Crew (or Cockpit) Resource Management (follow the link for the Wikipedia article) is a safety concept that originated in the aviation industry. Research had found that the primary cause of the majority of aviation accidents was human error, and that the main problems were failures of interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making in the cockpit. CRM is a mandatory training program that addresses exactly these issues of interpersonal communication, leadership and decision making. CRM encourages a culture of open communication, where it is OK to question authority in the interests of flight safety. It is aimed to increase the ability of the crew to effectively manage flight within the context of wider aviation system through better situational awareness. Even if you are a single pilot aircraft you have to deal with the wider system of Air Traffic Control or other ground services, other aircraft, terrain, weather etc…
As a project or program manager, what aspects of Crew Resource Management might help you avoid crashing your project in bad weather?
An article on the BBC News website gave me an insight in how CRM applied to a specific kind of project environment (surgical operating theatres) could reduce patient deaths by 40% and post-operative complications by more than 30%. All they did was introduce a single A4 page checklist that needs only a few minutes to complete. It focuses on basic good practice before anesthesia is administered, before a patient is cut open, and before a patient is removed from the operating theatre. So simple but so effective in improving outcomes for the primary stakeholders (the patient).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7829910.stm
So what kinds of simple changes could we make in Project Management adopt and adapt?
In another vein I thought I would create a small movie on the subject. Interesting what 90 minutes spent with MS Powerpoint, CoolIris (they have a nifty ppt plugin) and Picasa build for you.
A different kind of improvised explosive device.
