The teambuilding activity is over.  The group is circled up and looking at you.  It's time to debrief - - to help the group make sense of what just happened and apply lessons "back in the real world".  I call this "debriefing"while others might call it processing or reviewing or reflection.

When I started in the field of experiential learning, it was the debriefing that gave me the greatest challenge.  Learning how to lead the activities was a breeze compared to debriefing.  Whenever I observed a skilled leader work with a group in the debrief session I thought I was witnessing magic.

This is where Michelle Cummings steps in (that's Michelle in the picture).  She's the coauthor of a great new book entitled "A Teachable Moment -- A Facilitator's Guide to Activities for Processing, Debriefing, Reviewing and Reflection". 

On April 7, 2005 I interviewed Michelle about her book.  She offers some great insight on how to become a more effective facilitator of teams, especially when it comes to debriefing the activity. 

Listen to the 30-minute interview here (mp3 file).
Download michelle_cummings_mp3_sm.mp3