News ways in training seafarers in leadership positions // Human Element in Shipping Simulation
The increasing traffic density on waterways leads to complex situations. Nowadays, managing bridge teams is inalienable and thus, personal skills and effective resource planning are key elements of a successful management. TOPSIM - HEISS is an innovative way of turning learning into action and thereby focusing on creating a safety culture and developing a high performing crew.
The faculty of maritime studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Leer/Germany has a long tradition, founded 1854 as the “municipal school for navigation”. Leer is the second biggest shipmanagement area after Hamburg, and nowadays the maritime faculty is a well-known educational institution equipped with leading technology such as bridge and engine room simulators.
Challenge
The increasing traffic density on waterways leads to complex situations. Nowadays, managing bridge teams is inalienable and thus, personal skills and effective resource planning are key elements of a successful management. The bridge simulator offers the opportunity to train these skills and helps to increase efficiency as well as safety and security.
The challenge was to have a holistic module improving the students’ leadership performance as ‘bridge management team’, thereby combining strengths of TOPSIM-HEISS as ‘mobile’ management simulation conducted in intensive 2.5 days and the locally ‘fixed’ bridge simulator experienced by the students over 10 weeks in sessions a 4 hours.
Solution
After a first ship handling module in the bridge simulator and being introduced to their tasks for the next weeks, the ‘bridge management teams’ experience within the TOPSIM-HEISS course upcoming challenges like time pressure, complex decision-making, group dynamics and success factors effective communication.
Additionally, students refresh existing knowledge and transfer theoretical concepts in hands-on leadership interventions. Due to the simulated crew reaction after action of the virtual ‘HEISS – Captain’, the complexity of on board leadership as well as the effects of specific actions become very ‘tangible’ for the course participants.
This learning experience is again turned into task-oriented actions during the following bridge simulator sessions. Thereby, both team- and task-oriented competencies are integrated and experienced in a safe learning environment within one simulation-based learning module.
Benefit
TOPSIM-HEISS accelerates the development process of the participants in their bridge management teams. As stated by one participant: “We as team are now at a point where we probably would have been after 4 – 5 bridge simulator sessions”
Integrated at the beginning of the bridge simulator module, students benefit from team- and task-oriented decision-making directly, receive constructive feedback for their challenges in the near future and have earlier the capacity to deal with difficult situations within the bridge simulator.
Furthermore, a valid and reliable environment for further scientific maritime research in the areas of for instance multi-level leadership, shared mental models, complex decision-making or behavioural-oriented training has been created.
Weitere Informationen:
http://www.heiss.training/