Re: A concise CRM definition
Lonny M. Regan (mach0_at_ibm.net)
Mon, 26 May 1997 18:07:13 -0700
V. Mancuso wrote:
>
> Ephimia,
>
> For line personnel and managers to understand the focus of a program, I
> believe that the definition needs to be one declarative sentence written in
> language that non-scientists really use.
>
> CRM Definition:
> The "management skills" used to direct, control and coordinate all availabe
> resources for safe and effective operations.
>
> CRM Program:
> A program that builds and delivers management skill training.
>
> Everyone uses a different categorization for the "management skills". It
> really doesn't matter how everyone slices the pie because the "management
> skill" contents are generally the same. The U.S. Air Force uses 8
> different categories, Delta uses 6, Northwest uses 4, UT-Austin uses a
> dozen or more.
>
> The 6 management skills that Delta uses are:
>
> Communication
> Coordination
> Planning
> Workload Management
> Decision Making
> Situation Awareness Management
>
> Through classroom awareness training, simulator training, simulator
> assessments, and line assessment, we build and reinforce the desired
> management skills.
>
> You will find many people who try to make CRM more than it really is. They
> are usually the folks who cannot clearly define where CRM stops and Human
> Factors begins. For many years, CRM suffered from ill-defined boundaries
> and a cure-all orientation. There is a huge difference between a CRM
> program and a human factors program, yet many within the CRM community
> referred to them as one in the same. Pilots still refer to them as one in
> the same. In January 1997, I did a study at Delta to assess perceptions of
> human factors and CRM and the pilots generally perceived them to both be
> "training to get along better".
>
> Human factors is the study of what contributes or detracts from human
> performance. Human factors programs identify and respond to the conditions
> that lead to error. A CRM program is the training component of a larger
> Human Factors or Error Management program.
>
> The next generation of CRM programs is not really CRM, it's error
> management that recognizes that CRM is just one tool in a larger toolbox
> for reducing error. To confuse error management and CRM is just as
> dangerous as confusing CRM and human factors. Throughout the 1980's, as
> developers and managers who build programs to reduce error recognized the
> inherent limitations of trying to reduce crew error with only CRM training,
> they begun looking to other methods and industry best practices. The
> industry was developing these error management programs long before the
> "visionaries" were writing papers about the next generation CRM program
> based on "error management". It's been kind of humorous watching all the
> parade marshals appear after the parade has already started. The U.S.
> Army, for example, has had a mature Operational Risk Management (ORM)
> program in place since the early 90's. The Army dramatically reduced and
> sustained a low mishap rate the first year they put the program in place.
>
> The military has lagged the airlines in CRM development, but the military
> has far exceeded the airlines in risk and error management programs. The
> seminal work on error management upon which most of this recent refocusing
> has occured is from Professor Jim Reason. There are two Navy researchers
> named Shappell and Wiegmann who are doing cutting edge work on reporting
> and classification systems for error management using Reasons model as the
> framework. I would highly recommend reading their work if you are
> interested where the next generation of error management is heading and
> where CRM training programs will fit in this larger effort to reduce error.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Vince Mancuso, Ph.D.
Vince-
Very interesting; well stated!!
Lonny