Group briefings and debriefings

[Seanie]

Depending on the group, at the start of a river trip I usually coax the group into a fairly informal briefing. Having a brief discussion about the river, personal gear, who has what safety gear, goals for the day and making note if anything else that should be mentioned. From what I have seen that's fairly normal in Ireland.

What doesn't happen from my experience paddling around Ireland is that most groups don't do a debrief of any sort when they get off the river. That is unless the shit really hits the fan. Or have I gotten this wrong?

I think debriefs are great !!(contrary to the name, we usually leave our pants on). I picked up the habit from when I was working in Canada, and now my Uni club do them for all of its club trips. I think the problem is that some people tend to think of debriefs as being a negative thing. I disagree.

After a pint outside the pub or after ye have put the boats in the boat house, there are several great reasons to do a debrief. Just getting into a circle and a taking turn to say what they thought of the day.
- Instructors get to encourage and praise beginners or rookies.
- Instructors get feed back on parts that others enjoyed and didn't enjoy
- Beginners get to see how instructors think.
- Instructors can give general feed back to beginners using examples from the day
- A synopsis can be given on what could be done better in future
- It gives closure if there were any incidents on the river and cuts down on bitching
- And it can start great conversations

The key to it is that it should be given in a relaxed friendly environment, it shouldn't take the form of a lecture and it should be quick. If someone starts ranting, its best if someone interjects and asks them to speed up.

I see it as key building block for any group to progress their river running.

Do other clubs or groups do this? Or do ye do something else?

[tiernan]

Its a great Idea. Never experienced it in a formal sense before going to the afore mentioned (by seanie) club. There was always a bit of it in the pub after of course but things can be forgotten at that stage, people don't really contribute/ listen and often times not EVERYONE that was on the trip are in the pub or where ever ya go for some food afterwards.

It should be easy enough to start up too, and of course there will be a few oldies giving out that it wasn't done in their day, but if the committee of a club decide to do it and back each other up it could become a regular practice in no time!