Airports are dynamic environments where the smooth operation of numerous interconnected systems is crucial to ensure safety, efficiency, and a positive passenger experience.
The complexity of these environments demands a high level of teamwork and collaboration among a diverse group of stakeholders, including airlines, ground handling crews, air traffic controllers, security personnel, and many others.
Read on to learn more about strategies for fostering effective teamwork in airports – from strengthening followership and assertiveness to the use of advanced technologies.
The Importance of Teamwork in Airports
Sub-optimal teamwork is considered to be one of the factors responsible for aviation accidents and incidents. In fact, the Dirty Dozen concept, developed by Gordon Dupont in 1993, defines 12 human error preconditions that can be precursors to accidents and incidents. They are (in no particular order):
- Lack of communication
- Distraction
- Lack of resources
- Stress
- Complacency
- Lack of teamwork
- Pressure
- Lack of awareness
- Lack of knowledge
- Fatigue
- Lack of assertiveness
- Norms
These factors were originally defined in the context of maintenance, but they apply in many other scenarios.
Whilst teamwork is its own category, elements such as communication and assertiveness are crucial within well-functioning teams. (Of course, communication errors may also be due to technical faults, but it’s vital to ensure that the human aspect of communication is prioritised when it comes to ensuring safety.)
In many situations in aviation, workers cannot be solely responsible for ensuring safe outcomes and instead, must be able to trust and rely on other team members as well as members of teams beyond their own.
Issues such as complacency may also arise if leadership doesn’t motivate teams, or if team members don’t motivate each other.
Elements of Effective Teamwork
What should organisations be focusing on when looking to enhance the effectiveness of their teams? And how can such teams be developed? Let’s explore a few vital keys, starting with communication.
Effective Communication Within Aviation Teams
Some steps for ensuring effective communication include the following:
- Diverse communication channels: Regular briefings and debriefings can ensure that all team members are on the same page, while technologies such as instant messaging apps and collaborative platforms facilitate real-time communication.
- Open communication: Employees must not fear being reprimanded for voicing their concerns. Organisations should therefore adopt a non-punitive culture where staff feel safe in expressing their views and suggestions.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Developing and adhering to SOPs ensures that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. SOPs should be easily accessible and regularly updated to reflect any changes in protocols or regulations.
- Assertiveness training: Where safety is concerned, there’s no scope to avoid speaking up about concerns or correcting/pointing out others’ mistakes. Assertiveness training can help ensure that every employee is confident in this regard, and this may form part of a broader communication training plan.
Followership
Leadership is given a great deal of attention in this context; followership is just as important but is significantly less studied. However, some scholars state that 80% of an organisation’s success can be attributed to followers.
For teams to be effective, members must follow the strict protocols and procedures that govern aviation operations; there is no scope for lone wolves to do things their own way.
Of course, employees may have suggestions for improvement and this should be encouraged, but they should not bypass procedure.
Trust is a two-way street and the dynamic between leaders and followers must be seamless. Leaders must trust their team to follow instructions accurately, and team members must trust their leaders to make sound decisions.
Followership is especially vital during crisis situations. Followers who remain calm, follow instructions, and support their leaders can help navigate crises more effectively; their ability to act decisively and support the chain of command can make the difference between a manageable situation and a disaster.
How to Foster Effective Followership in Aviation Teams
Here are a few tips to ensure effective followership (and training programmes should take these elements into account, as well as emphasise the importance of followership alongside leadership).
Role Clarity
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities help followers understand their place within the team; and when team members know what is expected of them, they can perform their duties more effectively and support their leaders better. This clarity should be established at the time of onboarding.
Building Mutual Trust and Respect
Mutual trust and respect between leaders and followers are fundamental. Leaders should demonstrate trust in their team by delegating tasks and empowering followers; in turn, followers should respect the authority and decisions of their leaders. Building this trust requires consistent, respectful interactions and a commitment to the team’s shared goals.
Modelling Effective Followership
Leaders should model the behaviours they wish to see in their followers; for example, demonstrating humility, accountability, and a willingness to follow directives from higher authority sets a positive example. Leaders who exhibit these qualities reinforce the value of effective followership.
Recognition and Reward
Recognising and rewarding effective followership behaviours reinforces their importance, while acknowledging team members who demonstrate strong followership encourages others to follow suit.
Team Building Activities
Regular team-building exercises can help employees understand each other’s roles better and build trust, and these activities can range from simple ice-breakers to complex problem-solving tasks.
Naturally, it’s important to conduct such exercises when onboarding new staff, helping them quickly acclimatise to the team and feel comfortable with their colleagues.
In addition, encouraging employees to learn about other departments’ functions can enhance empathy and cooperation; for example, ground staff can benefit from understanding the challenges faced by air traffic controllers and vice versa. This understanding can be achieved through setting up cross-departmental activities.
Addressing Complacency and Encouraging Motivation
Referring back to the Dirty Dozen concept, we mentioned how complacency may result from low motivation. It’s vital that leaders observe signs of complacency and are trained to motivate teams – as well as encourage team members to be able to motivate each other.
Complacency can manifest in various ways, such as:
- Routine errors: Repeatedly making simple mistakes due to overfamiliarity with tasks.
- Lack of vigilance: Reduced attention to detail and failure to notice potential hazards.
- Decreased performance: A general decline in the quality and efficiency of work.
Leaders must be vigilant in looking out for these signs and take proactive measures to address them.
Tips for Increasing Team Motivation
Team building activities can encourage collective motivation, building a positive, motivating atmosphere on the whole. The importance of open communication comes to light again here; after all, there’s no greater motivation killer than expecting your concerns, ideas, and perspectives to be shut down time and time again.
A few more steps to encourage motivation and tackle complacency include:
- Accountability partnerships: Pairing team members as accountability partners can encourage them to motivate each other. These partnerships involve regular check-ins, goal setting, and mutual support to maintain high performance.
- Safety drills and simulations: Regular safety drills and simulations can keep the team vigilant and prepared, reducing complacency; these exercises also provide opportunities for team members to motivate each other, which can translate to real, on-the-job scenarios.
- Engagement: Improving employee engagement on the whole – as well as during specific activities such as safety drills – will help boost motivation. Integrating advanced technologies such as Virtual Reality into training can make a big difference, while reviewing the company’s engagement strategy will have broader implications. Providing professional development opportunities is vital in this regard, and will also help attract and retain new workers.
Investing in teams that experience high turnover is not the most efficient use of resources. Research by Gallup shows that low-engagement teams see turnover rates that are 18% to 43% higher than highly engaged teams. There’s also a correlation between engagement and absenteeism, and absenteeism affects the consistency of the team dynamic.
Both of these points further highlight the importance of being proactive about engagement.
Technology
Organisations can implement software that facilitates collaboration, which includes solutions for ground handling, MRO management, baggage reconciliation, and so on.
Any tools that provide real-time updates can be beneficial; when all parties have access to the same data in-the-moment, their efforts are better-synchronised and a swift response becomes possible.
How Our Solutions Enhance Teamwork and Collaboration
We provide a suite of solutions that help enhance teamwork amongst a range of aviation teams.
FIRST bag: Baggage Management and Reconciliation Software
FIRST bag, our web-based baggage management and reconciliation application, integrates previously disconnected systems, enabling a unified approach.
It provides real-time information to employees in an easily readable, visual format. Staff can compare incoming and onward flight information, helping them work together to prevent potential misconnections, while automatic status alerts keep baggage handlers informed of any issues, allowing for prompt resolution.
Other information staff can access includes the loading progress of all open flights, the percentage of bags that have been loaded, the flight destination and departure time, unprocessed alerts, and more; this real-time data sharing ensures that all staff are on the same page.
If re-flighting is necessary, the reason for misconnection and subsequent actions taken can be clearly recorded, providing employees with important details for each case.
How Our Ground Handling Software Enhances Collaboration
FIRST ramp is the most comprehensive, cloud based ground handling solution available, with features for aircraft turnaround planning, resource optimisation, and BI.
It promotes collaboration by providing ground crews, service teams, and fleet personnel with up-to-the-minute information on critical operational details, enhancing situational awareness and coordination.
Staff access this vital information thanks to the seamless data sharing between back-office systems and the mobile application. This real-time visibility into turnaround times and resource availability allows for more effective planning and execution, reducing delays and improving overall service quality.
FirstRamp is quick and easy to configure, further supporting a collaborative environment by making it easy for teams to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining high standards of performance.
Collaboration Among Airside Teams
FIRST load is a tablet application, mobilising traditional weight and balance software. It improves collaboration by providing airside operations with the latest information through an intuitive graphical user interface, while standard IATA messaging formats ensure that different teams clearly understand the data therein.
Load balancing and capacity calculations are optimised up to departure and real-time updates and alerts help ground crews manage loading processes more efficiently – and with fewer errors. It also instantly updates other operational systems, including AODB systems, for the ultimate cohesion.
Conclusion
Fostering teamwork and collaboration in airports is a multifaceted endeavour that requires a combination of effective communication, training, technology, and organisational support. By investing in strategies that promote teamwork, airports can ensure smoother operations and a better experience for both passengers and employees.
As global passenger volumes increase and staff have to work under increasing pressure, teamwork will only become of greater importance, making it an essential focus for airport management and other stakeholders. As mentioned, our state-of-the-art solutions enable more streamlined, efficient and cohesive operations, improving the communication and orchestration of teams across operational areas. To learn more or request a demo, contact us today.
