Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I hold a team briefing?

Team briefing meetings need to be held on a planned and regular basis. If you are a manager who will be delivering a team brief make sure that you are aware of the team brief calendar and plan your team briefing meetings around this, in discussion with your line manager or fellow managers. Please be aware that the cascade of briefings should be completed as soon as possbile to ensure the content is fresh and current

Is there a written document to supplement the verbal team brief?

To help managers deliver their verbal brief, a written core brief document will be prepared for each team brief. Each divsion will be responsible for creating the local brief for their teams

How long should my team briefing last?

Your briefing should last around 30 minutes. If there isn’t much information to impart then don’t waffle – just reduce the length of the team briefing. Make sure you leave enough time for staff to ask questions – this is a two-way form of communication.

How many people should there be in a team briefing?

Ideally between 4 and 15 people. If you are part of a very large team you may need to look at the way you structure team briefings. Perhaps you can delegate responsibility to deputies/supervisors who could deliver a brief to a smaller group of team members? Discuss this with your line manager if you’re in any doubt.

My team is geographically dispersed and it would be hard to get them all togetherfor a 20 minute meeting. What should I do?

Even though staff are geographically dispersed it’s still likely that you will meet with them at least once a month for a team or operational meeting. If this is the case you could try carrying out the team briefing at the same time ie: before the operational team meeting. You should make sure that you make the distinction between the team briefing and the operational meeting so that attendees are clear what is going on.  This may mean that you need to rearrange your team/operational meetings to coincide with this timescale.  Team briefing is intended to be flexible enough to accommodate even the most extreme of situations.

I am responsible for front line staff and I can’t just shut down essential services to call a team briefing meeting. What should I do?

Try to arrange your team briefing at a time when the majority of your team can attend. If however there are members of the team who can’t leave their post you could look into arranging cover for half an hour so that they can attend. If this is not possible, you may have to brief these members of staff separately.

What should I do about briefing absentees?

You should make sure that those who are unable to attend the team briefing still receive the information which was discussed and are given an opportunity to contribute or ask questions. This may mean that you have to speak to them individually when they are back at work. You should try to do this as soon as they are available so that the briefing cascade is completed.

What should I do with the feedback I receive?

With any luck your team will give you some useful feedback and make some valid suggestions during your team briefing. It’s really important that you do something constructive with this feedback – your team will quickly tire of the system if they feel their views are not being taken seriously. Use the online form available here to download feedback forms and record your feedback here. Make sure you fill them in and give the feedback to your line manager so that it can be fed higher up the management structure if this is appropriate.