What Can We Learn About Self-Management from the UK’s Only Volunteer Fire Brigade?

Can self-management work in a public service environment? This is a question I’m often asked when sharing stories about alternative ways of working and progressive cultures. 

As ever the curious explorer, I’m always looking to discover companies and organisations who operate differently. Entities that prove to the world, and to the peers in their sector, that it is entirely possible, and practical, to choose a way of working that does away with outdated management styles and adopts a more human-centered approach. 

Recently, I discovered one such example in Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade. An organisation that could shine a light on how more public service organisations can organise themselves less around bureaucracy and more around purpose. And don’t we all need a little inspiration in this sector right now? 

First of all, I have to be completely transparent. This isn’t so much a recent discovery, instead it’s been an experience of enlightenment. Let me explain. 

The Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade (PVFB) has been part of my family since I was nine years old, when my father joined the brigade in 1997. Now, my brother has followed in his footsteps and been a member since 2012. Throughout my life I’ve watched my father, and now my brother, rush off at the sound of an alerter to save lives in the city. I often joke that my brother will do anything to get out of a Sunday roast with me, as I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been over for dinner when suddenly that piercing bleep goes off and he’s out of the door, my nephews running after him to wave him off. As much as it’s a standing joke, I cannot deny the deep pride and admiration I have for his commitment. 

Despite being connected to PVFB since a young age, it wasn’t until recently, when I was invited along to a training evening, that I got to understand more about how PVFB operate. After the training session I sat down with Chief Anthony Gould and Crew Commander Jacob Benton (yes my brother), to ask them some questions about their inner workings. But before we get into the details, there is a most important fact you need to know.

Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade is an entirely voluntary organisation. Yes, you read that correctly, they provide their services unpaid. 

The brigade was formed in 1884, by a group of local businessmen who believed the efforts of the existing fire brigade were ineffective in putting out a fire at the Peterborough Infirmary. 

Fuelled by a purpose to protect the city, the local businessmen came together to begin the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade. Now more than 150 years later, PVFB continues to serve the city as a voluntary service, and is the UK’s only voluntary fire brigade. For such a rich history, it still surprises me how little is known about PVFB nationally. 

If you’re still thinking, surely they don’t do this for free, then let me provide some further context. 

In the UK, the use of retained firefighters is standard. This is where firefighters are part-time, paid only when on duty. At Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, none of the members are paid even though they function as a retained station. They are no different from any other on-call fire station around the city, the only difference being, that when the PVFB crew is mobilised there’s no payment because the members are volunteers. 

As an independent fire brigade PVFB has a contract with Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue, the local fire authority for the area. This contract is the link of service and support between Peterborough Volunteers and the wider fire service for Cambridgeshire. If you call 999, the call handler at Cambridgeshire Head Quarters will select the closest fire engine on the list of available teams. PVFB appears on that list regardless of them being volunteers. Just like any other fire station, Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade attend house fires, road traffic collisions and other rescue related services. So far, in 2024 alone, the crew of PVFB has been activated 362 times. This includes incidents and standbys. 

Another key fact, which is notable in the way PVFB differs from your standard fire service, is that they are a registered charity. As I will go on to detail, this also plays a large role in the governance and operations of how the station runs. 

As you can see from their purpose, PVFB is no ordinary fire station, and after seeing them in action on their training night, and hearing how the team comes together, my curiosity was peaked as to how they may differ also in the way they organise themselves and if there were any learnings we could all take-away. After all, they not only have the combination of traditional firefighter roles, but also roles dedicated to the charity function. 

Below I’ve detailed the cultural aspects of Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, and shared how this links back to aspects of self-organisation. I will caveat here, that the way they organise is not completely intentional, it’s organic. This way of operating hasn’t been manufactured to be this way, it has evolved naturally. Perhaps it is only in my own biased lens that I can spot these patterns and practices, and be able to label them for what I believe they are – murmurs of self-organisation. 

For obvious reasons, Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade needs a relationship with Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue, and being a growing city with public services stretched to the limit, Cambs Fire & Rescue also needs the services of PVFB. So, the alignment of their relationship is paramount to creating a high-quality service. 

Unlike a regular fire station under Cambridgeshire’s authority, PVFB have only limited Key Performance Indicators. These are mutually agreed between the volunteers and the fire authority. These indicators currently include, the pump being available between a core set of hours, providing a service and being fair to their volunteers. 

These targets and any fire authority matters are discussed at quarterly meetings between Chief Anthony Gould of PVFB and Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue Service.  

The relationship also means that PVFB gain the support of Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue to help train new recruits. Again, just like any other firefighter, new recruits to PVFB will go through Cambridgeshire’s rigorous recruitment and training process to ensure they meet the requirements. 

As you will pick up on throughout this exploration, Cambs Fire & Rescue are seen as a resource hub to PVFB, providing much guidance and support to the crew, but never overstepping the mark to dictate how things should be run. The crew have all the benefits of any other firefighter in Cambridgeshire, including occupational health support and training programmes. 

Team Members Set Team Goals

Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade work with Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue to create mutually aligned and beneficial goals. This goal setting process is an example of the self-management practice of “Team members Setting Team Goals”. It’s not a top-down decision of what these goals are, but a discussion to ensure they work for both parties. 

Circle Lead

Chief Anthony Gould plays his role as a link between PVFB and Cambs Fire & Rescue. Now, you might say this is obvious because he’s the Chief and “the one in charge”, but you might be surprised to discover that other members can also play this role, it’s simply that right now, they don’t want to play the link, and so the crew have given Chief Gould this responsibility.  

For those of you unfamiliar with self-managing practices, a circle lead is a role which moves between other entities, acting on behalf of the circle they represent. The circle lead doesn’t always have a superior role or title, and they cannot exert any power over the circle. Ie. they cannot make any decisions without discussing it with the circle. 

Now, an individual with a bigger ego might misuse this role and see it as a chance to exercise dominance over others. It is easily done when people get even a whiff of power. But I wouldn’t be writing this without Chief Gould being the humble leader.  

The catchment area for Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade to recruit, is massive. They are located right in the City centre, and one of the key criteria for a joining firefighter is to live within 5 minutes of the fire station. But the challenge is, there’s no pay. So while they may have a strong location, they certainly can’t do any convincing with a pay packet. However, recruitment is not often a problem. In fact, even the night I visited for their training drill, two new recruits were eagerly watching in the wings. 

However, recruitment at PVFB is a story of two halves. 

If someone shows an interest in joining, the first part is to come along to as many of the Tuesday training sessions. These take place between 6pm – 9pm at the station, where crew members will practice different skills and scenarios to keep them sharp, and enjoy a team meal together. 

Coming along to training nights plays multiple purposes. It not only helps determine if the candidate is someone who will be right for the role, but also, because they’re civilians, they are not yet allowed to take part, so they just have to watch from the sidelines. Sound boring? -Well it is, on purpose. As Chief Gould and CC Benton shared with me; being a firefighter isn’t always a thrill, there’s a lot of waiting around on standby, and you have to get used to coming to the fire station and sitting around just in case you’re needed. These are long and boring evenings where the team may see no action at all but still have to be present at the station. As Peterborough is such a large city, it requires two fire stations to be on standby at all times. 

(To give clarification, standby is where crews have to be gathered and ready because other crews are already engaged. Meaning if another incident occurs, a standby crew must be available.) 

For potential candidates, training evenings are an opportunity to see what the expectations are, and to meet the team. It’s as much of a taste of the experience as possible, before making the commitment to sign-up. 

Throughout these training evenings crew members are also getting a sense for the candidate. Deciding if this is someone who would be right for the role. Asking themselves, would they make a contribution to the team and would they be committed?

It rarely happens, but should a team member feel a candidate isn’t right, they will have this conversation as a team and with the candidate. It’s frank discussions like these that help everyone know the environment they are stepping into. 

Once the team and the candidate feel happy, and the candidate meets the minimum requirements for a firefighter, they are encouraged to apply online where they are then trained   by Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue. 

Despite applying for a voluntary role, the training and firefighter requirements are exactly the same as a standard firefighter. Assessments are done every six months for two years during this training process. After two years, if they pass their final assessment they become a fully qualified firefighter. 

This is also why the recruitment process is so important. The training process alone is a huge commitment, and that’s before you start giving your evenings and weekends away to firefighting.

Team-led Recruitment 

Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade practice team-led recruitment. It is not on one individual to decide if a new member should join, it’s a participative approach. This is a practice present in a majority of self-organising teams because it’s a common sense approach to recruitment. If you’re working alongside this person, shouldn’t you have a say in whether they join? 

It feels like a strange question, but can the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade let people go?  As in that tricky business of firing. The reality is, in their 150 year history, there have only been rare cases where a volunteer has been asked to leave. And I cannot re-iterate enough how this has only happened in very extreme cases. 

As crew members are volunteers and not employees, it’s been a grey area PVFB wanted to make clear. So, once again with the help and support of their crew and Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue, they’ve created a process which felt in keeping with the voluntary nature of the service, and gave some structure to when cases may require extra mediation. 

It is only in absolute extreme circumstances that a crew member is ever asked to leave. If the member then disputes this, they can now follow an appeal process which goes to Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue. There is no HR person at Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, because one isn’t needed. And in these rare cases they lean on Cambs Fire & Rescue. 

If conflict occurs between team members, it isn’t up to a HR person to mediate, it’s on those team members to resolve it themselves. As Chief Gould explained to me, “it’s rare that we get strong character clashes, but it’s important it gets nipped in the bud quick. This isn’t a space that can have things festering.”  

PVFB hasn’t got a HR person nannying the team through their differences. It’s an adult environment where the priority is an emergency service. The team is expected to treat each other like adults, and therefore resolve their differences in the same way. 

Co-creation

Throughout many of their practices and processes, PVFB have not only worked together as a team, but also utilised the support of Cambs Fire & Rescue to co-create their own way of doing things. While it’s unique to their circumstances, it does beg the question of how little we see co-creation in practice in wider services and organisations. We have become so accustomed to a top-down approach and following the status quo, we rarely question if it’s the right thing to do. 

At PVFB their situation is so unique, they have to co-create a new way of working because there’s no template to follow. Co-creation brings the skills, knowledge, and experience of all groups to create a solution.

Treating Adults Like Adults 

At Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, members are treated like responsible adults. Taking ownership of their attitudes and behaviours. There is a deep sense of joint responsibility in how everyone shows up and participates. This extends out to some of their procedures, where crew members are trusted to do the job without someone having to check they’ve done it. For example, checking the kit in your designated area of the pump. 

As Dennis Bakke co-founder of AES once said, “If you treat people like adults, they will act like adults, but if you treat them like children, they will act like children.” 

Once again PVFB find themselves in a rare place where performance is not an issue. In part, this is down to the simple fact that everyone chooses to be there. As Chief Gould said to me, “Everyone is here because they want to be.”  

Of course, the other part to this which holds weight, is that a poor performance in this environment impacts lives, so it’s simply not something that can be ignored or swept under the carpet. 

Informal feedback conversations are the first place where performance becomes a discussion. These are done by all team members, and if a team member is struggling with anything specific, the team is quick to ensure they cover it in the next training session. 

If there are any major performance issues or conversations around skills, then these are recorded on an online portal created by Cambs Fire & Rescue. This supports PVFB in creating development plans with the team members and giving them additional training. 

As Crew Commander Jacob Benton shared with me, “We are a team, not a family. With family members you stick by them no matter what, even if they’re not performing. Whereas, as a team, we encourage and help people to perform and better themselves.” 

Feedback Conversations

PVFB have naturally discovered the power of informal feedback conversations in navigating performance and team dynamics. They’re not comfortable conversations, but they are vital. 

You will find informal feedback conversations the norm in self-managing teams, because this is where real connection and improvement happens. Not in the annual appraisal that everyone hurries to complete. While organisations can steer away from informal feedback conversations, scared that it’s always going to end up in some kind of messy conflict, they are the most productive way to move the team forward. 

The firefighters at Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade all have day jobs. Yes, in the day they may be in the office fixing your IT, engineering industrial doors, taking care of vulnerable people, or like my brother, building houses. But once they finish work they are on-call firefighters, and their evenings and weekends are dedicated to the city of Peterborough. 

I’ve always found this dual life a fascinating part of the volunteers, but when I sat down with Chief Gould and CC Benton, I saw it in a different light. As Chief Gould explained to me, as a brigade they all have so many skills and experiences they can draw from, which he feels makes them even stronger than your regular brigade. For example, when entering a property, they can lean on a team member’s carpentry skills to assess the structure. Or when a vulnerable teenager starts a fire in their care home they can lean on a team member’s social care skills to support them in decompressing the situation. 

In PVFB’s eyes, all of the crew’s skills and experiences are vital in providing the high-quality service they have become renowned for. There is a richness to their roles because of their full time job, and it’s encouraged to bring these skills into the service. 

Wholeness

Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade naturally embraces the principle of wholeness, understanding that all of an individual’s skills, attributes, experiences and character is what makes them only stronger as a team. It’s an environment where you are encouraged and celebrated to bring your whole self into your role. They are not expected to extract themselves and just be a firefighter, they bring all of who they are into the service. 

How many companies and organisations can wholeheartedly say that they embrace all of their team’s skills and characteristics? 

As I mentioned earlier, PVFB is a unique entity for the fact that it is both an on-call fire station and a registered charity. Due to this unusual combination the volunteers navigate two types of roles and structures. 

On one hand they have the traditional ranking structure of a fire brigade. Chief Officer, Second Officer, Station Officer, Crew Commander, Firefighter, Probationary Firefighter. 

This ranking structure is purely for the fire fighting operations, and plays a vital role in the directive leadership style that is required in emergency situations. Ultimately, this ranking structure shows who needs to step in and take control when they reach an incident. In these volatile situations you need someone to command the environment to save lives.  

If I was to use the lens of Frederic Laloux’s organisational development stages, I would label this ranking structure as Conformist-Amber. But as I’ve detailed, this isn’t their complete culture, and it’s a ranking structure required by necessity and adopted from the local fire authority..  

While it can be common for such a ranking structure to create power dynamics, where a Chief may then begin to exert power over others in all situations; what differentiates the volunteers is this link to the charitable function. 

In the day-to-day operations and rituals of the volunteers it is highly democratic, with team members contributing to ideas and decisions. For example, planning the next public events they will host at the station, or collectively deciding on what the maintenance priorities are for the station. 

There may be a ranking structure present, but the team does not feel a power distance. 

I believe that the charitable roles and functions of PVFB help to ensure egos are kept in check, and power isn’t abused. While there may be ranks and hierarchy in one element, it’s as if the democratic operations of the charitable function help to dilute any possibility of power differences. 

As a registered charity the general operations of the station are under the responsibility of four trustees. The trustees are accountable to the charity commission for the running of the station as a charity, and Chief Gould is accountable to Cambs Fire & Rescue for the running of the fire station.

Trustee roles are taken on by members and play alongside their firefighting roles, for example the Chief role is attached to the Chairman role. 

Here’s where the more democratic practices come into play. Trustees are voted in by the members. 

To give some context, a “member” of PVFB has completed two years firefighting probation, and has become a fully qualified firefighter. To become a member of the Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade, a firefighter must write a letter requesting to become a member. Existing members then vote on whether they would like you to join. When you become a member you can vote at the AGM, and you receive a traditional mess uniform. 

You can be a firefighter and not a member, however most volunteers decide to become a member after their probationary period. 

Through the members, the trustees are then voted in at the annual AGM. Which means even the role of Chief can be rotated yearly, because the members can vote for a different Chief. 

Anyone can be Chief as long as they have become an incident commander, and of course, if they want the role. At present there are three members in the brigade who could play the role of Chief. 

Every year at the AGM everyone steps down from their roles. Members then put themselves forward for the positions they would like to hold, and a vote is cast.

Reducing Power Distance 

There is a clear ranking structure at PVFB which is necessary to facilitate action in the emergency incidents they attend. But this does not create a sense of power over others because it is used only when required. There is no felt difference between the Chief to the trainee firefighter. Every voice is heard and valued, and there is constant dialogue between all team members. 

Role Rotation 

The annual AGM provides the volunteers with a routine of rotating roles and responsibilities. As a ritual this keeps people humble and in service of the role they play, especially in the leadership position of Chief. While the ranking structure will always remain the same, there is no guarantee that the same person will always hold the same position as Chief. 

In a number of self-managing organisations, role rotation, and even CEO rotation is a common practice to ensure that those in power remain grounded. 

As I’ve described throughout this exploration, Chief Gould has a democratic leadership style that has naturally created the team that leads the volunteers today. A practice that has emerged during Chief Gould’s leadership is the participation in decision-making. 

Although Chief Gould is the primary person who is legally responsible for the fire station, he gets team participation on decisions that need to be made. Even financial decisions on what to buy for the station, or improvements that need to be done, are collectively made. The only person who can stop a decision is Chief Gould as he is the Chairman and therefore accountable to the charity commission and the fire authority. But they make decisions together. As Chief Gould said to me, “As a collective we like doing things together.”  

Very rarely Chief Gould will make a decision in alignment with Cambs Fire & Rescue without consulting the rest of the team. However, as he shared with me, he always considers first whether it’s a decision the team will actually want any input in, and when he does make a decision he always explains it to the team.

Shared Decision-making 

If Chief Gould really wanted to, he could make decisions without his team. After all, he’s the “Chief”. But, in an act of democratic leadership he has organically navigated to seeing the power of shared decision-making. While they may not have a rigorous process and meeting structure for this, it is practiced and taken very seriously in the team. 

Let’s not deny ourselves the thing we are most curious about. What makes a person work for free? Commit their most precious hours of evenings and weekends to a cause without any payment. Especially when this isn’t a hobby. It’s not a few hours volunteering at the local cat shelter, this is a full on life-changing commitment. 

From what I witnessed and heard, I believe that it’s the fundamental elements of intrinsic motivation, purpose and mastery that keeps volunteers signing up, and the current members often staying for as long as 10 years of service. 

Let’s begin with the first element, intrinsic motivation. There is no external reward for the volunteer; no pay, no bonuses, no accolades. Instead, when I asked about the motivations it was about the enjoyment and thrill of being a firefighter. It’s exciting and often adrenaline fuelled, and who doesn’t want to learn how to drive a fire engine?  

When I asked what made people join the volunteers, Chief Gould and CC Benton were both refreshingly honest about their motivations, and what they felt motivated others. 

“Many people will claim they want to help and give back to the community. In the nicest way, they’re both positive side effects of the work. But no-one joins for that reason, they join because they want to drive or ride on a fire engine, play with some really cool tools. The adrenaline keeps people here, and that’s why people book on. They get addicted to the adrenaline rush.” 

Mastery is also highly present at the brigade, as volunteers not only become a fully qualified firefighter, but also grow through the ranks and learn new skills. At Tuesday drill nights the focus is on honing skills and development. A dedicated time to master the many necessary skills of not just firefighting, but road traffic collisions, chemical spills and rescue missions. Every week you can be learning something completely different.

Mastery is the drive to get better at something, to become a “master” of that skill. At PVFB this mastery is present in their continued drive for learning and developing their skills. This provides a great sense of achievement which many people don’t get in their everyday life. Coupled with the opportunities and life experiences that occur in the service, every moment there is both something remarkable or devastating the team learns from. 

And finally, the element of purpose. We all long to feel like we’re part of something bigger, that we have a reason for existing. It is one of life’s philosophical questions. So, it’s no wonder that as volunteers, people feel like they are doing something with their lives. As CC Benton frankly put it, “This might sound strange, but being a volunteer firefighter is the closest thing you can do to becoming a real-life superhero. You can sit on your sofa, bored out of your head, thinking life’s shit and you’re in a rut of life, and within five minutes you can be in a burning building saving people’s lives.” 

These foundational elements of motivation are the answers of why a group of people show up to do something in their spare time, without pay. If Dan Pink’s book Drive, and the Harvard studies aren’t enough to convince us of the power of intrinsic motivation, purpose and mastery, then this crew of volunteers is certainly proof. 

By no means are The Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade completely self-organising, but there are strong elements of self-management woven into much of their traditional structures and practices. They appear to be balancing the demands of rank and hierarchy, while also ensuring there is autonomy and democracy in other aspects of their culture. 

In my line of work I often see that organisations feel they have to go “all in” on a certain style of working. As if it’s one way or another. But here PVFB shows that it can be a blend of both. You don’t have to completely dismantle the hierarchy to have autonomy, and you don’t have to be all command and control just because you’re the leader. 

I believe PVFB’s unusual entity does provide a strong case for what can be made possible when small teams are given the autonomy to do things their own way, but with the added support of centralised resources. 

The Peterborough Volunteer Fire Brigade’s motto is “ready and willing” – a brave call to action. I only hope that those of you reading this will be brave enough to take action and consider how you might try something different in your organisation that can bring about a positive change for all.