Unit 6

Understanding and Implementing Crew Resource Management

Objectives

• Describe how to work in an open communications model.

• Describe how advocacy allows team members to respectfully question authority.

• Describe how conflict resolution is accomplished in a learning environment.

• Describe how team members “observe and critique” in order to evaluate a decision with respect to initially stated mission goals.

• Describe the process of discussing options, after a thorough assessment of a team’s work has been conducted.

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The Circle of Success

• CRM programs encompass a range of competencies

• \the cognitive and interpersonal capabilities of CRM crew members must be practiced like any other technical skill

• Skills should be practiced in environments with experimental focus

• Team members can evaluate their past behavior and develop tools for the future

• The CRM model contains many elements which members process automatically

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Inquiry

• Team members are given mission objective

• Typically in the form of:1. A statement by a team member or a leader2. An order from someone superior in rank or experience3. An action4. A behavior

• Coherence

• Sense making

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Advocacy

• Questioning authority is a daunting task

• Two methods for approving an action they see or hear; verbally state approval or to voice no objection at all

• PACE– Series of actions that team members can take to make better sense of

what they see and hear from their leaders– Probe – Alert– Challenge– Emergency Intervention

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Conflict Resolution

• Necessary part of team dynamics

• By product of bringing together any group

• “what is right, not who is right”

• Range of processes aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict

• Leaders need to examine their responses when a team member probes or alerts

• Cardinal rule is for team members to stay focused on the mission or issue at hand

• Biological response to emotional challenges

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Decision• Primary reason for CRM is to provide collective situational

awareness to the team

• Case Study 7

• Good leaders take responsibility for team performance, good and bad

• Good leaders are decisive yet empathetic

• During critical communication events many decisions are made and the constant flow of communication is critical

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Observe and Critique• Everyone thinks their ideas are the best one, particularly if their idea is not

chosen

• After a decision is made it is important for everyone to evaluate and critique the process

• Identify how members of a team observe and critique once a decision is made

• Critique should be an open communication process leading to inquiry phase

• Assessing team members motivation and ability to clarify their understanding

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Discuss Options• Upon critique, team members may decide what other options are

necessary

• Options are often presented as questions

• Options are necessary part of emergency operations in any dynamic environment

• Discussing options moves the group back into the beginning phase of the CRM loop

• Team members can openly agree with the idea or probe further to develop any concerns

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Experimental Learning• Process of making meaning from direct experiences

• Setting course objectives is important– Individual and team competence– Motivation– Ability– Knowledge

• CRM primarily associated with team members understanding their own behaviors, interaction with team members

, and how they process information

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Decision Making• Tactics vary with location and the problems faced

• No one book can tell an officer what decisions to make

• The hard fast rule which works very well in one scenario is a danger in another

• Tactics evolve as a result of– Experience– Knowledge levels– conditions

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Decision Models

• Most popular models involve 4 step process1. Define the problem2. Generate a course of action3. Evaluate the course of action4. Carry out the course of action

• Successful decision making ensures patterns are stored in our memories for relevant future situations

• Informational filters

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Decision Making Aids

• Human machine is limited in the capacity of information it can process over a given time

• These limits can be extended by using decision making aids– Checklists– Timers– Officers aides

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Keys to Good Decision Making

• Maintain good situational awareness

• Maintain technical proficiency

• Know your resources

• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate

• Additionally– Preload people with patterns and filters– Use notes, checklists, etc… to reduce mental load– Recognize when you are overloaded mentally and physically

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Summary

• CRM provides collective situational awareness

• CRM model contains several key elements, each integral to gaining a shared understanding

• Questioning authority is a daunting task

• Inquiry is simply an opening for communication that can be presented in may different forms

• Decision making is important but there are ways to make it easier on the team leader

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