SITUATION AWARENESS – THE OTHER KIND

You have an idea of your natural thinking style: detail versus big picture, faster paced versus slower paced, importance on people versus tasks, and immediate response of taking action versus pondering the situation. You might even have picked up on cues from others as to their natural communication and thinking styles. 

What you have accomplished is a form of situation awareness. Experts have defined situation awareness in many ways. The most basic and encompassing definition can be stated as your understanding of how the individual elements of the situation fit together and how changing these elements will affect you and others. Situation awareness exists in the information your five senses pick up and also includes your thoughts, actions and emotions. Let’s focus on the latter part of this definition.

It is impossible to multi-task. Multi-tasking is the ability to perform two or more attention-necessary tasks simultaneously. You cannot carry on a conversation and comprehend instructions. You cannot pull out onto a busy highway while thinking about how to resolve a challenging situation. We have gotten very good at quickly alternating back and forth between tasks. This detracts from our concentration on the primary task at hand and makes us more prone to errors. 

NBAA’s Safety Committee lists ‘task saturation’ as one of the top 10 safety areas. This committee defines task saturation as “too much to do without enough time, tools or resources leads to the inability to focus on what really matters.” These are the times we take a risk and try to multi-task. The end result of this can be additional stress, unprofessional behavior, mentally shutting down and making more errors.

You may be asking yourself, “What does multi-tasking and task saturation have to do with how I talk to my team and situation awareness?” The more perceptive you are about your own thoughts, emotions and actions (TEA), the better equipped you will be successfully handle difficult, uncomfortable or awkward situations. Recognizing when you are getting irritated, frustrated or worried helps shift your mind from swirling around your problem to recognizing your emotions. You can then acknowledge those feelings and turn your focus to the challenge at hand. Remember, your mind cannot deal with negative feelings and think logically. That is multi-tasking and multi-tasking is a myth. When you are concerned that the aircraft repairs will not be completed on time, you relinquish the ability to explore and consider alternatives.

Let’s consider two situations. In the first situation, Joe and Mike are having difficulties working together. They speak to each other only when necessary and exchange the minimum amount of information. Tension surrounds them and others have come to you because that environment is affecting the entire department. What can you do?

In the second situation, Sam is wrestling with a problem and you are not certain what it is. You think it might be of a personal nature. You notice he is distracted, preoccupied and taking longer to complete routine maintenance tasks. Others have come to you to complaining about his lack of timeliness. What can you do?

The general recommendation for both of these is the same. First, spend time observing them from a distance and watch how others treat them. Do others leave them alone? Do they act as if nothing is bothering them? Are their interactions forced, stilted, easy going or tense? How are the interactions after the initial conversation?

When you are observing, try not to read anything into what you are seeing. Don’t try to guess underlying motives. You also need to be aware of any biased thoughts (‘that was stupid’, or ‘he shouldn’t have done that’) and your emotions (anger, frustration, impatience, etc.). You can note thoughts like ‘I wonder why he did that’ or ‘What was he thinking?’ (Though this last question can be said in a derogatory tone, in this instance it is a question based on non-judgmental curiosity.)

What you have done successfully is increased your situational awareness — both in the traditional, external sense and in a professional development, internal sense. You have witnessed behaviors objectively, assessed the situation without judging or making assumptions and determined your information gaps. You now have a starting point from which to uncover the root causes for Sam’s inattentiveness and the friction between Joe and Mike.

At some point, you will need to discuss Sam’s actions (or lack of actions) with him, and hear both Joe’s and Mike’s stories. Before you do, you need to apply the situation awareness techniques to yourself:

• Know what words or actions will cause you to feel anger (rolling of the eyes, mumbling, looking down) and be prepared to counter-act your feelings.

• Be alert to any changes in their attitude, body language or voice (tone, pitch and volume). Was it a particular word they reacted to, or the entire question or statement?

• Listen to the words the other person uses and note what they do not say. Do they actually answer your question? Do they simply speak words that might sound like an answer but don’t give you the information you need? 

• You might feel your defenses rising or feel yourself getting impatient; however, you should generally not show these feelings.

You will need to search mentally (and direct all your energies towards listening to what they are saying and what they are not saying) to determine what beliefs or opinions they have that you need to be aware of and help them work through. You need to know what they are thinking and why. It is the why that is important to your understanding and helping them resolve the issue.

Your best course of action is to ask questions (to regain your own emotional footing) and let them talk. Somewhere in their responses will be what is truly bothering them. Remember TEA: their thoughts influence their emotions that control their attitudes and actions. Your thoughts influence your emotions that control your attitudes and actions. Thoughts such as, “My job is on the line,” “I don’t want to be seen as weak,” or “I made a huge mistake” can cause (emotions of) defensiveness, desperation or despair. This, in turn, can manifest itself in actions such as yelling and pointing fingers, stubbornly refusing to share details of the issue and assuring you they can handle it, or a bowed head and speaking softly. 

Take special note of what questions or words change his behavior. What did you say that caused him to shift in his seat? Did he divert his eyes from looking at or around you to the floor? What caused him to frown or appear deep in thought? These are signs you are close to the truth. Continue to ask non-threatening questions and allow him to talk. 

On the internal side of situation awareness, pay attention to when you feel uncomfortable and ask yourself why. This is a critical step in handling all types of situations. If you do not realize what you are doing, if your TEA does not register in your conscious realm, you cannot change. The same with Sam — if he does not realize he is taking twice as long to complete tasks, he appears detached or he is short with his responses, he will become comfortable in those actions and will have no reason to change. When Mike and Joe recognize the detrimental effect their emotions have on others, they can be more apt to change. If you do not see how your reaction to stressful situations affects your crew, you can’t change. If you see nothing wrong with your actions, why should you change? If Sam, Mike and Joe see nothing wrong with their actions, why should they change? 

Having a strong sense of ‘internal situation awareness’ allows you to identify when you are not performing at your best because of worry, anxiety, concern or even jubilation. Denying what you are feeling or seeing, and minimizing the mindset of your crew can quickly escalate into a safety violation. Acknowledging the facts along with thoughts and feelings is vital to a proactive safety culture. 

Human factors and modifying behaviors are the focus of Dr. Shari Frisinger’s programs, raising awareness of potentially disruptive or unsafe behaviors before they occur. These behavioral leadership programs give her clients the tools to influence, empower and motivate. This eases conflict, enhances safety and elevates service. She is a member of NBAA’s Safety Committee, an NBAA PDP provider and an adjunct faculty member facilitating leadership and aviation courses. For more information, visit www.ShariFrisinger.com or call (281) 992-4136.

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NBAA Safety Committee top 10 safety focus areas: www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/top-10/
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