It is now increasingly understood that non-technical skills have the greatest impact on safety and outcomes in high-stakes medicine, such as trauma care. (Gawande (2009) The checklist. In: Gawande A (ed) The checklist manifesto. Henry Holt and Company, New York, pp 32–48; St Pierre et al. (2008) Crisis management in acute care settings: human factors and team psychology in a high stakes environment. Springer, New York). Accordingly, more trauma team members understand the need to dedicate time toward mastering teamwork (not just task work), communication (in all its myriad and nuanced forms), and crisis management (not just personal performance). This chapter offers a practical and concise summary of the topic and highlights examples from trauma care. By the end of this chapter, it should be clear why “communication is likely the most dangerous procedure performed in modern healthcare,” why “a team of experts is not an expert team,” and why medicine is as much about “team-dexterity” and “verbal dexterity” as about factual knowledge or nimble fingers. (Gawande (2009) The checklist. In: Gawande A (ed) The checklist manifesto. Henry Holt and Company, New York, pp 32–48; St Pierre et al. (2008) Crisis management in acute care settings: human factors and team psychology in a high stakes environment. Springer, New York; Brindley and Reynolds. J Crit Care 26:155–159, 2011) This chapter also emphasizes the need for increased simulation and increased attention to non-technical skills. It should also explain why we need adept leaders, equally adept followers, and a system wide commitment to constant improvement.