Chapter

13

Communication and Cooperation

Introduction			253
A Simple Communications Model . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	253
Types of Questions . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	255
Communications Concepts . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		.257
Good Communications . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	257
Personal Communications . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		.258
Cockpit Communications			259
Professional Languages			262
Metacommunications			263
Briefings . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	263
Communications to Achieve Coordination . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		.263
Synchronization			264
Synergy in Joint Actions . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	264
Barriers to Crew Cooperation and Teamwork			265
Good Team Work . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	265
Summary			266
Miscommunication . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	266
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		.267
Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	.	270

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13 Communication and Cooperation

Cooperation and Communication 13

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Communication and Cooperation

Introduction

Communication can be defined as “the effective transmission of a message”.

The majority of all civilian aircraft accidents are caused by human error. In 1997 over 70% of all civilian aircraft accidents in which fatalities occurred involved a perfectly serviceable aircraft being flown into the ground - Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT). There appears to be no significant improvement in recent years.

With the tendency for the modern airliner to reduce the flight deck crew complement to just two operating pilots, and the increasing use of computers to take over the functions previously undertaken by crew members, there is an ever-increasing emphasis on crew cooperation and communication to ensure the safe operation of all flights.

A Simple Communications Model

Introduction

Paul Watzlawick’s first axiom of communication states that “one cannot not communicate”. Thus, no matter how one may try, one must communicate. Activity or inactivity, words or silence all have message value. They influence others who, in turn cannot not respond to these communications and are thus themselves communicating. Mere absence of talking or taking notice is no exception.

The man at a crowded lunch counter who looks straight ahead, or the aircraft passenger who sits with his/her eyes closed, are both communicating that they do not wish to speak to anyone or to be spoken to. Their neighbours normally “get the message” and response appropriately by leaving them alone. This, obviously, is just as much an interchange of communication as an animated discussion.

The simplest model to represent communication would consist only of a transmitter sending a message to a receiver. This model would, however, be far too simple to represent the wealth and variety of interhuman communications.

Basic Requirements

For any meaningful information to be passed:

•The transmitter and receiver must speak the same language; even the same native language would not necessarily suffice in cases where an expert in one field is attempting to pass information to an individual who has no knowledge of the subject.

•Sentences should be correctly formed and, where possible, unambiguous.

•Gestures and attitudes should duplicate the spoken word and either strengthen or weaken the contents.

•Interference/noise levels are such that clear communication is possible.

The message to be decoded by the receiver is the sum of all verbal and non-verbal expressions. With radio communications the non-verbal aspects are lost (see Metacommunications).

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Communication and Cooperation

Context

The meaning of what is said does not depend on the language alone. It depends on the context for both the transmitter and receiver. With different contexts the same message can have very different meanings. A simple phrase term such as ‘landing gear down’ could be an executive order to lower the undercarriage or, if said in a different tone, could be a question. ‘Is the undercarriage down?’ Yet another tone could be a simple statement that the undercarriage is down at a stage when it should have been raised.

Another well-known example where meaning is totally changed by context is:

“Woman without her man is useless” whereas

“Woman: without her, man is useless”

Basic Components of Interpersonal Communication

Berlo (one of the foremost exponents of the science of communications) proposed six basic components of interpersonal communications which are widely accepted. These are:

Source

•All human communication has some source, some person or group of persons with a purpose, a reason for engaging in communication. Given a source, with ideas, needs, intentions, information and a purpose for communicating, a second ingredient is necessary. The purpose of the source has to be expressed in the form of a message.

Message

•In human communication, a message is behaviour in physical form - the translation of ideas, purposes and intentions into a code - a systematic set of symbols.

Encoder

•How do the source’s purposes get translated into a code or language? This requires the third communications ingredient - an encoder. This is responsible for taking the ideas of the source and putting them in a code. The most common encoders are:

•Vocal mechanisms (words, cries, musical notes)

•Muscles of the hand (written words, pictures, diagrams)

•Other muscle systems of the body (gestures, facial expressions, posture)

Channel

•This is amplified later in this chapter. Briefly, a channel is a medium, a carrier of messages (for example speech, gestures, writing).

•It is worth noting that in spite of the fact that we have introduced a source, a message, an encoder and a channel, no communication has yet taken place. For this we require someone else at the other end of the channel. When we talk, someone must listen or when we write, someone must be there to read.

Receiver

•The person or persons at the other end of the channel are referred to as the receiver or the target of communication.

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