Good communication is vital for safe patient care and good team functioning, not only in the Operating Room but also in all areas of healthcare, as well as in other safety critical industries. Examples from aviation demonstrate both the failures and the successes that can arise from poor and excellent communication. There are six components of effective teamwork: situational awareness, problem identification, decision making, workload distribution, time management and conflict resolution. Practising these, and self-evaluation of team communication, should help to improve team function and contribute to making patient care safer.