I asked a similar question about training for captaincy in this forum 14
months ago. I got several good answers, and a working group used these,
together with other bits of information, to put together a "training for
captaincy" program.
Basically, the program consists of a 1 + 6 day course. The first day is at
the start of the technical part of the captaincy training, and is intended
to highlight some leadership topics our company is concerned about. (During
the technical training the candidates pairs up with new-hired co-pilots, and
goes through a six week long course. We feel it is important to help the
"captains-to-be" to be aware of the fact that they - in the eyes of these
new co-pilots - already are captains, and should behave as such. For
example, they must be aware of their role as "attitude-transmitters", they
are in a situation where they have every opportunity to transmit good (or
bad) attitudes about safety, SOP and CRM to the new guys.)
The main part of the course consists of six days of training the week before
the captain candidates start their simulator sessions. Day one consists of a
combination of group-discussions, briefings from our manager
flight-operations and some very basic theory of leadership. The goal of this
day is to give each participant better awareness of what the company expects
from him/her, and what he or she could and should expect from the company.
(A survey we conducted during the planning-stages revealed this as a very
important topic.) Day two includes a briefing from the president of our
company about strategy and economy. We felt it was important to give the
captains knowledge that was not shared by the majority of the rest of the
employees, and that this could serve to give the role as a captain a
well-deserved and much needed "boost". The rest of day two is a case-study
based briefing about new rules and procedures.
On the start of day three, we travel to a hotel some 75 minutes out of Oslo.
The rest of this day is a case-study based briefing about relevant rules and
regulations. (For example: A Norwegian passenger dies onboard a flight from
Oslo to Tenerife. What do you do and why?) Day four, five and six is devoted
to "leadership". We mix some theory with a lot of training, and our goal is
to give the captains opportunities to train leadership skills in a safe and
somewhat protected environment. The theoretical base for the training is:
Good leadership depends on the situation you are in and the people you are
leading. A good captain is able to recognize qualities in the situation and
the followers, and adjust his or her leader-style accordingly.
More important than theory is skill-based training. A basic skill for a
leader is to be able to understand what their followers is trying to
communicate, and therefore we use exercises to enable the pilots to train
their skills as active listeners. Another basic skill for a leader is to be
able to establish a feeling of "we-ness" in a crew, and therefore the
participants plan and conduct crew-briefings and de-briefings. Still
another basic skill for a leader is to give feed-back to their followers. We
have made up stories about "difficult employees" and the job of the captains
is to talk to these "employees" and help them to find a way through their
problems. These role-plays are hilariously funny sometimes! We also use
time to train the captains to stand up in front of a camera, and talk about
a made-up emergency situation as if they were being interviewed by a
journalist. Afterwards, we look at the video-tape. This is excellent
training!
So far, we have arranged this training package six times, and it has been
very successful.
Best regards,
Jens R.
Jens Rolfsen
Human Factors Advisor / Psychologist
Braathens
Training Department
PO BOX 55
1330 FORNEBU
NORWAY
Jens.rolfsen_at_Braathens.no <mailto:Jens.rolfsen_at_Braathens.no>