Assertive Communication

Learning Objective

To introduce Assertive Communication as a communication framework that is essential to fostering effective team decision making.

Opening Up Dialogue

Crew Resource Management (CRM) is about creating an environment where any member of a team can speak up to raise concerns and issues. When there are personality differences, role hierarchies, or power dynamics at play, speaking up can be challenging. But speaking up could mean the difference between safe passage and an incident occurring.

It takes courage to speak up, and practicing Assertive Communication can help teams communicate more effectively and efficiently in risk environments.

The Five Steps of Assertive Communication:

1. Start with an attention getter – address the person by name
   • “Hey Sarah! Hold up!”
2. State your concern – objectively communicate what you are seeing, avoiding assumptions, misconceptions, or biases
   • “I have a concern – the channel you’re looking at crossing looks like it has more whitecaps than we were expecting.”
3. Provide details of the concern – use specific, concrete language to describe who is involved, what is happening, when and where it’s happening
   • “I don’t think crossing is appropriate right now. The wind could really spread the group out and  make it hard for any potential rescues. Especially because this is our first big crossing of the trip and we haven’t seen how these participants can paddle in waves.”
4. Provide an alternative course of action
   • “Let’s take a snack break on this island and watch to see if the wind dies down. If not, let’s see can we see if there is a safer place to cross.”
5. Ask for buy-in on the alternate course of action
   • “Are you ok to go ahead with this plan?”

Practice Scenarios 

A great way to practice CRM and Assertive Communication is to think of and explore realistic scenarios. Discussing these scenarios with other leaders or your team is a good way to participate in Shared Mental Modelling.

Speaking up is how we Practice Vigilance & Ongoing Situational Awareness, which invites a productive conversation to discuss the issue at hand and increases the likelihood of creating a shared solution based on multiple perspectives.

Try thinking through the following scenarios and applying the Five Steps of Assertive Communication to each one.

Scenario 1

It is Day 5 of a river trip where there has been much homesickness and both instructors have been staying up late to reassure and support participants.

The lead instructor has planned the route for the day to finish off with a rapid called “Gnarly Chute”.

It is late in the day by the time you arrive at the rapid after a long day of portaging, scouting and running rapids.

As you approach the rapid, you notice that it looks much more challenging than anything the group has paddled so far. In addition, it is late in the day and people are looking tired. What concerns might you have? How might you bring them up? What might you not be seeing?

Scenario 2

You are leading a kayak trip in an area that is not familiar to you, but the lead guide has paddled this route many times and has been regaling the group with stories of ‘sailing’ the route last time they were here because of north winds. They have told everyone how wonderful the campsite is tonight and that it should be an ‘easy paddle’. The forecasted wind speed for the day was 10 knots from the south.

As you are paddling south along the shoreline through the day, you have noticed many easy pull outs for the group. Also, the wind speed has been consistently more than 10 knots (headwind) and has been building steadily. When you check the chart, you see that the shoreline changes to being more rugged and exposed (fewer pull outs and more prone to wind and waves) as the day progresses.

How might you begin a conversation detailing your concerns?

Scenario 3

You are on a hiking trip – this is your first time here but your co-guide has done many personal trips here before.

When you arrive at the campsite, despite lots of signage warning about bear activity in the area, your co-guide tells everyone that it is ok to leave all the cooking equipment out for the night. They assure everyone that have been to this site many times before and never had any issues with bears or other animals.

How might you get your co-guide’s attention and detail any unease?

Scenario 4

You are planning a kayak trip with a very senior lead instructor. They have told you how much they enjoy leading trips with everyone in single kayaks due to increased participant learning outcomes.

The group attending is from a local community paddling club, so the lead instructor has planned an ambitious route with longer days.

On day one, you notice that their paddling abilities are not at the level you expected, and you notice that one of the participants is having trouble keeping up. When you chat to them you learn that they had only ever practiced kayak skills in a pool for a few hours. How can you offer a buy-in or alterative course of action to the lead instructor?

Conclusion

Assertive communication allows individuals to express their thoughts, needs, and feelings clearly and directly, reducing the chances of misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

For a team out in the field, assertive communication helps to resolve conflicts constructively and allows individuals to speak up and draw attention to potential issues before they arise. Assertive communication encourages active listening, a Culture of Dissent, and comradery!

References

Gasaway, R. (2011, December 14). The Five Step Assertive Statement Process. Situational Awareness Matters. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from https://www.samatters.com/the-five-step-assertive-statement-process/

Frothingham, M. B. (2023, September 12). Learn Assertive Communication In 5 Simple Steps. Simply Psychology. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/assertive-communication.html#5-Steps-of-Assertive-Communication