Don't Skip Your 2024 Debrief

As we come up for air after the recent election, you will likely want to go one of two routes:

get caught up in overwhelming uncertainty, or
immediately pivot and focus on what's next

Both of these reactions are normal; however, we challenge you to look to a third option and create space for an org-wide, year-end debrief.

Why?

As much as you may want to, you can't solve everything right now. Take a deep breath, and realize that it's okay to take some time for yourself and for your team to reflect on what you have accomplished this year so that you can proceed in a thoughtful way.

Psst: Don't have time to host a debrief until January? That's okay! You can still reflect on 2024 after the new year kicks off.

Join us on January 8 for a free live webinar led by Principals Akailah Jenkins McIntyre and Tiffany Ferguson! We'll cover everything you need to host an impactful debrief sesh.

The time is now to plan your debrief

Hosting regular debriefs throughout the year should always be the goal but for most companies, that's not the reality. By the time October and November roll around, it may feel like it's too late or unnecessary to plan a team gathering now.

The problem is that without intentional reflection, you risk moving forward without making necessary changes. A debrief is the best way to identify what worked well (so you can continue it), what didn't work (so you can adjust), and to brainstorm missed opportunities with your team.

Here's an example: We have a big project we undertake regularly with clients, but something about it always felt "off" — even when it went well. Either the outcome didn't land quite the way we'd expected, or the action items were so complex that teams struggled to implement them.

Through an honest debrief, it came to light that we all felt this way. It wasn't project- or client-specific. What we needed was a complete overhaul of the offering itself. Without the debrief, however, we would have just kept going — and that would not have been ideal for us or our clients.

6 keys to a strong debrief

Here are some critical points to think about as you design your debrief:

Send out information ahead of time

Not everyone on your team is involved in every single project, so send out enough info before the debrief to give everyone the necessary context to participate.

We make sure that everyone on the team knows the following:

What was the project?
What was the challenge?
What did we do to address it?
Where did we shift plans or priorities?

Not everyone's an in-real-time processor, so this gives people a chance to digest information before they're asked to weigh in.

Cultivate SPACES where people feel HEARD & VALUED

We set ground rules and norms up front and have everyone buy in to those before we start discussing anything. We use adrienne maree brown's groundwork from Emergent Strategy to create an honest, brave space for people to show up and see what happens.

Here's a great excerpt from one of brown's blogs about Emergent Strategy principles: "there is a conversation in the room that wants and needs to be had. don’t force it, don’t deny it. let it come forth."

Essentially, we want to let conversations emerge rather than force them, and we want people to feel secure. The goal of our debrief is never to figure out what went wrong and who's responsible; rather, we want to figure out ways we can improve as a team moving forward.

Encourage everyone to participate

Ideally, everyone on the team gets to have a say. While client-focused debriefs will focus on the work, there are also so many people outside of the core team that touched the project — from the person who managed the project hours to the one who did the scheduling. Make sure you're getting their perspectives as well.

Use structured reflection techniques

Create questions ahead of time, and steer clear of ones that are broad or generic.
Here are a few we like to ask:

What about the scope for this client project was challenging? Why?
What deliverables are we especially proud of? Why? Which deliverables could have been better, and why?
What about our internal collaboration contributed to the project's success? What made it more challenging?

These questions direct people's attention to what we want to know about specifically and tend to generate more meaningful answers.

Acknowledge and appreciate people

Uplift individual contributors and acknowledge their work. Think about the small details; maybe it's the sales notes that an administrative assistant prepared before a conversation that helped you land the deal. Call out and highlight those concrete contributions, and look for ways to celebrate people as a team.

Don't just talk; follow through

People won't care about next year's debrief if they watch you do nothing with the feedback they give this year. Task someone on the team with documenting clear action items, assigning owners, and following up to mark progress in the coming months.

Look back to look ahead

Remember: The most important thing about debriefs is that you make them happen. The last month has been chaotic, but don't let all of the knowledge you've gained in the preceding months go to waste.

Now's the time to bring your team together (whether virtual or IRL) to build community, reflect, and plan for what's ahead — and DevelopWell can help you move past reflection into impactful action.