Team briefing--helping to rediscover the road to Utopia

The BDC has implemented several team briefing schemes into various NHS organisations over the last seven years. Evaluation over the last three years has highlighted several problems with the team briefing system. The article explores these and suggests ways of overcoming the problems with clear, definable actions. It highlights that the basic team briefing model is sound but that organisations need to consider their commitment and whether the culture is compatible or not with some reinforcement of certain processes which includes training team briefers and having effective feedback as part of the process. The article concludes that team briefing is a useful tool, which can help organisations communicate effectively with their employees.