What is it that all high-performance teams have in common?
It's a simple tool and process that digs into:
- what went well,
- why,
- what needs to be improved,
- and how will that happen?
The after-action review or DEBrIEF.
The goal is to create rapid insights into the learning opportunities from the task that has just taken place. In high-performance teams, it is a non-negotiable activity. The task is not finished until the debrief takes place.
If I were to single out the key learning from the 100s of face-to-face simulation courses I have run, it would be the importance of the debrief to help the rapid learning and development that happens.
In the right environment, debriefs can often feel uncomfortable because they are unearthing things we might not like to hear. However, if we want to improve and grow, then such candid conversations are essential. I often refer to Kim Scott's Radical Candour when discussing critical debriefs. If the team believe that you care about them and you are looking to challenge them so they grow, holding up the key belief in mutual accountability, then you can pretty much say anything and it will be taken as a learning opportunity.
Note the language I have used. If the debrief is to find out what went wrong, if nothing went wrong, the value of the debrief disappears because we don't need to run. 'Wrong' is also a normative word - wrong in whose eyes? If we are continually looking to learn, and identifying ways to do that, then the DEBrIEF continues to have value.
DEBrIEFs and guided discovery go hand-in-hand. I don't have the answers to your problems, but together we can find them with open and curious questions.
If you want to grab a complementary copy of the DEBrIEF guide, you can do so from this link. https://lnkd.in/efeWrb6Y. Keep an eye out for something else coming up soon which will allow you to supercharge this process.