Teamwork, Communication, and Crew Resource Management
Core concepts
Crew resource management (CRM) covers communication, leadership, followership, and coordination. Know closed-loop communication (sender, receiver readback, confirmation), standard phraseology, and the hazards of ambiguous or implied communication. Understand assertiveness and speak-up behaviour, graded assertiveness, and authority gradient effects that suppress challenge.
Team situational awareness requires shared mental models and effective briefings and debriefings. Handover quality depends on structured formats (e.g., situation-background-assessment-recommendation) and explicit confirmation. Recognise groupthink, social loafing, and diffusion of responsibility. Conflict should be managed constructively; psychological safety enables reporting and challenge.
Traps in questions
- Assuming a senior leader's opinion should override concerns; authority gradient is a hazard.
- Confusing readback with understanding; closed loop requires confirmation of meaning.
- Treating handover as information transfer only, not shared understanding.
- Assuming silence means agreement.
- Forgetting that debriefs improve future performance, not just morale.
Worked rule of thumb
Use the three-part challenge: state the concern, the evidence, and the request. Example: "I am concerned about rising level; the trend shows a 5% rise in ten minutes; I recommend we reduce feed now." This escalates clearly without confrontation and counters authority-gradient suppression.