fuel, and lineOrdering materials up to a set limitSafety issues or legal threats

That example is from a small landscaping company. Your limits will be different. That is the point. You set them once, so you stop deciding them forty times a day.

Dr. Paul's Insight

This is the fire Dr. Paul sees most. When he walks into a business with it, he does not start with the owner's calendar. He starts with the owner's phone. Who calls, about what, and how often tells him more than any org chart. And the question he always asks: "If you were gone for a week, which of these calls would truly need you?" The honest answer is almost always very few.

For Managers

How Can a Manager Reduce Firefighting Without Waiting for the Owner?

You can start this yourself. Bring the owner fewer questions and better ones: the problem, two options, and your pick. Offer to run the three-day question log. Then agree, in writing, on your own Decision Line.

Owners trust the managers who make their phones quieter. For more on the manager's side of this, see what a manager actually does.

Lapsed trade licenses cause chaos. Oklahoma licenses electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades through the Construction Industries Board. Track renewals ahead so a license never turns into a jobsite fire drill. See the Oklahoma business plan writer page.

For Business Students

What Is Reactive Management?

Reactive management handles problems after they happen. Proactive management builds systems before they happen. A business stuck in reactive mode is not short on effort. It is short on decisions made in advance.

The Decision Line is a small proactive tool: it decides ahead of time who handles which kind of problem, so the problem never has to climb the ladder. To fix a fire that keeps coming back, pair it with root cause analysis.

Owners growing in Hillsborough and Pinellas often spend the whole day putting out fires. Dr. Paul helps Tampa Bay owners build the systems that let the business grow without burning them out.

Next Step

Is My Real Problem Firefighting or Something Underneath It?

Firefighting is often the loudest fire, not the costliest. Take the free 60-second Fire or Foundation self-check to see what else is burning, then compare it against the 14 most common small business problems. If priorities keep slipping too, read how to prioritize work.

Questions

What Else Do People Ask About Firefighting at Work?

What does firefighting mean in business?
Spending most of the day handling urgent problems as they pop up instead of the work that would prevent them. In small businesses, it usually means every decision runs through the owner.
How long does it take a Decision Line to work?
Most owners see fewer calls within the first week. Keep logging for a month and add a line every Friday for any question that should not have reached you.
What if my crew makes the wrong call?
Some will, at first. That is why the middle column exists: decide it and tell me. You see the decision after it is made, coach it, and adjust the list.
Is firefighting the same as being a bottleneck?
Close. Firefighting is the symptom. The bottleneck is the cause: one person every decision has to pass through.

Quiet the phone. Get your real work back.

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Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant, strategic planner, and business plan writer with 14+ years and 1,000+ businesses served.

This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or other professional advice.