Debriefing Models
There are several models of debriefing. It is important to appreciate the different styles of debriefing and to develop your own style over time.
The key to a successful debrief is not to use any one particular technique, but to ensure your verbal and non-verbal cues match, and that your participants are perceiving you as genuinely interested in their actions and behaviours.
Below are three examples commonly used in debriefing.
Modified Pendletons
How did it feel?
Eliciting emotional reactions
What went well and why?
Reinforcement
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What could be done better and how?
Change
What will you do next time?
New learning experimentation
PLUS + / DELTA Δ
Plus/Delta is an inclusive strategy that enables participants to consider the pluses (what went well) and the deltas (what they could do better next time). This is a generic approach to debriefing that can be used to structure and guide a debriefing session. Examples of questions that can be used to incorporate the Plus/Delta technique in a structured debriefing session are:
Advocacy-inquiry
Advocacy allows the facilitator to share their objective observations and subjective judgment of the participant’s actions. Inquiry then allows the facilitator to come from a stance of genuine curiosity as to what lead the participants to take those actions revealing the participant’s frames that can then be explored and reset if required.
Advocacy
I saw (objective observation) - 'I saw there was a long delay in starting chest compression's when the patient suffered a cardiac arrest ...'
I think (subjective judgement) - '....that concerned me because early effective compression's is required when a patient suffers a cardiac arrest.'
I wonder (genuine curiosity) - 'I'm interested to know what was happening at that time that stopped the team from recognising the patient had suffered a cardiac arrest.'
Another model used in debriefing is ‘Debriefing with Good Judgement’.
1.Eppich, O’Connor and Adler, 2013
