The design and delivery of crew resource management training: exploiting available resources

Abstract

Despite widespread acceptance throughout commercial and military settings, crew resource management (CRM) training programs have not escaped doubts about their effectiveness. The current state of CRM training is an example of how an entire body of pertinent research and development has not had the impact on practice that it could. In this paper we outline additional resources (i.e., principles, information, findings, and guidelines) from the team training and training effectiveness research literatures that can be used to improve the design and delivery of CRM training. Some of the resources discussed include knowledge about training effectiveness, training teamwork-related skills, scenario design, and performance measurement. We conclude with a discussion of emerging resources as well as those that need to be developed. The purpose of this paper is to provide the CRM training developer with better access to resources that can be applied to the design and delivery of CRM training programs.