Team Briefings

Team briefing

Team briefing process for organizational communications

Team Briefing is a powerful method of enabling communications up and down the management structure of any organization with a number of management levels. Team Briefing was developed by the British Industrial Society (now called the Work Foundation) during the mid-20th century, particularly the 1960's, and introduced in the mid 1970's. This is a guide to how Team Briefing works, with samples of the Team Briefing documents.

Team Briefing provides a consistent and measurable process for conveying strategic and operational information, and answering feedback questions, throughout an organization. Team Briefing ensures that staff at all levels receive information that is relevant to them, which is a mixture or corporate and local issues. The Team Briefing system is capable of being monitored by someone given responsibility to do so, including the satisfactory feedback of answers to questions at all levels.

The Team Briefing model is flexible provided the essential principles are retained. So it can be called something else by the adopting organization. The documentation can, and ideally should, be adapted and personalised for the adopting organization.

Team Briefing is not meant to replace normal essential day-today communications between team leader and staff - day-to-day communications should continue as normal (assuming 'normal' means they're happening - if not, then they must).

Many companies today think that email and mobile phone communications can solve all of their communications problems, but they can't. Team Briefing works because it's face-to-face, which is essential for all sensitive communications. (Remember research established that 55% of meaning is conveyed in facial expressions, and 38% of meaning is conveyed in the way that something is said. Only 7% of the meaning is conveyed in the words themselves.)

team briefing purpose

· primarily to enable and improve downward, upward and lateral (sideways) communications throughout the organization

· prevent rumour and 'the grapevine' from gaining credibility

· enable clarity of direction and information from the top

· enable questions and suggestions to be fed back from all staff to the top

· develop greater awareness and involvement at all levels

· avert tendency towards 'mushroom management' (keeping people in the dark and covering them with manure)

· create a culture of open communication

· clear blockages and misunderstandings

· explain financial, commercial and strategic issues

· develop a shared sense of mission, vision, collective aims and reasons why

· cease reliance or dependence on assumptions

team briefing features

· face-to-face group meetings in teams of 4 - 15 people

· meetings last around 30 minutes

· held by team leaders, normally the team's manager or supervisor

· held at least once a month, dates set and notified well in advance

· MD/CEO or board of directors issue a 'core management brief' every month, covering main strategic, financial, commercial, policy and people issues.

· Every team leader/manager/supervisor then incorporates these Core Brief points into their own Local Brief covering subject headings: Progress, Policy, People, and Points for action, plus general information

· meetings and briefing process is monitored, via records and managers attending briefings

· before introducing Team Briefing, the basic model needs adapting and tailoring to meet the logistical and operational needs of the organization concerned, including forms, precise process, and very importantly, a training and introduction plan for all briefing staff

team briefing subject headings

· Progress - corporate and local performance against target and standards, including financial, commercial and quality issues.

· Policy - procedures that need introducing, explaining, reinforcing or changing.

· People - issues concerned with people in the company and the team.

· Points for action - priorities for the next month for the team and the organization.

team briefing definitions

core brief

The written briefing details from the CEO or board which will be passed on to every employee at every Team Briefing meeting. Also called the Core Management Brief. The Core Brief is incorporated by team leaders into their own Local Briefings.

local brief

A separate written brief prepared by each team leader, manager or supervisor, for his or her own team, containing local issues relevant to that team. Team leaders check and agree their Local Brief with their line manager at their own briefing session at which they receive the core brief and a local brief from their boss.

feedback form

A separate document which enables the questions arising at briefings to be recorded, answered, whether at the time or later, and that process to be monitored.

team briefing process

· every month the CEO or the board of directors agree a 'Core Brief'

· the 'core brief' covers the above subject headings and will include items about financial and statistical performance; organizational policy; strategy, business direction and market conditions; successes and failings; changes in senior people's roles and positions

· line managers from director-level down, add local interpretation or explanation to the core brief where applicable

· line managers and team leaders also prepare their own 'Local Brief' under the above headings

· briefing meetings cascade down the organization, each one soon after the briefer's attendance at their own briefing meeting, at which team leaders revise and get approval from their bosses for their own local briefs.

team briefing documents

On a serious note - the Local Briefer has a responsibility to present the company line at all times, and not to be openly critical of company statements or policies. The Local Briefer has a responsibility to communicate in a relevant and positive way to his or her team, which obviously requires a reasonable level of skill in reconciling the aims and priorities of the company, with the needs and receptiveness of the team.