Debriefing and Reviewing

7/31/2019 Debriefing and Reviewing

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Ana Georgescu | 2012

REVIEWING = PROCESSING =REFLECTION = DEBRIEFING

Roger Greenaway Process Analysis

In every process (be it during training, or in day-by-day life, professional development or whatever) there are 4 main aspectsyou need to consider in order to fully understand what is going on: facts, feelings, thoughts, and future.

When you're during training and you have some "charged" participants there's a way of helping them go forward with theirprocess, by analyzing all aspects:

1. First ask about THE FACTS :

What is/was going on? What happened? What went wrong?

Allow participants to talk about their observations, but make sure they don't cover their feelings just yet (if it was an intenseemotional experience); or thoughts (in case there's a lot of explaining and rationalizations).The "what" questions are very helpful to see the whole picture as they perceive it. Don't share your opinions, just listen tothem, and every now and then make a concise description of the facts.

Example : During a simulation where participants, split into groups of 5, had the task of building a boat, each of them had arole they were supposed to play without the others knowing."What happened ?"allow:- " the team didn't reach the target ( measurable fact, all agree)" - "there were missing pieces" - "we didn't get along" (visible, all agree) - "we were fighting a lot". post-pone (say you'll talk about feelings/thoughts later, don't put a negative label on their answer)- "i was discouraged and wanted to give up" (personal feelings)- "Mark stole the pieces" (no evidence yet, until he admits he did - this is allowed if Mark has said it himself)- "I felt I could kill someone" (feelings)- "I think we could have worked better" (thoughts, conclusions, labels - not yet!)

2. Ask for FEELINGS :

How did you feel? How did this make you feel? What was going on with you? What was your reaction to that?

You can adapt the question to what feels less cliche (working with psychologists this question is tricky). Allow all emotions tocome up, this will relieve the tension inside your participants. Make sure EVERYONE speaks, or has his turn to share. If oneparticipants doesn't want to share, don't force him/her. Allow them one or 2 more chances to speak later (when everyone isdone ask them something like " do you have something to share now?" "is there anything you'd like to add?" ). Ask participantsto talk about their OWN FEELINGS, and NOT what they would like to do.

Example:"How did you feel?"allow:- "i felt disappointed, and sad. I almost burst into tears" - "I felt so angry I could hit someone" - "I felt happy and satisfied with our work" - "I was confused and didn't know what to do" block:- "I could kill that bitch " - rephrase to "so you were angry with your mate" (identify the feeling, and make sure they understandit was only a game that made group issues surface);- "I think this all mess happened because of her" (avoids facing his own feelings and blames someone else - try to explain thisis not a blaming situation, it doesn't matter who's fault it is, and try to ask again, in another way, how he/she felt during the


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exercise. You can suggest some feelings based on your observations: "I noticed you looked frustrated...(allow the participant tocorrect you if you're wrong, if he doesn't say anything go on)...and at one point you seemed really angry [...], how do you feelnow?")- shuts up (silent strike) - ask the participant to share: "and Michael, you're rather quiet, tell me, how did you feel while playingthat role?". Don't force him/her if he refuses to talk.

So mainly you're supposed to block bad reactions towards others, which lead to possible conflict and block the whole process(by rephrasing and encouraging everyone to talk about their feelings alone, and not create violent scenarios).Don't be afraid of their feelings. They are all normal, and if you think about it we've all been through them sometime. Whenthey are all done, ask one more time if anyone has anything to add, and make eye-contact to those who haven't spoken, orthose who your intuition tells you might have smth more to share. Also make sure they all have the same chance of speaking,and that they respect each other's time to speak and share.

And take your time with feelings, they are the most delicate.

If participants don't talk (all of them) it's a signal that something makes them feel uncomfortable. Begin by sharing yourobservations ("I saw there was a lot of tension in the group during the game, who can share their impressions with me?"). If this doesn't work, either ask them directly what is going on ("I notice you're quiet, is there something bothering you? Is thereanything I could do to make you feel more comfortable?"). If there's still no answer try "quiet mirror" - stay in the sameposition as them and wait a few minutes (usually if none speaks it makes them a whole and share the same position).Eventually someone might speak. If they still don't (rare and extreme situations) just be frank and say what is on your mind,hypothesis of what might be going on, or directly ask them how they think you should go on with the training.

3. Ask for THOUGHTS :

What could be changed? What is the cause of this? What do you think about it? What crosses your mind right now?

This usually leads to the cause/ root of the situation. For now try to find a common answer to what the cause is, and wait forfurther analyzing it.

If there are still feelings occurring try either to remind them you're talking about thoughts/ the root of the situation. If there aremany feelings still appearing, go one step backwards and go through feelings again.

4. FUTURE PASE :

What needs to be changed? How can you deal with it if it happens again? What have you learned from it? What will you do differently next time?

This is the phase where draw a conclusion that is useful for the whole group. Ask for positive answers, and rephrase thenegative ones.

Example:- "What would you do differently?"allow:- " I'll make sure all members of the team contribute to the task" - "Next time I'll be more patient" - "It is hard to collaborate with so many different personalities, and you need to be aware of everyone's needs" rephrase:- " I'm never working with them again " (still emotions going on undercover, rephrase to "for now i find it difficult to work in thisenvironment")- "I'm not going to be in a rush to finish anymore" (rephrase to "I'll be more patient" - positive!)- "I hate you!!" ("I understand there are still a lot of negative emotions, but let's try to put them aside and think of what wehave learned from it").

One important aspect is to finish it in a positive note (not avoiding or denying negative emotions and feelings, but makethem acceptable and normal, and teach participants to use them as learning points, and see them as symptoms).


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EMOTIONAL DEBRIEFING AFTER ROLE-PLAY

Psychodramatic Method

Psychodrama is a therapeutical method, based on group dynamics and role-play.

The debriefing has 3 simple steps (and it's called SHARING).:

1. Sharing from the Role - it covers all aspects (reason and emotions)

"How was playing this role for you?"; "How did it make you feel?"; "What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when you think about the role?") .

2. Sharing from experience - correlating past experience with what is going on right now in order to see possible repetitivepatterns that block the evolution of a person (a learning process, a bad habit or a repetitive behavior the participant is notaware of)

"When in your life have you had a similar experience?";

"How did you feel back then?"; "What was your solution at that point?"; "What was/was there anything different this time?".

3. Learning points - This provides a possible solution, an anchor and a learning point to a participant.

"What will you do differently next time?"; "How can you handle it if it happens again?"; "What are you taking home with you?").

Example : Same simulation, team of 5 has the task of building a boat.

1. " The role was difficult, I'm a quiet person and I had to talk a lot. At first it was really hard, but after a while I got used to it and I felt more comfortable. By the end I was overwhelmed and had no idea what was going on anymore." or " It was really easy playing this role, I'm usually a verbal person and I had no difficulty whatsoever being in the same position. I felt normal. " (In this situation, with low emotional charge, you can also ask the participant to share his/herobservations regarding the others behavior).

2. "I felt like this when I was little and during Christmas my parents made me recite dirty poems for Santa in front of the whole drunken family. I always ended up crying and hiding in my room. I felt so ashamed." or - if the person hasn't had much emotions you can ask - "Was there anything different this time, in comparison to otherexperience you might have had? "; - "Are you happy with this way of being?" , "What makes you so communicative "; or just skipthis step if you feel there's no conclusion to be made for this person.

3. " I think next time might be easier for me to communicate if my colleagues ask me questions/don't interrupt/say dirty jokes/whatever solution you might think of." or - " Is there any thought you'd like to share with the group that might lead to better understanding in the future? "

Links:http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/12_2.htm http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/13_4_designs_for_reviewing.htm#4._CHOOSE_THE_REVIEWING_METHODS_BEFORE http://reviewing.co.uk/_review.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodrama
http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/12_2.htmhttp://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/12_2.htmhttp://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/13_4_designs_for_reviewing.htm#4._CHOOSE_THE_REVIEWING_METHODS_BEFOREhttp://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/13_4_designs_for_reviewing.htm#4._CHOOSE_THE_REVIEWING_METHODS_BEFOREhttp://reviewing.co.uk/_review.htmhttp://reviewing.co.uk/_review.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodramahttp://reviewing.co.uk/_review.htmhttp://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/13_4_designs_for_reviewing.htm#4._CHOOSE_THE_REVIEWING_METHODS_BEFOREhttp://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/12_2.htm

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Debriefing and Reviewing