Chain of Command. 

 The order in which authority and power in an organization is wielded and delegated from top management to every employee at every level of the organization. The chain of command, is the formal line of authority, communication, and responsibility within an organization. The chain of command identifies the clear assignment of duties and responsibilities. By utilizing the chain of command, and its visible authority relationships, the principle of unity of command is maintained. Unity of command means that each subordinate reports to one and only one superior. While it may have started with the military, most organizations have an established chain of command that is essential for effective management, accountability, and a strong means of operation. Is it important to have a chain of command on a Paranormal investigation team? I personally think it does.  IMO, I believe the Chain of command is very important in our organizations because it enhances the effectiveness of the overall team. Now, most of our teams are pretty relaxed, and easy going. Everyone gets along, there are no arguments, and we, all as a team get the job done, right. So what is the need for formal title like a chain of command. I will use my team for an example. I am Founder and lead investigator, Susan, is co-founder, investigator, and case manager, Dee and Jeff are both investigators and equipment techs. I know it sounds rude and crude but I am at the top of the chain and Dee and Jeff are on the bottom. Not a very long chain with only 4 links, but they are strong links and it is because of them the chain has not been broken. On our team each one of us knows where the buck stops. This may sound like a dictatorship but is not. My whole reasoning behind this post is this. When I was in the military there was a chain of command. During our war time missions our chain of command was condensed to the other service members that were in our fire team. These fire teams consisted of 4 members, each one had a specific duty within the fire team and there was one leader. The leader made all the calls and the others followed. What if the leader was taken out? would the other members know what to do? Is there one person on the team that would take over and continue the mission? Yes they knew what to do and who was in charge next. It was all given to them in the briefings and having a rank structure really was the key. I think these questions can apply to our investigation teams. If a team leader was to be taken out, not literally of course, but what if for some reason this leader got tangled up with a spirit on an investigation that kind of took over their abilities to think rational, or made them so emotional that they couldn't carry on, or what if the leader just became so sick the evening of the investigation that I couldn't attend would the other team members know what to do. When it comes to my team I believe they would. I have all the faith in the world in my team because for one of who they are and two this is part of our chain of command they each know what to do if something like this happens. They know who is to take charge next and handle the situation. It is all about the mission. I think we, could all agree that we as investigators would pretty much do anything to keep the mission going as long as it was not illegal, immoral, or unjust. So I believe that having a chain of command even if you don't call it a chain of command because it may be to formal is a must on our teams. The mission must continue. ~Tracy