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Good Neighbor Travel Insurance Blog

Five Tips for Debriefing a Short Term Team

October 16, 2009 By : Doug Gulleson

As the saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20.” Good debriefing can help planners turn hindsight into foresight for next year’s summer trips. So here are five things to consider when debriefing your team.

1. Keep it laid back. Have you ever noticed that mountain-top experiences are exhausting? Most teams are ready for a “vacation” when they return, especially if they had a good trip. Debriefing is part of the adjustment process in returning to their normal lives or part of the process in deciding they don’t want their lives to be “normal” ever again.
A barbecue or pot luck with a sharing session can be helpful. Anonymous surveys can be helpful in ferreting out problems if they aren’t too long. People who have a beef won’t have any trouble explaining their complaint, while those who had a good time won’t want to be bothered with an essay. Sharing needs to be done in a way that the team members feel safe to sort out any conflicting feelings.

2. Keep outsiders to a minimum. Families and friends may not understand what your team went through on their trip. Later, team members may be ready to tell others about their experiences. But when they first return, they need people who will understand and sympathize. For this reason, many teams have at least one debriefing session just before they return. It is certainly something to consider in your busy schedule.

3. Verify logistic issues. Even the best laid plans have room for improvement. Did the team have enough to do, or did they have to improvise? Did they perhaps have too much to do? Did everyone come back healthy or were there injuries on the trip? Were the packing lists complete, or did team leaders have to run around securing last minute items? If you didn’t remember travel insurance for international trips, put it on the list for next year. Your team leaders should be able to suggest improvements for next year if you ask them before they forget.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. What happened on the trip? Did goals get accomplished or did team members see it as a glorified vacation? Was the team’s worldview shaken as so many returning Short-termers attest or is everything back to normal within a week? Was it worth it? What’s next?  If the trip was disappointing, this is an easy time to give up.  However, most often when we fail, it is from jumping into a program without a vision. If this has happened to you, now’s the time to stop and refocus.

5. Give them a job when they get home. The effect or a summer project can be life-changing. One of the reasons for sending people on short trips is to challenge their worldview and push them out of their comfort zone. If you are successful, be prepared for them to be fired up and ready to do almost anything to change the world. Too often these teachable moments are squandered when they can’t find an outlet for their new-found passion. Does your organization have a local ministry to the homeless or a prison ministry? Perhaps the local rescue mission can use extra volunteers. Whatever you do, don’t just let them sit around and slip back into life as usual.

Good Neighbor Insurance annually insures close to 100 short term teams.  Check out our short-term team plans.

Doug Gulleson

Search Results

Faith-based cross-cultural missionary training

January 13, 2016

Excellent, affordable missionary training | Pre-field training We’d like to tell you about new friends of ours at TRAIN International. Brian and the staff at TRAIN offer excellent, affordable pre-field training, cross-cultural and language acquisition training, as well as re-entry/debriefing sessions to help faith-based organizations and mission agencies prepare their missionaries and workers before going […]

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Epic snowstorms cancel flights across the United States and the Midwest

April 11, 2019

Snowstorms cancel flights all across the U.S. this week? Be aware that the U.S. National Weather Service is predicting heavy snows this week in the Midwest and that as a result, snowstorms cancel flights (actually hundreds of scheduled flights, creating disruption of flight schedules), all across the USA. The snowstorm has been labeled “possibly historic” […]

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Heavy snowstorms cancel flights across the USA, April 10, 2019

Lemons, Lemons Everywhere!

October 28, 2014

Lemons and more lemons are overflowing the streets at the Lemon Festival in France. If you love the pucker of a tart lemon or the fresh, sweet taste of lemonade, you will love France’s Lemon Festival. The two-week long event is held annually in late February/early March each year in Menton, which is in southern […]

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Nomad Life on Water: Sailing, Yachting & Cruising Part 1

February 22, 2021

Did you know sailing is one of the oldest nomadic lifestyles? As soon as the first ocean crossing ships were built back before 1000 A.D. this nomad lifestyle took off. For the truly adventurous, explorers took to the high seas- facing incredible challenges to discover new land and opportunities.  We all know about the infamous […]

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Making a difference among the poorest of the poor

February 28, 2014

Can education change the world for millions of children? One of the big problems we face in trying to make the world a better place is education among the world’s poor. As Sugata Mitra has stated repeatedly there are far too many places where there are no teachers, and many others where teachers either will […]

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F1 Visa Process – For International Students

January 13, 2015

The F1 Visa Process explained – How to get into America as an International Student. This infographic from Jorge Cham of PhD Comics helps explain the process international students go through when applying to come to the USA to study. Of course, the “official” explanation and process is found at http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/study-exchange/student.html. Our U.S. Immigration Service […]

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