The Art of Debriefing

To start our discussion of effective debriefing, I want to give you a list of do’s and don’ts to keep in mind as a facilitator, as well as some suggested debrief topics.  Please remember that one of the most important steps to effective debriefing is effective front loading.  How you set up an activity, a Full Value Contract, or a task will go a long way in processing it after.  More about the idea of frontloading next week.  For now:

When processing with a group, a facilitator should:
1. Accept individuals, but not all behavior
2. Self-disclose thoughts and feelings when appropriate
3. Invite others to self-examine by confronting them directly
4. Identify individual and human relations issues
5. Observe body language and draw accurate inferences from it
6. Create a climate of trust and safety by enforcing certain rules and norms

When processing with a group, a facilitator should not:
1. Attack the personal worth of a participant
2. Compare students to others
3. Lose his or her temper
4. Push people too far
5. Avoid a competitive or carnival atmosphere

Here is a list of debrief topics about that our facilitator group brainstormed.  If you have any to add, please leave them in the comments section:

• Leadership and Followership
• Communication and Feedback
• Recognition
• Teamwork
• Planning
• Reaching Goals
• Devaluing and Discounting Behavior
• Fear (Physical and Emotional)
• Risk-taking
• Group Support and Trust
• Peer Pressure
• Efficiency
• Competition
• Adhering to Safety
• Sexism

Until you get comfortable with debriefing, it is a good idea to fall back on structure.  This is another topic that we will discuss in a future blog entry.  Also, for the next two Mondays, there we’ll have information on activities that are helpful in debriefing.  If you would like to improve your skills even more, I would recommend Project Adventure’s Debrief Skills workshop.