"Truly two of the most productive days I have had in regards to personal and professional development."
Jon Kieren, Training Director, TDI/SDI/ERDI

Why do I need to do this course?

Simply put: Make your diving or instruction easier, more fun and ultimately safer.

How many diving accidents, incidents or near misses that you know about were down to the lack of technical skills or failure of equipment? Do these sound familiar?

  • - "I didn't think that was going to happen"
  • - "We didn't brief the plan, so I was surprised when he did that"
  • - "We entered the wreck but no-one had talked about that"
  • - "I thought that he had analysed the gas"

Doesn't happen to you? This attitude is a common human behaviour where we try to convince ourselves that we are different and these things happen to other people.

Recent research has shown that 44% of SCUBA diving incidents had complacency as a contributory factor, 39% overconfidence, 36% as error in judgement, 33% poor or failure to communicate...these are not technical failures...

What you'll learn...

...and what it means to your 'fun' diving, instruction or expedition-level diving

Decision Making

Ultimately we want to make great decisions (or in some cases, decisions which are just good enough!) But we are biased in so many ways into making poor decisions. Human in the System uses theory, research and practice into decision making and cognitive biases from wide range of domains to show how and why decisions are made and how to make more effective ones.

Situational Awareness

This isn't just an aviation or military construct, it is at the core of our decision making. What is happening now. What does it mean to now. What does it mean in one hour, one day, one week, one month from now. There is a need to create a future model and constantly check it, and readjust our models of the world. If we don't errors happen. Effective situational awareness leads to better decision making.

Communication

How often do you hear "I told him, but they didn't understand" or "He just winds me up the wrong way, I never listen to him"? Communications isn't just transmitting, it is receiving on the same channel and sending a response back. The majority of poor decisions and poor performance results are down to poor or miscommunication. Effective communications improves team cooperation, leadership, situational awareness and ultimately effective decisions.

Teamwork

Do you struggle with team diving? Buddy diving not working out? Ever wondered why? Every team goes through a recognised cycle of development, some progress faster than others. Effective teamwork improves communication, which in turn improves personal and team situational awareness, leading to more effective decisions being made.

Leadership / Followership

Leadership and followership exist in pretty much all diving situations. However, the roles are much clearer when in teaching and instructional roles, or when undertaking expedition or scientific diving. Effective leadership and followership are essential to achieving the goals at hand. Combined with effective communications, they improve situational awareness and effective decision making.

Stress & Fatigue

We often hear about Stress as being a negative concept, but stress is something we all need to function efficiently and effectively. The difficulty is knowing the limits and where Eustress (good) turns to Distress (bad). If we can recognise the subtle signs of stress in ourselves and others, we can improve communications, improve decision making, and act as a more coherent and co-operative team. Fatigue can significantly impact on many cognitive and non-technical skills, leading to reduced performance, safety and ultimately business outcomes.

Hear what a previous graduate had to say...

"The best class you will ever make..."

Details and Format

Human in the System has developed a course which delivers 10 hours of computer-based simulation and reflective debriefs, combined with 5 hours of theory and diving incident case studies to develop teamwork & cooperation, communications, situational awareness and decision-making skills in the context of diving thereby improving personal and team performance, and reducing the likelihood of an incident from occurring in the first place.

These skills are not just about diving though, these are life skills.


The class combines a mixture of theory, practical and computer-based simulation to develop these human factors or non-technical skills in a non-threatening but involved manner. The use of reflective debriefs, combined with video debriefs, means that true behaviours can be observed and developed. You will be surprised at how far you will come over the two days. The skills learned on this course are not just relevant to diving, but are equally applicable in your day-to-day job be that a manager, a doctor, paramedic, electrician or teacher.

The optimal size for this class is six, with the minimum required being four. This enables the different roles of operator and observer to be completed effectively.

Course costs include tuition, handout notes, completion certificate, four post-class follow-up coaching emails to reinforce learning and lunch/refreshments during the day. Payment is via credit card (Stripe). If you have a discount code, enter it at the checkout and the discount will be applied then.



BOOK A TWO-DAY CLASS

Testimonials

“This course really allowed me to take a step out of my own skin to look at the way I think and handle challenging scenarios from an outside perspective. As a result, some things will remain but I will work to improve those remaining this as I go forward. Simply and effortlessly took the group in and out our comfort levels to reveal areas each of us can hone in on for improvement on an individual level and role within a team.”

~ Lauren Kieren, Product Manager, TDI/SDI/ERDI

“Excellent consolation and extension of existing human factored and practice, enabling me to deepen value of training offered.”

~ Tim Clements, IANTD UK Instructor Trainer

“We all like to think we are team players who can stay calm under pressure, but GemaSim really does highlight some painful truths about how we really interact with others and perform under pressure. Personality traits are laid bare forcing you to assess your own strengths and weaknesses - it really is a humbling but very enlightening experience. ”

~ Jason Brown, Owner BARDOCreative

“How to teach an instructor to influence their students in a positive way is always difficult. An understanding of these human factors is a very powerful tool that will be useful to any instructor candidate. I will be incorporating some of the ideas in my instructor development work. Gareth's training has given me tools that I will use to help my students understand how to communicate, lead and follow. These tools are a more-concrete approach to the problem, rather than the pragmatic ad-hoc approach I currently use”

~ Richard Walker, Technical Instructor Trainer and Evaluator, Global Underwater Explorers

“I now know what it is like to be taken out of my comfort zone as a student and the impact this had on my own performance and how my contribution to the team suffered as a consequence. I will certainly be applying the skills learned on this course to my own training programmes.”

~ Phil Short, IANTD Instructor Trainer Trainer, Explorer

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