Aug
27
WRITTEN BY:
Peter Wicklein
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Like aviation, project management is about working with risk, day in, day out. It always seems that there is never enough time to do all the things you should do and, when you have a lot to do, it’s easy to believe that only you can do it all.
In January 1989, a brand new Midlands airline 737-400 crashed with the tragic loss of 48 people. The subsequent investigation found that although the left-hand engine failed 15 minutes into the flight, the pilots had believed that it was the right-hand engine that caught fire and so shut it down. The aircraft crash-landed just short of the runway.
It’s a shame the pilots never asked the cabin crew, ‘What happened back there?’
One of the surviving cabin crew was interviewed after the accident and said she saw the flames coming out of the left-hand engine. The pilots said, during their questioning, that they didn’t ask the cabin crew what happened as they were too busy trying to fix the problem and fly the plane. Conversely, the steward never thought to tell the pilots: ‘I can see smoke and fire coming out of the left engine.’ She assumed that the pilots knew what the problem was and didn’t want to interrupt them in an emergency.
For those interested in this chain of unfortunate events, the details can be found here; it makes for sobering reading.
This, among many human-factor accidents in the 80s and 90s, brought about enlightened thinking around the concept of making the whole crew responsible for the safe delivery of a flight—an outcome-based result instead of a group of individuals performing their job descriptions.
And this is where project managers and their teams can learn from the aviation industry.
Originating in NASA in 1979, crew resource management (CRM) was looked at and promoted as a way of assisting teams in working more cognitively and collaboratively through open and honest communication—in other words, positive human behaviour.
CRM promotes and encourages an environment where you can question authority in a positive manner, offer solutions, and for the ‘captain’ to seek assistance, knowledge and options from the ‘crew’ at all times.
This is not an easy process and it does require an amount of training to perfect. However, there are some basic steps that may assist you in working with others, particularly in project teams, and making your point respectfully and assertively.
A CRM expert, Todd Bishop, developed a five-step assertive statement process that encompasses inquiry and advocacy steps:
- Opening or attention getter. Address the individual ‘hey boss’ or ‘Sarah’ or whatever name or title will get their attention.
- State your concern. State what you see in a direct manner while owning your emotions about it, ‘I think we might run out of time completing the tasks on this project.’
- State the problem as you see it. Be open, honest and direct, ‘This task is taking a lot longer than expected, and the amount of detail is a lot more than expected.’
- State a solution. Don’t just offer a problem—think of a solution, ‘Perhaps we could get an extra resource on this to help out.’
- Obtain agreement (or buy-in). ‘Does that sound good to you, Sarah?’
Since the introduction of CRM in the aviation industry, the amount of accidents attributed to human factors has significantly decreased, to such an extent that many other professions—police, fire fighting, mining companies and hospitals—have also committed to CRM.
I remember the last time I was in hospital, the surgeon, the doctor and the nurse all asked me what operation I was having, even though it was on the form at the end of the bed, listed in the hospital records, recommended by the doctor, and I had dotted lines on my nose with an ‘x’ marks the spot.
On reflection, I was a part of their ‘crew’—and who better to ask than the patient? After all, it was my nose that they were fixing!
So, next time you’re leading a project that you feel like having to bring in on a wing and a prayer, remember, there is a greater team around you that can support you: your project team, administrative staff, the management team, your peers … even the client.
If you’re interested in CRM, you may find the following links helpful in examining human factors in aviation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Resource_Management
http://www.airlinesafety.com/editorials/editorial3.htm
http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/32882/b20060094.pdf