1
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to your online guide to team briefing here at theUniversity. The following document contains everything youneed to engage in the team briefing process - whether youare a manager with a responsibility for delivering a teambriefing, or a recipient of a briefing.While these guidelines try to cover most points, there maybe issues relevant to your area of work, or specificresponsibility as a manager, which are not covered here. Ifyou feel you need further information or advice, then in thefirst instance you should approach your line manager forclarification.If you have any general questions about team briefing orany of the points raised in this guide, then contact theInternal Communications Office atteambriefing@manchester.ac.uk
WHAT ISTEAM BRIEFING?
In simple terms, team briefing brings managers togetherwith their teams on a face-to-face basis so that informationcan be delivered, questions asked and feedback collected.A team briefing system is an excellent way to enablecommunication upwards, downwards and sidewaysthroughout an organisation.Research has shown that face-to-face communicationbetween managers and their teams is vital to the efficientand effective operation of an organisation. The University isa large and complex institution undergoing a great deal ofchange, so face-to-face communication is essential in thisenvironment.The findings of the University’s own Staff Survey reveal thatpeople feel that they need to understand more about theirown areas of work if they are to perform effectively. Theyneed to have a clear understanding of their role, as well asthe wider objectives of the team and the contribution theyare making to the University’s future and vision.Team briefing is an ideal way to deliver important messagesto employees to help clarify these areas. It’s also an idealforum for sharing good news and recognising andcelebrating your achievements as a team.But team briefing is not just about giving information, it’s aforum for staff to discuss the points being raised and to askquestions. It’s a chance for everyone to make acontribution. It’s also an opportunity for feedback to berecorded and relayed back up the organisation to theappropriate management levels.Everyone acknowledges that face-to-face contact cansometimes be difficult. If you are a manager you may thinkyou don’t have time to bring your colleagues together, orthe news that you may have to give your team may bedifficult to deliver. But neither of these should discourageyou from talking face-to-face with the people you manage.Team briefing will only work if everyone involved in theprocess is committed to making it work. If you are amanager with a responsibility to deliver a team brief then itis your job to make sure that everyone within your teamfully understands what team briefing is about and why theyare taking part in the process. If you are a recipient of teambriefing, your role is to listen, ask questions and giveconstructive feedback.
CONTENTS
• Introduction• What is team briefing?• The benefits of team briefing• The team briefing process• The team briefing calendar• Guidelines for managers with a responsibility fordelivering a team briefing• Feedback and follow up• Guidelines for those receiving a team briefing• Monitoring the team briefing process• Frequently asked questions
TeamBrief
Guidelines
2
THE BENEFITS OFTEAM BRIEFING
• Team briefing provides a channel for delivering clearmessages and encouraging open communication• Timely face-to-face communication prevents rumour andthe grapevine from gaining credibility• It’s a great form of two-way communication - it’s not justabout informing people, but listening and responding toquestions and concerns• It enables questions and suggestions to be fed back fromstaff to the top• It develops greater awareness and involvement at all levels• Briefing develops a shared sense of mission, vision,collective aims and reasons why we’re here• Successful team briefing ensures that there is lessmisunderstanding within your team and other parts of theUniversity• It ensures that staff are kept up to date on performance,results, progress and policy changes
TEAM BRIEFING CALENDARTHETEAM BRIEFING PROCESS
As of March 2008, a new system of team briefing for allstaff within the University’s administration, is beingintroduced.The team briefing process will begin on the first Monday ofeach month (where Bank Holidays fall on a Monday thebriefing will take place on the next available working day).On these dates (outlined in the Team Briefing Calendar), theRegistrar will meet with his team of direct reports and give averbal Core Brief. Where it is felt necessary to support thiswith a written document, bullet points will be madeavailable.Each of the Registrar’s direct reports must nominate adeputy who can attend this verbal Core Brief session if theythemselves are unable to attend.Those managers who have received the Registrar’s verbalCore Brief should then be in a position to deliver their ownteam brief to their team of direct reports. This team briefingshould include the points from the Registrar’s Core Brief(around 30% of the content of the briefing), however themajority of the briefing should consist of local informationie: information relating to each specific function/area ofwork.These managers should then brief their own teams, againincluding the information from the Core Brief and the localbrief which they have received, and again adding anyfurther local information which they feel may be ofrelevance to their own individual team.The cascade of briefings should continue down all relevantlevels of management until all teams have received a face-to-face team briefing.In areas with large staff numbers it may be necessary formanagers to brief their deputies/supervisors within theseteams and ask them to continue the information cascade.In these cases deputies/supervisors should be given the teambrief produced by their manager ie: they will not be requiredto generate their own team brief.To ensure that all administrative staff receive the informationin a timely manner, all briefings should be delivered withinfive working days of the initiation of the cascade. See theTeam Briefing Calendar for further details.If you are a manager/supervisor and are unsure whether youhave a responsibility for delivering a team briefing, pleasediscuss this with your line manager. This will ensure that thecorrect cascade of information is established from theoutset.
Team Briefing process Cascades/Team Briefingsinitiated: completed by:
Monday 1 September Friday 5 SeptemberMonday 6 October Friday 10 OctoberMonday 3 November Friday 7 NovemberMonday 1 December Friday 5 DecemberMonday 2 February Friday 6 FebruaryMonday 2 March Friday 6 MarchMonday 6 April Friday 10 AprilMonday 11 May Friday 15 MayMonday 1 June Friday 5 JuneMonday 6 July Friday 10 July
TEAM BRIEF GUIDELINES
3
GUIDELINES FOR MANAGERSWHOARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERINGATEAM BRIEF
The first thing to do is establish whether you are responsiblefor delivering a briefing to your team. This will dependupon the size of your team and the management structureof the part of the administration in which you work. If youare in any doubt as to whether you should be delivering ateam briefing, then clarify this with your line manager assoon as possible.Once you have established whether you are responsible fordelivering a team briefing, make sure that you know exactlywho you are supposed to include in your briefing.Remember when holding your first team briefing meeting toexplain to your team why you have called the briefing andwhat they can expect.The following points will help you to prepare for a teambriefing. If you feel you would benefit from some additionaltraining then you can contact the Staff Training andDevelopment Unit (STDU) at courses-stdu@manchester.ac.ukThe STDU is running a series of short workshops aimed atmanagers who will be responsible for holding teambriefings.
i) ARRANGINGYOURTEAM BRIEFING
Timing
First of all make yourself familiar with the Team BriefingCalendar and work out when you will be expected todeliver your brief to your team. You may need to discussthis with your line manager to ensure that the correctcascade mechanism is in place.Once the cascade has been agreed, you should set a seriesof dates for your team briefings - try setting dates for atleast six months at a time so that your staff are well awareof the dates in advance and can put them into their diaries.When choosing dates you should try to aim for a day whenmost of your team is around - take into consideration thosewho may work part-time or shifts/rotas.
Size
The ideal team briefing is made up of around 4-15 people.If you are responsible for large numbers of staff then it maymake sense to identify supervisors/managers/deputies withinyour team who could deliver team briefing meetings tosmaller groups of staff. If you’re in doubt about the bestway to approach this then speak to your line manager forguidance.
Venue
Make sure you choose a suitable venue for your teambriefing. Take into consideration the number of people whowill be involved in the briefing and any access requirementsyour staff may have.
Publicising the briefings
Once you’ve got all the arrangements in place make surethat you give your team enough notice so that they are ableto attend. Make sure everyone knows where the venue is.If you’ve set dates for a few months in advance it’s worthletting people know about the dates all at once so that theycan plan ahead.
TEAM BRIEF GUIDELINES
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
More From This User
Notes
Load more
