Conference Call on Debrief

Led by Ashley Musick

  • Debrief
    is Vital
  • Purposes
    of Debrief: Download thoughts,
    feelings, experiences
  • Why
    Debrief?
    • Process
      info
    • Share
      so others can carry load (Galatians)
    • Live
      a healthy and honest community – help get through conflict
  • Debrief
    needs to happen constantly and is not just an event at the end of the year
  • Experience
    is not the best teacher…evaluated experience is the best teacher
  • People
    will process things differently (verbal processors will be able to talk
    immediately whereas internal processors may need to journal and pray
    though first) provide opportunity for everyone
  • If you
    say you care, you’re going to listen…do it with a ready heart to truly
    hear teammates
  • How do
    you want team to respond? You want them
    to listen and love unconditionally, so treat them the same…do unto others…
  • Debrief
    is caring for people, taking eyes off self and noticing others
  • Tools
    for Debrief:
    • Questions
      – have them ready, leaders will have handbook to help with this
    • Silence
      – time to process and pray
    • Journal
      – write down feelings and thoughts, may not remember later and some
      things take longer to process, it’s beneficial to be able to look back on
      and process tougher things after some time has passed
  • Debrief
    is about redeeming failures and celebrating successes, then move on
  • Don’t
    sugar coat things or you miss entire point and then you have to deal with
    things on your own instead of sharing the load…take it seriously; it’s too
    hard to sort through at home on your own
  • 6
    Types of debrief:
    • Instant
      – how are you doing? How was your day? Natural occurrence for “people”
      people …don’t let it become gossip
    • Daily
      – no matter what, try to have a short team debrief each day
      • talk
        about making it a priority before leaving
      • can
        be short some nights…how are you feeling about ministry today quick
        check in and pray together,
      • need
        to find balance between necessity of debrief and another hour of sleep
      • daily
        debrief questions will be given to leaders of team
      • past/current
        racers say issues 1st few months could have been alleviated
        if they would have made it a priority and been honest with one another
    • Big debrief
      events – happen after each month
      • AIM
        will send someone out every 1-4 months and have plan for topic, etc., but
        there will be months that debrief will be our responsibility; sometimes
        teams will be assigned to responsibility, sometimes team leaders will be
        responsible
      • Need
        to be sacrificial with this when it’s your responsibility…lay it down so
        everyone can get what they need
      • Situation: It’s the end of month, AIM contacts
        you, nobody is coming to field, your team is in charge…what will you
        need to do, who will take what role, and what are goals? Make sure you…
        • Communicate
          where your team is at and what is needed from debrief (if physically overworked
          may need rest; don’t feel as taxed so maybe you need to do service
          project, etc)
        • Focus
          on getting a promoting environment (avoid too many distractions, make
          sure there’s a place for alone time and rest)
        • Have
          fun things to do – extra sleep, laid back, maybe debrief and worship in
          morning and have fun in afternoon, include internet time, laundry time,
          give someone with creative wild side responsibility to plan the fun
          things
        • Make
          sure those responsible for debrief are engaging too and divide/delegate
          responsibilities, take care of each other
        • Have
          good meals – take into consideration what people want to put into their
          bellies
        • Have
          learning/preaching/teaching times – in own language if possible
          (contact, team members gifted in teaching), AIM will provide
          discipleship on the go packet to aid in this
        • Take
          time to encourage one another – use encouraging circle, etc.
        • Resolve
          conflict with one another – address with questions, ask God how I might
          have offended others, be forgiving, don’t hold grudges, don’t carry it
          with you to next ministry location
        • Look
          Ahead – 1st half of race will focus on who you are in
          Kingdom who you are in kingdom, 2nd half will focus on your role
          in Kingdom of God, think about how to use what you learned to adjust
          for next location
        • Contacts
          should know when the end of ministry is so if debrief ends up being
          there, ministry isn’t still happening…debrief can’t happen for everyone
          if ministry is still going on
        • Sample
          itineraries for event debrief will be in team leader handbooks
    • Re-entry
      – end of year right before going home done by AIM
      • Aid
        it transition
      • Answer
        questions such as what was life giving, what are some life lessons you
        will take away, 3 things would have done differently, action plan for
        going home;
      • Helps
        prepare for changes you will encounter – both in you and in others at
        home (they keep on living life while we’re not there and may be in
        different places as well)
    • At home
      – learning to tell your story
      • You’ll
        be asked to do presentations at churches and other ministries…how can
        you explain your experiences in 5 min or 1 hour
      • process
        how you will bullet point the year for supporters
      • have
        a lean on person…talk to your accountability partner now and say when I
        get home, I’m going to need you to get with me 1 time a week for a few
        months while I process and I need you to be real and respond honestly to
        me in return
    • Unexpected
      – after unplanned events
      • someone
        goes home early (both team and person leaving need to debrief)
      • emergency
        situations
      • team
        changes
      • natural
        disasters
      • if
        it’s a big deal to you, make sure you debrief and let those feelings out.
  • Focus should
    be unity! Be gracious, forgiving,
    and welcome criticism…pray through it
  • Things
    that went well in past debriefs:
    • Verbalize
    • Stick
      to team norms
    • Ask
      the tough questions
    • Assure
      confidentiality
    • Willingly
      accept input from others
    • Commit
      to level of deep honesty at beginning
    • Take
      time to share testimony and go deep with it
    • Commit
      to addressing areas of personal growth as individual, small team, and big
      team
    • If
      there’s anything positive you haven’t said, do it during debrief – bless one
      another with encouragement
    • Have
      every person weigh in on where they think team is and check in individually…how
      are you with you
    • Take
      unresolved personal issues into one on one time, have follow up meetings
      with team
    • Begin
      and end every meeting with prayer
    • It’s
      okay to leave some things unresolved, make a plan of action and come back
      to it
  • It
    will be hard to gauge your growth if you don’t do debrief right
  • Be in
    prayer about debrief before you go

Ashley also went over each of the expectations in the “Expectations”
blog…read it if you haven’t!