How to run a debrief that changes something

The debrief is the LEARN stage of the preparedness cycle, and what comes out of it drives CHANGE THE WORLD MODEL: a hazard added to the map, a step added to a plan, a drill in the calendar.

JESIP’s Joint Organisational Learning exists because issues in multi-agency work were often identified without being acted on, and it treats the move from lessons identified to lessons learned as the point of the exercise. The method itself is covered in our glossary entry on the after-action review.

Stand people in a circle before anyone drives off. Ask what went well, what did not, and whether anything must change before the next shift. Then ask directly whether anyone needs support. Note kit that broke, near misses and any record that should be kept. Save the root causes for later, because tired people at the end of a shift give poor explanations.

Say these aloud even if everyone has heard them before. They matter most for the person with the least seniority in the room.

• We are here to improve the system. Disciplinary questions go elsewhere.
• Rank stays at the door: the newest person speaks first.
• One person speaks at a time, and from their own view of events.
• Disagreement is recorded. Nobody has to reach a single version.
• What is said here about people stays here; the findings travel.

Ask about the work and what people could see at the time. “Why did you go to sector C?” sounds like an accusation. “What did you know when the team went to sector C?” gets a better reply.

• What did you expect to happen at this point?
• What information did you have, and where did it come from?
• What did you need and not have?
• When did you first realise the plan had stopped fitting?
• What would have made this easier?
• What did you do that is not written down anywhere?

A fact has a source someone else can check: a log entry at 14:12, a recorded track, a photo with a time. An account is what a person saw or believed, and it is equally valuable for a different reason, because it explains why they acted. Keep two columns on the board. When two accounts disagree, note both and look for the record. Where the record has gaps, say so. Keep in mind too that when something became known is often more telling than when it happened.

Debrief notes may have a life after the meeting. The Crown Prosecution Service’s disclosure manual quotes College of Policing advice that a full record of a police debrief must be retained, and it treats that record as potentially disclosable. If an inquest, investigation or claim is possible, take advice before you begin.

Most lessons die because they stay as observations. Take each one through these steps before you close the meeting, or at the latest within the week.

1. Finding: what happened, with evidence. “Gate 2 took eleven minutes to open.”
2. Cause: why. “The key was with a steward at the far end of the site.”
3. Lesson: what is true in general. “Fallback exits need a key holder at the gate.”
4. Action: one change to a named thing. “Add the key holder to the Gate 2 record and a key box to the kit list.”
5. Owner and date: one person, one deadline.
6. Proof: how you will know, usually at the next exercise.

In Sinkaos the debrief is built from the record: messages, tasks, incidents, tracks, plan versions, alerts and media. It keeps personal accounts separate from established facts, ties findings to evidence, gives lessons an owner, scope and status, and tracks actions with deadlines and proof. Lessons can then propose changes to plans, training, equipment, routes and maps. See the world model.