Reflection on experiences plays a significant role in learning. After Action Reviews (AARs), also called a debriefs or huddles, are considered significant ways to not only learn, but also improve. AARs provide participants with the opportunity to reflect on what was supposed to happen, what really happened, what went well, what did not, and what can be derived (learned) from the mistakes and achievements (Reiter-Palmon et al. 2015). Learning from workplace-based learning (WPBL) and internships can be enhanced by creating AAR spaces, stand-up gatherings or huddling opportunities.
A Huddlecraft (2022) ‘re-tweet’ that appeared in my timeline, on 2 December 2022, caught my eye and prompted further exploration:
“A wave of new Huddles for 2023 🌊
Huddles: purposeful peer groups who come together to learn, create or act, in response to a theme that sets them alight 🔥”
“There is no clear standard definition of a ‘huddle’, but it can be described as short, face-to-face [or virtual] meeting held multiple times a day” say Aase et al. (2021: 2). The ‘World of Work Project’ (2019) explain as follow:
Huddles or stand up meetings are short, sharp, focused, daily team meetings. They involve the whole team and take place around a physical or virtual information center. When done well they improve the performance and engagement of those attending. They can take place face to face, or virtually using a platform like Zoom.
Where integration of teamwork is crucial, such as in interprofessional healthcare, daily huddles, for example, in hospitals, between nurses and physicians, have been nurturing effective performance and reducing adverse events say Aase et al. (2021). Huddles offer the opportunity to reflect on the previous day’s workflow and demands, as well as previewing special requirements and preferences pertaining work/cases scheduled for the day ahead. Huddles could also enable reflection on workplace-based learning (WPBL) and internship experiences, thus enhancing the learning.
“A huddle is an unofficial gathering, or informal meeting, of two or more individuals, convened to discuss substantive issues regarding the work of one or more of the participants”, an encounter of focused interaction, explain Quinn and Bunderson (2016, 387). They add that “huddles may offer learning benefits that formal interaction does not, but the informality of huddles may also pose obstacles to learning that are different from the obstacles that emerge in formal interactions. To capitalize on the learning benefits of huddles, huddle participants need to avoid or overcome those obstacles while still leveraging the unique learning benefits of a huddle”. Huddles are seen as particularly productive events for learning, because of the informality, which free participants from structural limitations and cultural inertia. Huddles “allow expertise (rather than position) to guide who talks” and ideally “address issues when they occur and not when they are scheduled to be discussed” (p. 388). Huddles could similarly be introduced into the learning management system (LMS) to facilitate sharing experiences derived from workplace-based learning modules. Academia responsible for workplace-based learning modules are encouraged to consider the literature extracts below and implement those ideas that appear relevant.
The first step, say Astion (2013), in creating a huddle, is to ensure the relevant participants are involved, including senior management. Frequency and time management are key to keeping a huddle focused. Their huddles were restricted to 15 minutes, with limited time allocation for succinct reporting. A magnetic whiteboard with coloured magnets and possibly brief, clarifying statements with a marker pen reflect the state of operations. The colour-coding provides an immediate overview (or dashboard). Huddles since cascaded to lower operational level, and “are fast becoming an important component of daily management”, say Astion (2013). Academia are encouraged to use their discretion to structure huddles with regard to grouping of students and frequency.
Huddles are differentiated from other types of interactive events regarding the dimensions of task focus and formality. In comparison to social interaction, huddles are high on task-focus but low on formality; ceremonies in contrast are high on formality but low on task focus; and casual talk low on both formality and task focus, but the focus high on task content. Huddles are likely to include dimensions such as problem-solving, information-sharing, and collaboration. Whereas meetings typically include these, meetings in contrast with huddles, are both high on formality and task focus. However, huddles may include aspects of formality such as the Japanese Honda plant huddles (called ‘Y-gaya’) “often called by people in formal authority (a high level of social distance) but could also happen spontaneously, on the site of problems, with people speaking based on the relevant knowledge they had rather than based on their position” (p. 389). Huddles further often include some structure such as turn-taking, syntax, and scheduling. However, the fact that huddles are informal, more spontaneous participation could be expected, including more humour, and invoking less authority.
“Huddles are short 5- to 15-minute briefings designed to give staff opportunities to plan daily tasks and roles, stay informed, review events, and share plans to ensure well-coordinated” work performance, say van Bockxmeer (2022: 256). Huddles may serve as conduit for highlighting “concerns, sharing information, celebrating success, and reinforcing common goals”. Huddles further “encourages reflective practice, reorients groups to unseen biases, and builds new strategic capabilities”. Huddles may concentrate on specific themes and high-relevance topics.
There are some challenges associated with huddles indicate van Bockxmeer (2022: 257), such as the duration, retaining meaning for all participants, and discussions derailing. There is “no single approach that best suits all disciplines, rosters, and teams”. Some situations may call for more frequent huddles, whereas taking ‘detailed discussions offline into smaller focus groups’ could be advantageous.
“A safety huddle is a meeting held among [district nurses] DNs, allied health professionals, specialist nurses, administrative staff, community matrons and healthcare assistants, also known as the wider MDT” [wider multidisciplinary team] say Gray (2020: 446). “Safety huddles were designed and implemented in community nursing in 2016, to ensure all key harms were addressed daily, whereby patient and staff safety could be ensured … The aim of safety huddles is to improve and document clinical handovers within community nursing teams, using a template to evidence the handovers”. The SBAR tool is a “situational briefing tool used to successfully convey patient information to other health professionals in a more succinct manner”—"the SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation” indicate Gray (2020: 447). Academia may effectively make use of the SBAR notion to facilitate reflection of experiences derived from workplace-based learning, namely that each student briefly sketches the situation, provide essential background, give own assessment and present own recommendation. A brief discussion of each such presentation could further enhance learning.
Huddles are commonly used for meetings in many fields, say Cao et al. (2022). The format of their daily virtual operational huddle to monitor key quality metrics, is structured on the common elements of a laboratory huddle reported by Astion (2013), plus “a novel electronic communication application that was interfaced with the laboratory information system” (Cao et al., 2022: 379). At the inception of the huddle, notes were made on a whiteboard, which evolved to a formatted Excel spreadsheet.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, academics at the University of Derby Online Learning (UDOL) “started short online gatherings every morning, which are being referred to as ‘morning huddles’” say Kotera et al. (2020: 239). Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) meetings were scheduled daily from 09h00 to 09h15, and a link sent to the academics “in the Inter-Professional portfolio (encompassing nursing, counselling, social work, and environmental studies), as recurring calendar invites with no set agenda”., however, with the primary purpose had been to support each other’s well-being during isolation. Conversations were friendly, with a relaxed tone, and aimed at inclusivity. The MS Teams chat facility supplemented audio (and where feasible video) interaction, to share information and humour. Many joined before 09h00 for casual conversations, and often continue beyond the 15 minutes. The huddles ended when relevant issues were exhausted, with participants offering each other best wishes for the day. Academia may consider using online huddles in a similar way for students to form stand-up gatherings in order to support one another during dispersed workplace-based learning.
After Action Reviews (AARs) were developed in the 1970s by the US Army, used by the military and para-military teams for decades to learn from experiences in the field, and increasingly used in other contexts. Reiter-Palmon et al. (2015: 323) report “that team effectiveness can be enhanced by 20% when teams conduct AARs”, compared to not conducting AARs and debriefs. Furthermore, “that using trained facilitators improved the effectiveness of AARs significantly compared with those conducted without a facilitator”. For AARs to provide effective learning, three aspects are essential, say Reiter-Palmon et al. (2015: 324), namely:
- (i) Allowing for data verification and feedback, which in turn allow for calibration; as well as allowing for task-related information sharing, contributing to correct approach identification
- (ii) The AAR framework should permit team members opportunity to mindfully and critically reflect (error-friendly learning culture); to grasp why things work (successes) or not (mistakes and near misses); and to challenge implicit assumptions
- (iii) Provide a supportive structure for establishing common goals and action plans to prevent similar re-occurrences
Academia may similarly structure, or scaffold, reflection sessions to enhance workplace-based learning. ‘Scaffold’, as noun, means “a temporary structure for holding workers and materials during the erection, repair, or decoration of a building”, or “any raised framework”, and as verb “to furnish with a scaffold or scaffolding”, or “to support by or place on a scaffold” (Dictionary.com). ‘Framework’, as noun, means “a basic structure, plan, or system, as of concepts, values, customs, or rules”. “In education, scaffolding refers to a variety of instructional techniques used to move students progressively toward stronger understanding”, state the Glossary of Education Reform (2015). It serves as descriptive metaphor of providing successive levels of temporary support, which like physical scaffolding, get erected and incrementally removed when it served its purpose. ‘Instructional scaffolding’ means the processes or support provided to “students in order to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks”, by “systematically building on students’ experiences and knowledge as they are learning” (IRIS Center, 2022).
Aase, I., Tjoflåt, I. & Hjorthaug Urstad, K. (2021). Using the ‘huddle’ to enhance interprofessional teamwork among nursing students through a podcast: a qualitative and exploratory pilot study. (BioMed Central Ltd) BMC Nursing, 20 (article #235). Electronically accessible from https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-021-00747-4
Astion, M. (2013). new model for patient safety, daily laboratory huddles—what a great idea! American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), Clinical Laboratory News. Electronically accessible from https://www.aacc.org/publications/cln/articles/2013/april/psf-huddles
Cao, J., Dowlin, M., West, A., Mutandiro, C., Mpwo, M. & Singh, IR. (2022). A daily operational huddle and a real-time communication application improve efficiency of laboratory processes. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 146(3), 379–385. Electronically accessible from https://meridian.allenpress.com/aplm/article/146/3/379/466484/A-Daily-Operational-Huddle-and-a-Real-Time
Dictionary.com. ‘Scaffold’ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/scaffold and ‘Framework’ https://www.dictionary.com/browse/framework
Glossary of Education Reform. (2015). Scaffolding. Great Schools Partnership. Electronically accessible from https://www.edglossary.org/scaffolding/
Gray, T. (2020). Safety huddle in a community nursing setting British Journal of Community Nursing, 25(9), 446-450. Electronically accessible from https://www.britishjournalofcommunitynursing.com/content/professional/safety-huddle-in-a-community-nursing-setting
Huddlecraft (2022). https://www.huddlecraft.com/ Tweet electronically accessible from https://twitter.com/Huddlecraft/status/1598284708034420736
IRIS Center (2022). What Is Instructional Scaffolding? The IRIS Center Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville. Electronically accessible from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/sca/cresource/q1/p01/
Kotera, Y., Green, P., Rhodes, C., Williams, A., Chircop, J., Spink, R., Rebecca Rawson, R., & Okere, U. (2020). Dealing With Isolation Using Online Morning Huddles for University Lecturers During Physical Distancing by COVID-19: Field Notes. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(4), 238-244. Electronically accessible from https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/4843/5434
Quinn, R.W. & Bunderson, J.S. (2016). Could We Huddle on This Project? Participant Learning in Newsroom Conversations. Journal of Management, 42(2), 386–418. Electronically accessible from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0149206313484517
Reiter-Palmon, R., Kennel, V. Allen, J.A. Jones, K.J. & Skinner, A.M. (2015). Naturalistic decision making in after-action review meetings: The implementation of and learning from post-fall huddles. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 88(2), 322–340. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joop.12084
van Bockxmeer, J. (2022). A reflection on daily huddles in BC primary care teams. British Columbia Medical Journal, 64(6), 256-7. Electronically accessible from https://bcmj.org/articles/reflection-daily-huddles-bc-primary-care-teams
World of Work Project. (2019). Huddles or stand-up meetings: A simple introduction. Electronically accessible from https://worldofwork.io/2019/04/huddles-stand-up-meetings-what-why-and-who/
