Engine-room Team Management Far East Maritime Foundation, Inc.

1 ENGINE-ROOM TEAM MANAGEMENT

Lecture Slideshow

2 ENGINE ROOM TEAM MANAGEMENT

• The demands of modern ship operations require that engineer officers need to have
more than just technical skills.
• Engine room casualties are often a result of human factors rather than only lack of
technical knowledge. The importance of developing ‘people’ skills or ‘soft’ skills is
becoming more and more apparent. This course is aimed at developing the human
resource utilization and managerial skills of the participants.
• The course is conducted based on the guidelines as stated in Chapter III, Table A-III/1
and Table A-III/2 of STCW 2010 code.

3 ETM COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• To enhance the E/R Team Management skills of watchkeepers with the aid of
simulators.
• To develop effective teamwork leading to optimum utilization of E/R machinery and
human resources.
• To provide theory and practical training in the principles of human factors as
applicable within the machinery spaces.
• To support a change of attitude and managerial skills.
• To enable the E/R team to respond efficiently to changing circumstances and
contingencies.

4 COURSE TOPICS
• Error Chain & Error Management
• Effective Communication
• Situational Awareness
• Interaction Between Ranks
• Time Management / Workload,
Delegation & Planning
• Contingency Planning
• Leadership & Decision Making

5 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

• ERROR CHAINS - Maritime incidents or disasters are very seldom the result of a
single event, they are almost invariably the result of a series of non-serious incidents;
the culmination of an error chain.
• Causes of Maritime Accidents
• 20% Acts of NATURE
• 80% Human Error
• Some incidents and accidents are caused only by acts of NATURE. But human error
usually plays a major part.
• Actually its human involvement in errors because there’s often not one but a chain of

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usually plays a major part.

• Actually its human involvement in errors because there’s often not one but a chain of
errors.
•

6 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

• UNDERLYING FACTORS leading to the hazards and risks which lead to ERRORS:
• Increased competition and emphasis on cost cutting.
• Increasing age of the world’s fleet. This can lead to new and strange technical
problems.
• Crews from mixed cultures.
• Frequent new crew turnover.

7 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

• Types of Errors
• EXTERNAL ERRORS – Outside one’s direct control.
• INTERNAL ERRORS – Inside our head

8 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

1 Types Of External Errors
2 • TECHNICAL
• Engines design faults
• Machinery design faults
• Structural stresses
• Component malfunctions
• Maintenance errors
•
3 • INFORMATION
• Manufacturer’s manuals
• Inaccurate shop trials
• Company procedures
• Language
• Lack of materials, spares, tools etc.
9 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT
• EXAMPLES OF INTERNAL ERRORS
• Boredom – inattention
• Edge of routine – doing the same task repeatedly
• Fatigue
• Lack of knowledge
• Lack of training
10 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT
INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
• Certain signs in the function of a bridge team will indicate that an error chain is

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INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
• Certain signs in the function of a bridge team will indicate that an error chain is
developing.
• This does not mean that an incident is about to happen; it does mean that the
passage is not being carried out as planned and that certain elements of situational
awareness may be lacking.
• The ship is being put at unnecessary risk and action must be taken to break the error
chain.

11 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

1 INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
2 AMBIGUITY
• Ambiguity may be easily definable or there may be more subtle indications that
things are not going as expected. Ambiguity may exist in that two team members do
not agree upon a point of action. Ambiguity exists; of itself it may not be dangerous,
but it means that there is a difference and the cause of this difference needs to be
understood. One of the two team members is losing, or has lost, his situational
awareness and an error chain may be developing.
3 • Ambiguity may be a result of inexperience or lack of training. The junior officer may
feel that he is not in a position to voice his doubts. This should not be the case. Every
member of a well-constructed, well-briefed team will feel confident that his doubts or
fears can be expressed without his being reprimanded for what may turn out to be, in
one instance an unwarranted worry, in another a very pertinent and situation saving
remark.
12 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT
1 INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
2 DISTRACTION
• Distraction, the full attention of a person upon one event to the exclusion of others
or concentration upon what is often an irrelevancy can be an indication that
situational awareness is beginning to break down, even if only for a restricted period.
Distraction can be caused by an excessive workload, stress or fatigue, emergency
conditions or, all too often, inattention to detail.
3 INADEQUACY AND CONFUSION
• A less definable indication of situational awareness is a feeling that the person
concerned is losing control of the situation. A feeling that position fixing is not going
as it should, that the person concerned does not know what is expected to happen
next. This may be a result of lack of experience.

13 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

1 INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
2 COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
• Poor communications, both internal and external, are an indication that situational
awareness may be at risk. Internal communications may be confused by physical
causes such as noise, etc., or be caused by lack of common language or differing
procedural methods. External communications breakdown may also be caused by

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causes such as noise, etc., or be caused by lack of common language or differing

procedural methods. External communications breakdown may also be caused by
non-common language or plain misunderstanding.
3 IMPROPER WATCHKEEPING OR LOOKOUT
• Improper watchkeeping or poor lookout may be a result of lack of situational
awareness as well as an indication of its breakdown. Within the E/R team organization
there can be no aspect more important than a safe watch and breakdown of this
situation may lead to the ship E/R being hazarded.

14 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

1 INDICATIONS OF ERROR CHAIN DEVELOPMENT
2 NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MAINTENANCE PLAN
• Non-compliance with the maintenance plan may result from the improper conn
noted above, and is another indication that the situational awareness is breaking
down.
3 PROCEDURAL VIOLATION
• Unjustified departure from clearly defined and understood operating procedures
must be recognized as a breakdown of situational awareness.

15 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Error management is the practical application of Human Factors training.
• It provides essential knowledge, tools and a framework to enable organizations to
understand the type of errors that are occurring and be able to manage the risk
accordingly. It is all about learning from low-consequence/high probability events
and is driven by behaviors and culture.

16 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

• An effective Error Management System must create the capability to:
• Remove error-promoting situations
• Improve defenses
• Enable your people to make effective risk-based decisions in all that they do
17 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT
Principles of Error Management
• Human error is both universal & inevitable: Human error is not a moral issue. Human
fallibility can be moderated but it can never be eliminated.
• Errors are not intrinsically bad: Success and failure spring from the same
psychological roots. Without them we could neither learn nor acquire the skills that
are essential to safe and efficient work.
• You cannot change the human condition, but you can change the conditions in which
humans work: Situations vary enormously in their capacity for provoking unwanted
actions. Identifying these error traps and recognizing their characteristics are
essential preliminaries to effective error management.

18 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Principles of Error Management

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18 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Principles of Error Management
• The best people can make the worst mistakes: No one is immune! The best people
often occupy the most responsible positions so that their errors can have the greatest
impact.
• People cannot easily avoid those actions they did not intend to commit: Blaming
people for their errors is emotionally satisfying but remedially useless. We should
not, however, confuse blame with accountability. Everyone ought to be accountable
for his or her errors [and] acknowledge the errors and strive to be mindful to avoid
recurrence.

19 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Principles of Error Management
• Errors are consequences not causes: …errors have a history. Discovering an error is
the beginning of a search for causes, not the end. Only be understanding the
circumstances…can we hope to limit the chances of their recurrence.
• Many errors fall into recurrent patterns: Targeting those recurrent error types is the
most effective way of deploying limited Error Management resources.
• Safety significant errors can occur at all levels of the system: Making errors is not the
monopoly of those who get their hands dirty. …the higher up an organization an
individual is, the more dangerous are his or her errors. Error management techniques
need to be applied across the whole system.

20 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Principles of Error Management
• Error management is about managing the manageable: Situations and even systems
are manageable if we are mindful. Human nature – in the broadest sense – is not.
Most of the enduring solutions…involve technical, procedural and organizational
measures rather than purely psychological ones.
• Error management is about making good people excellent: Excellent performers
routinely prepare themselves for potentially challenging activities by mentally
rehearsing their responses to a variety of imagined situations. Improving the skills of
error detection is at least as important as making people aware of how errors arise in
the first place.
•

21 ERROR CHAIN & ERROR MANAGEMENT

Principles of Error Management
• There is no one best way: Different types of human factors problem occur at different
levels of the organization and require different management techniques. Different
organizational cultures require different ‘mixing and matching’….of techniques.
People are more likely to buy-in to home grown measures.
• Effective error management aims as continuous reform not local fixes: There is
always a strong temptation to focus upon the last few errors …but trying to prevent
individual errors is like swatting mosquitoes…the only way to solve the mosquito
problem is drain the swamps in which they breed. Reform of the system as a whole

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individual errors is like swatting mosquitoes…the only way to solve the mosquito
problem is drain the swamps in which they breed. Reform of the system as a whole
must be a continuous process whose aim is to contain whole groups of errors rather
than single blunders.

22 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
• Effective communication is a process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge and
information such that the purpose or intention is fulfilled in the best possible manner.
In simple words, it is nothing but the presentation of views by the sender in a way
best understood by the receiver.

23 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
• We can say that it generally involves;
• Sender: The person who initiates the process of communication by sending a
message;
• Receiver: The one to whom the message is to be delivered.

24 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
The Principles of Good Communication
• Setting the climate
• Interactive
• Closed Loop

25 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
SETTING THE CLIMATE
• The Chief Engineer must set a good climate to his subordinates in order to foster
good communication.
• When the Chief Engineer is open to his men there would be an effective
communication among the team; engine department.

26 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
CLOSED LOOP COMMUNICATION
• When a message or instruction by a sender has been received by the receiver well
understood & confirmed (agreed).
•

27 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
BRIEFING GUIDELINES
• Make time
• Open and friendly
• Who should run?
• Interactive
• Define responsibilities
• Closed loop

28 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
DEBRIEFING GUIDELINES

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28 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
DEBRIEFING GUIDELINES
• As soon as possible
• Yourself first
• Positive & Negative
• Whole team
• Interesting
• Make plans

29 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
Situational Awareness
• Situational awareness (SA) means appreciating all you need to know about what is
going on when the full scope of your task - operating, controlling or maintaining an
engine room - is taken into account. More specifically and in the context of complex
operational environments, SA is concerned with the person's knowledge of particular
task-related events and phenomena.
• A general definition of SA is that it is the perception of the elements in the
environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning
and the projection of their status in the near future

30 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
1 • SA needs to include the following four specific elements:
1. extracting information from the environment;
2. integrating this information with relevant internal knowledge to create a mental
picture of the current situation;
3. using this picture to direct further perceptual exploration in a continual
perceptual cycle;
4. anticipating future events
2 • Taking these four elements into account, SA is defined as the continuous extraction
of environmental information, the integration of this information with previous
knowledge to form a coherent mental picture, and the use of that picture in directing
further perception and anticipating future events

31 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
SIGNIFICANCE
• For a watchkeeper, situational awareness means having a mental picture of the
existing inter-relationship of location, machinery conditions, configuration and
energy state of your engine room as well as any other factors that could be about to
affect its safety.

32 SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
• It is essential to have a complete awareness of the situation so that necessary
measures and actions can be taken proactively, in order to prevent the occurrence of
incidents and environmental pollution.

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incidents and environmental pollution.

33 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• Working on ships is a “team effort”. A “one-man-show” cannot run the whole ship. In
order to perform operations smoothly and safety on board ships, good interpersonal
relationship among seafarers is a must.
• Working on ships is not an easy task and dissatisfaction and demotivation can easily
be developed among seafarers as a result of various kinds of stresses.
• During such situation, it is the job of chief-engineer/second engineer/officer in
charge of an engineering watch to get rid of discontentment among people on ship
and instill the importance of interpersonal relationship.

34 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• As the number of people working on board is limited, everyone should try to know
each other in order to understand the values, knowledge and skills each one has. This
is the first step towards developing interpersonal relationship on board ships.
• However, chief engineer/second engineer/officer in charge of an engineering watch
should take additional steps to ensure that all team members are comfortable with
each other both on and off work.

35 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 1. MORNING MEETINGS (Tool Box Meeting): The morning meeting, which is
conducted to assign work to team members, is the best time to get all the crew
members together. It is necessary that crew members talk to each other during such
meetings and discuss their views and opinions.

36 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 1. MORNING MEETINGS (Tool Box Meeting): Each member should be given a chance
to provide suggestions regarding improvement of work process and safety
precautions to be taken. This activity gives members a sense of responsibility and
importance and also works a great deal in enhancing their performance and
interpersonal relationship.
37 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS
• 2. COFFEE/TEA-BREAKS: Coffee/Tea breaks if used efficiently can work wonders
towards enhancing “team effort”. It should be made compulsory to get all crew
members together during tea breaks to discuss the work in progress and other
important things that they feel are necessary.

38 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 3. ONBOARD TRAINING SESSIONS: On board training session is yet another
important opportunity to get crew members together to impart important working
knowledge or conduct safety committee meetings. Captain and Chief Engineer
should arrange the meeting in such a way that maximum crew members are able to
participate.

39 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 4. SPENDING FREE TIME TOGETHER: It is often seen that post working hours, officers

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39 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 4. SPENDING FREE TIME TOGETHER: It is often seen that post working hours, officers
and crew members spend time in their own rooms instead of getting together in
officer or crew lounge. Watching movies and playing games in free time is a solid way
to know each other and build great relationships both on and off work.

40 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS

• 5. ARRANGING EVENTS/SPORTS DAY: It is necessary to arrange recreational events or
sports days which require crew members to participate in teams. This is a great way
to inculcate the importance of team spirit and building interpersonal relationship
among crew members.
41 INTERACTION BETWEEN RANKS
• 6. PARTIES AND GET-TOGETHER: Everyone likes to party and unwind once in a while.
Party is a great method to bond people together and improve scarred relationships
on board ships. However, it is necessary that they are arranged in such a way that
maximum crew is able to participate. Festival celebrations are also a great way to
enhance interpersonal relationships between people onboard.

42 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING

1 What is Time Management ?
• Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is
allocated to the right activity.
• Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities
as per their importance.
• Time Management refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited.
2 Time Management includes:
• Effective Planning
• Setting goals and objectives
• Setting deadlines
• Delegation of responsibilities
• Prioritizing activities as per their importance
• Spending the right time on the right activity
43 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING
Effective Planning
• Plan your day well in advance. Prepare a To Do List or a “TASK PLAN”. Jot down the
important activities that need to be done in a single day against the time that should
be allocated to each activity. High Priority work should come on top followed by
those which do not need much of your importance at the moment. Complete
pending tasks one by one. Do not begin fresh work unless you have finished your
previous task. Tick the ones you have already completed. Ensure you finish the tasks
within the stipulated time frame.

44 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING

Setting Goals and Objectives
• Working without goals and targets in an organization would be similar to a situation

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Setting Goals and Objectives
• Working without goals and targets in an organization would be similar to a situation
where the captain of the ship loses his way in the sea. Yes, you would be lost. Set
targets for yourself and make sure they are realistic ones and achievable.

45 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING

Setting Deadlines
• Set deadlines for yourself and strive hard to complete tasks ahead of the deadlines.
Do not wait for your superiors to ask you every time. Learn to take ownership of
work. One person who can best set the deadlines is you yourself. Ask yourself how
much time needs to be devoted to a particular task and for how many days. Use a
planner to mark the important dates against the set deadlines.
46 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING
• Delegation of Responsibilities
• Learn to say “NO” at workplace. Don’t do everything on your own. There are other
people as well. One should not accept something which he knows is difficult for him.
The roles and responsibilities must be delegated as per interest and specialization of
the crew for them to finish tasks within deadlines. A person who does not have
knowledge about something needs more time than someone who knows the work
well.

47 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING

Prioritizing Tasks
• Prioritize the tasks as per their importance and urgency. Know the difference between
important and urgent work. Identify which tasks should be done within a day, which
all should be done within a month and so on. Tasks which are most important should
be done earlier.

48 TIME MANAGEMENT / WORKLOAD, DELEGATION & PLANNING

Spending the right time on right activity
• Develop the habit of doing the right thing at the right time.
• Work done at the wrong time is not of much use. Don’t waste a complete day on
something which can be done in an hour or so.
49 WORK LOAD
• There are dangers of too low and too high workloads and should be avoided
systematically using methods like task analysis, delegation and rotation of work.

50 WORK LOAD
1 EXPECTED TASKS
• Machinery Maintenance
• Loading & Discharging Duties
• Supplies
• Crew Scheduling
• Emergency Drills
• Bunkering
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• Emergency Drills
• Bunkering
2 UNEXPECTED TASKS
• Flooding
• Accidents
• Engine Room Fires
• Oil Spillages
• Piracy
• Machinery Breakdown

51 WORK LOAD
1 DIRECTLY UNDER YOUR CONTROL
• Machinery Maintenance
• Briefing
• Checklists
• Training
• Experience
• Defining Procedures
2 INDIRECTLY UNDER YOUR CONTROL
• Management Support
• Company Standing Orders
• New Technology

52 CONTINGENCY PLANNING
• Contingency Planning means preparing a documented plan for emergencies and to
ensure all on board are trained and exercised toward its execution. Every seafarer is
required to be prepared for emergencies. Such preparedness can only be built in
through well laid out plans, training programs and properly worked out exercises.

53 CONTINGENCY PLANNING
• A study of a number of casualties have shown that seafarers tend to panic in an
emergency as there is no contingency plan and most crew members are not aware of
the task they should jump to in an incident. This can only be avoided by suitable
contingency plan, for each type of emergency and by carrying out regular drills.
54 CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Emergency response and contingency plans for Engine Room Personnel
• An emergency can occur at any time and in any situation. Effective action is only
possible if pre-planned and practical procedures have been developed and are
frequently exercised.
• The Contingency Plan provides guidelines and instructions that assist in making an
efficient response to emergency situations onboard ships specially in the Engine
Room.
• If the vessel’s engine room encounters a dangerous situation that may develop into
an emergency, it is extremely important that the whole E/R crew know exactly what

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• If the vessel’s engine room encounters a dangerous situation that may develop into
an emergency, it is extremely important that the whole E/R crew know exactly what
they should do to save their lives and minimize damage.
55 CONTINGENCY PLANNING
• It is worth stating that an abnormal condition need not necessarily be cargo related,
it might be in the engine room, or involve deck machinery such as a mooring winch
failure for instance. Any condition that could compromise the vessel’s ability to carry
out a smooth, incident free operation may be considered abnormal.
• These plans should be used actively during emergency drills. The objective of an
emergency plan is to make the best use of the resources available. This will be the
shipboard personnel whilst the ship is at sea but may include resources from shore
when the ship is in harbor or passing through coastal waters.

56 CONTINGENCY PLANNING
1 The plans should be directed at achieving the following aims:
• rescue and treatment of casualties
• safeguarding others
• minimizing damage to property and the environment
• bringing the incident under control.
2 The plans should include
advice on the following:
• fire
• collision
• grounding
• cargo spillage/leak
• personnel casualty
57 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

58 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

What are leadership skills?
• Leadership skills are skills you use when organizing other people to reach a shared
goal.
• Whether you’re in a management position or leading a project, leadership skills
require you to motivate others to complete a series of tasks, often according to a
schedule.
• Leadership is not just one skill but rather a combination of several different skills
working together.

59 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

Top 6 Leadership Skills
1. Decisiveness - Effective leaders are those who can make decisions quickly with the
information they have. Effective decision-making comes with time and experience.
As you become more familiar with your specific job or role in the E/R, you’ll be able
to make decisions faster, even when you don’t have all of the necessary information.

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As you become more familiar with your specific job or role in the E/R, you’ll be able
to make decisions faster, even when you don’t have all of the necessary information.
Decisiveness is seen as a valuable leadership skill because it can help move
projects/tasks/workloads along faster and improve efficiency.
60 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING
Top 6 Leadership Skills
2. Integrity - Integrity is often seen as just truthfulness or honesty but in many cases, it
also means having and standing by a set of strong values. Integrity in the workplace
often means being able to make ethical choices and helping the company maintain
a positive image. All shipping businesses seek to hire E/R workers who have a
strong sense of integrity.

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Top 6 Leadership Skills
3. Relationship Building (or Team Building) - Leadership requires the ability to build
and maintain a strong and collaborative team of individuals working toward the
same goal. Team building requires other leadership strengths, like effective
communication skills and conflict resolution.

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Top 6 Leadership Skills
4. Problem-solving - Good leaders are skilled at problem-solving issues that arise on
the job. Effective problem solving often requires staying calm and identifying a
step-by-step solution. Problem-solving skills can help leaders make quick decisions,
resolve obstacles with their team and external teams alike, and ensure projects are
completed on time, according to the specifications.
63 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING
Top 6 Leadership Skills
5. Dependability - Being a dependable leader means that people can trust and rely on
you. A dependable person follows through on plans and keeps promises. The strong
relationships built by a dependable leader create a resilient team that is able to
work through difficulties that may arise.
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Top 6 Leadership Skills
6. Ability to teach and mentor - One of the skills that differentiates leadership from
many other competencies is the ability to teach and mentor. Effectively teaching
colleagues or direct reports how to grow in their careers helps organizations scale.
Often, this skill requires that leaders think less about themselves and more about
how to make their team as a whole successful.

65 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

Decision Making
• The thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options.
• When trying to make a good decision, a person must weight the positives and

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• The thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options.
• When trying to make a good decision, a person must weight the positives and
negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives.
• For effective decision making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of each
option as well, and based on all these items, determine which option is the best for
that particular situation.

66 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

CATEGORIES OF DECISIONS
1. Routine Decisions
✓Often simple choices.
✓For example the adjusting vessel’s speed for economical reasons or how many
generators to be used during operations in port, and planned maintenance on
machineries.
✓They are usually covered by company guidelines or by your experience or are
obvious.
2.

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CATEGORIES OF DECISIONS
2. Instant Decisions
✓Are when there’s no need or little time for judgment.
✓Some instant decisions involve high risk and possibly high stress.
✓For example the threat of machinery malfunction, or loss of power, they need fast
reactions.

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CATEGORIES OF DECISIONS
3. Considered Decisions
✓Need a lot of judgment.
✓They could be linked to one or more short-term strategies to solve the problem.
✓But they don’t have to involve problems. They could be important decisions that
need careful thought from the whole team.
Examples:
✓Engine room fires.
✓Bunkering spillages.
✓Entering or leaving port in bad weather.
✓Machinery breakdown.
✓
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NOTES ON DECISION MAKING
1. Bad decision despite good judgment. A decision is only as good as the information
on which it’s based. Garbage in, garbage out. So, continually check the quality and
relevance of information.

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on which it’s based. Garbage in, garbage out. So, continually check the quality and
relevance of information.
2. Decisions that require instant reactions:
• Train yourself to act quickly.
• Discipline yourself to act slowly.
• Count to ten.

70 LEADERSHIP & DECISION MAKING

NOTES ON DECISION MAKING
3. When you decide to leave things as they are, this is a conscious decision. A decision
has been made and you should clearly communicate this fact.
4. If you unconsciously fail to take a decision for whatever reason, this does not occur
at any particular point in time, this can be serious.

71 THANK YOU!
Engine-Room Team Management
Lecture Slideshow

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