CRM Communication Card

This card accompanies Breaking Down Silos. Use it in incidents, reviews, planning meetings, and other situations where hierarchy or urgency can silence useful information.

CRM Communication Card

Crew Resource Management (CRM) treats communication, coordination, and human expertise as operational resources. Use these prompts in incidents, reviews, planning meetings, and other situations where hierarchy or urgency can silence useful information.

The person closest to the problem may see it first. Seniority does not determine whether an observation is worth hearing.

Say: “I have a concern about ____________________.”

Receiving a concern is not the same as agreeing with it. Acknowledge it, restate it, and explain what happens next.

Say: “I hear the concern. The evidence we have is ____________. We will check ____________.”

Vague hints are easy to dismiss under pressure. State the condition, impact, and request directly.

Say: “If we continue, ____________________ may happen. I recommend that we ____________________.”

Challenge the plan, not the person. A question can protect the mission without being a power contest.

Say: “Help me understand why this is the safest option given ____________.”

Use progressively direct language if a concern is not acknowledged.

  1. Question: “Can we check ____________________?”
  2. Concern: “I am concerned that ____________________.”
  3. Recommendation: “I recommend we pause and ____________________.”
  4. Urgent challenge: “This is unsafe. Stop the action and confirm the plan.”

If the concern remains unresolved, escalate through the agreed incident or leadership path. The person raising the concern is responsible for being clear; the person receiving it is responsible for making the response visible.

  • Do we agree on the actual problem?
  • Who has relevant information that is not in the room or call?
  • What changed, and what are we assuming?
  • What are the options and their main risks?
  • Who owns the decision?
  • Who is executing the action?
  • What result will tell us to continue, stop, or reassess?
  • One person is coordinating the work.
  • The executor has repeated back the assignment.
  • People are reporting observations, not only conclusions.
  • New or conflicting information is being acknowledged.
  • The team knows the next checkpoint.
  • Someone is watching for workload, confusion, or task saturation.
  • Did the action produce the expected result?
  • Did anyone raise a concern that was not fully heard?
  • Were roles and handoffs clear?
  • What information arrived too late?
  • What should change in the runbook, process, or team norm?
Failure patternWhat it sounds likeCountermeasure
Silo“That is their system.”Bring the owner into the decision and map the dependency.
Authority bias“The lead has decided.”Ask what evidence supports the decision and invite dissent.
Deference“I did not want to challenge them.”Make challenge expected and give it a standard phrase.
Diffused ownership“Someone is handling it.”Name one owner, one action, and one checkpoint.
Task saturation“We are checking everything.”Prioritize the mission and defer non-critical work.
Silent disagreementNo objection, then private concern afterward.Require a visible concerns or objections round.

Complete these together before the next high-pressure event.

Anyone may interrupt when: ________________________________________________

The phrase that means “stop and reassess” is: ____________________________

The person coordinating an incident is responsible for: __________________

Concerns are recorded or handed off through: ______________________________

We will practice this in: __________________________________________________

The point is not to create more ceremony. It is to make useful information move when pressure, hierarchy, or uncertainty would otherwise stop it.

What did we hear today that needs action?

Owner: __________________________________ Due: ______________________