Actually I'm playing most of the time as captain and pilot and my friend plays a gunner. We work perfectly together as he sits in the belly of my junker and overviews the guns there and the main engine. I'd call myself a pretty good Pilot and a strategist but I come very unhandy in spotting and aiming. That's what my friend does very well.
Always when starting a match he takes the Crew-Slot right under mine (the captain-slot) and ingame I brief the crew:
I tell them my and the ship's name
(so they can identify my voice and the ship's name in the upper left corner),
'cause my ship got a german name i tell them what it means in english
(socialize and let the crew get used to my voice, because i talk pretty much and give many orders),
tell them what weapons are fitted and what they're best used for
(newbies learn something about the weapons, new crew-members dont have to explore the ship, it also tells something about the tactics),
I introduce my "deck officer" (my friend).
Then I finish it with a joke
("we don't have any parachutes or life jackets, so keep fighting")
Welcome on board, good luck and have fun.
Sometimes it happens I have to steer the ship out of the heat of the battle, my fellow captains are vomiting through the captains-chat into my ears, my crew falls into panic and all I can just say in that moment is "Keep calm and repair the ship"...I'm glad I have a first mate who takes control of the crew and gives clear repair orders or tells them which place they have to take. I'm communicating with him over TeamSpeak or Party chat (If there's no one else).
What I want to say is: Let there be an official first mate. It makes everyone's life easier and many people in GOIO seriously dont want to be the boss.