Debriefs are an effective tool for increasing learning and performance within organizations. They are regarded as “one of the most promising methods for accelerating learning from experience” (Eddy, Tannenbaum, & Mathieu, 2013, p. 976), and meta-analytic evidence supports their effectiveness (Tannenbaum & Cerasoli, 2013). Research also suggests that the success of a debrief is reliant on proper execution techniques. In this chapter, we identify and define debriefs and review scientifically supported strategies for achieving a well-executed debrief. Moreover, we present a table of recommendations based on this review of the debrief literature. Our intention is that these recommendations will serve as guidelines for the practical application of debriefs.

Previous research on work meetings has mainly been conducted in the Anglo-Saxon context. In this chapter, we add an international perspective that addresses this question: Does the national context of the meeting influence how it is structured and perceived? We provide a descriptive-comparative empirical analysis of differences and commonalities in both structural (i.e., size, length, frequency, lateness, the use of an agenda, and action points) and psychological (i.e., participation, satisfaction, and mood) meeting characteristics. Our analysis is based on a survey study with 710 participants from 45 countries. We first provide a comparison using a framework that classifies cultures according to the dimensions of space, time, and context using seven country clusters identified in the GLOBE study: Anglo (n = 91), Confucian Asia (n = 94), Eastern Europe (n = 242), Germanic Europe (n = 136), Latin Europe (n = 37), Middle East (n = 33), and Northern Europe (n = 70). We found important similarities, but also noteworthy differences in work meetings between locations. We discuss the emerging profile of cross-cultural meeting similarities and differences in light of their theoretical and managerial implications and provide ideas for future research on meetings across cultures.

This chapter offers an overview of the unique contributions of conversation analysis (CA) to research on the science of meetings. We introduce CA as a sociological framework for studying the structures and processes of talk and interaction, showing how this approach enriches our understanding of human activity in meeting interaction. After a sketch of CA theory and method and the ways that basic interactional mechanisms are adapted to meetings, we review CA research on face-to-face meetings, including practices for distributing turns at talk, the interactional constitution of organizational identities, practices for displaying affect and building relationships with team members, and interactional resources for decision making in meetings. Moving into current developments in CA and meetings, we detail one interactional strategy used to manage disagreement during decision-making episodes in scientific peer review meetings. It involves the use of “formulations,” discourse practices in which interactants summarize and paraphrase the prior talk of other participants. We provide initial evidence of the use of formulations in peer review meetings to collaboratively navigate interactional troubles, allowing participants to work toward resolution of conflict, move ahead in the progression of meetings, and to possibly introduce individual biases into meeting deliberations and decision making.

Collaboration is a ubiquitous phenomenon in organizations that often takes place in the setting of a meeting. Organizations use meetings as a focal point to bring people together to collaborate, coordinate, plan, or accomplish some result. This chapter focuses on a specific type of meeting: co-creation meetings, where teams collaborate to produce tangible deliverables. The chapter begins with a discussion of co-creation meetings and the role of facilitation in leading groups in these settings. We then introduce two key concepts to support facilitators. First, patterns of collaboration are the building blocks of the collaboration process in a co-creation meeting. Second, the ThinkLets pattern language represents a collection of codified packets of facilitation skills to achieve predictable, repeatable patterns of collaboration. ThinkLets can be used as a form of collaboration Lego to design and execute co-creation meetings. To illustrate the applicability of ThinkLets, we present a case study with the American Telehealth Association (ATA). We discuss our use of ThinkLets in the design of four collaborative writing workshops, specifically, meeting process design, results, and participant perceptions. We conclude with an examination of the broader applications of ThinkLets, including other types of co-creation meetings, some limitations of the work presented here, and directions for future research.

This chapter offers an overview of the unique contributions of conversation analysis (CA) to research on the science of meetings. We introduce CA as a sociological framework for studying the structures and processes of talk and interaction, showing how this approach enriches our understanding of human activity in meeting interaction. After a sketch of CA theory and method and the ways that basic interactional mechanisms are adapted to meetings, we review CA research on face-to-face meetings, including practices for distributing turns at talk, the interactional constitution of organizational identities, practices for displaying affect and building relationships with team members, and interactional resources for decision making in meetings. Moving into current developments in CA and meetings, we detail one interactional strategy used to manage disagreement during decision-making episodes in scientific peer review meetings. It involves the use of “formulations,” discourse practices in which interactants summarize and paraphrase the prior talk of other participants. We provide initial evidence of the use of formulations in peer review meetings to collaboratively navigate interactional troubles, allowing participants to work toward resolution of conflict, move ahead in the progression of meetings, and to possibly introduce individual biases into meeting deliberations and decision making.

Low meeting quality is often attributed to poorly planned and poorly led meetings. In recent years, an increasing number of scientific studies have examined the effects of principal meeting design characteristics on employees' perceptions of meeting satisfaction and effectiveness. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the literature and research on premeeting factors and design characteristics that have been identified as important: temporal characteristics related to how meeting time is used (e.g., starting and ending on time, pre-meeting talk), procedural characteristics that direct attendees' attention and efforts toward task-oriented activities (e.g., using a written agenda, setting clear goals), physical characteristics that relate to meeting settings and environments (e.g., appropriate venue quality, provision of refreshments), and characteristics of attendees. Our review shows how meeting leaders have the ability to design meetings more effectively and facilitate them in a manner that results in better outcomes. Based on the results of this review, we also discuss practical implications and directions for future research.

As a relatively new field of scientific study, meeting science continues to generate many questions. For example, what is meeting science? Who are meeting scientists? What distinguishes meeting science from other related fields of inquiry? The purpose of this chapter is to address these commonly asked questions. In this chapter we review what meeting science is, discuss the nascent nature of the field, describe who meeting scientists are and what they do, and disentangle the relationship between meeting science and team science. To close, we outline directions for future research on meetings.

In this chapter, we explore the role of team diversity as an input factor for organizational meeting processes and outcomes. Team diversity refers to aggregated differences among group members that can be either relations oriented (social category diversity; e.g., age, gender, race) or task oriented (functional diversity; e.g., education, functional background, tenure). We posit that these two diversity dimensions may have either positive or negative effects on meeting effectiveness contingent on various contextual conditions. Specifically, we argue that interaction processes taking place in team meetings constitute the mediating link between diversity as an input factor and meeting outcomes. Based on this assumption, we develop a model linking both types of diversity to functional versus dysfunctional interactions in meetings. We use this model to derive a number of propositions regarding the links between diversity as an input factor, interaction processes during meetings as mediating mechanisms, and meeting outcomes. By connecting the dots between team diversity and meeting dynamics, we aim to deepen our understanding of the role of participants' diversity in meetings and inspire future research testing the suggested propositions.

Low meeting quality is often attributed to poorly planned and poorly led meetings. In recent years, an increasing number of scientific studies have examined the effects of principal meeting design characteristics on employees' perceptions of meeting satisfaction and effectiveness. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the literature and research on premeeting factors and design characteristics that have been identified as important: temporal characteristics related to how meeting time is used (e.g., starting and ending on time, pre-meeting talk), procedural characteristics that direct attendees' attention and efforts toward task-oriented activities (e.g., using a written agenda, setting clear goals), physical characteristics that relate to meeting settings and environments (e.g., appropriate venue quality, provision of refreshments), and characteristics of attendees. Our review shows how meeting leaders have the ability to design meetings more effectively and facilitate them in a manner that results in better outcomes. Based on the results of this review, we also discuss practical implications and directions for future research.