Crew Resource Management, Leadership, Teamwork and Communication
What the domain tests
CRM tests observable behaviours - communication, leadership, teamwork, briefings and assertiveness - not personality.
Core rules
- Closed-loop communication: send, acknowledge, verify. Standard phraseology reduces ambiguity; readback is mandatory for clearances.
- Briefings set roles, threats and 'what if' plans. The sterile flight deck below 10,000 ft limits non-essential talk.
- Authority gradient: too steep suppresses challenge; too flat causes confusion. Assertiveness is graded, using a ladder such as probe, alert, challenge, emergency.
- Leadership is situational: task-focused in an emergency, people-focused in cruise. Followership means active monitoring, not passivity.
- Barriers include halo effect, stereotyping, groupthink, distraction and transposition (assuming the other person knows).
- Debriefs should be blame-free but specific: what went well, what to change.
Worked example
On approach, the first officer notices the aircraft is high and fast while the captain is talking. 'I'm not comfortable with the profile' is too vague. Better: 'Speed is 20 kt high and we are 500 ft above path; go around?' This gives data, a clear call to action and an escalation path.
Traps
Do not define CRM as 'being nice'. Do not confuse leadership with rank. Do not assume silence means agreement. Do not over-communicate in a sterile phase.