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Article
Debriefs: Teams Learning From Doing in Context
American Psychologist
  • Joseph A. Allen, University of Nebraska Omaha
  • Roni Reiter-Palmon, University of Nebraska at Omaha
  • John Crowe, University of Nebraska at Omaha
  • Cliff Scott, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Disciplines
Abstract

Debriefs are a type of work meeting in which teams discuss, interpret, and learn from recent events during which they collaborated. In a variety of forms, debriefs are found across a wide range of organizational types and settings. Well-conducted debriefs can improve team effectiveness by 25% across a variety of organizations and settings. For example, the U.S. military adopted debriefs decades ago to promote learning and performance across the various services. Subsequently, debriefs have been introduced in the medical field, the fire service, aviation, education, and in a variety of organizational training and simulation environments. After a discussion of various purposes for which debriefs have been used, we proceed with a historical review of development of the concepts and use in industries and contexts. We then review the psychological factors relevant to debrief effectiveness and the outcomes for individuals, teams, and organizations that deploy debriefs. Future directions of particular interest to team researchers across a variety of psychological disciplines are presented along with a review of how best to implement debriefs from a practical perspective.

Comments

©American Psychological Association, 2018. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. Please do not copy or cite without author's permission. The final article is available, upon publication, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/amp0000246.

Citation Information
Joseph A. Allen, Roni Reiter-Palmon, John Crowe and Cliff Scott. "Debriefs: Teams Learning From Doing in Context" American Psychologist Vol. 73 Iss. 4 (2018) p. 504 - 516
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/roni_reiter-palmon/64/