How I Debrief After Leading

Experience is NOT the best teacher. Experience can be cruel. It can flatter you. It can lie to you. But evaluated experience is a fantastic teacher. Debriefing after leading is a must. Learning to initiate conversations with your team to learn from each other’s feedback, to take time for personal reflection, and to ask questions will yield great results.

Beyond this, we all need to know what a win looks like. In his book Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day, Todd Henry states, “Having clarity around true expectations is essential to healthy, functioning (church) life. However, assumptions will fill the void if you’re not intentional about seeking (and giving) a clear understanding of your true demands.” The process of debriefing helps us gain all-important clarity of what’s truly important to our mission.

We’ve often led teams through a process we call “Broccoli.” (One mark of true friendship is to discretely, lovingly, and quickly tell your friends if they have broccoli in their teeth, right?)

The format we use for giving Timely Specific Feedback is to answer specifically two things: “What I Liked Best and What I’d suggest you do differently Next Time” (LB/NT), followed by a list of questions to choose from. It’s important both to make it okay to hear feedback and to know how to give helpful feedback, so when someone says, “You did a good job today,” you’ll know how to ask, “What about it did you find helpful?” or “What about the worship was meaningful to you?”

You may feel apprehensive about peers evaluating each other. We likely do it anyway. How much more of a gift it would be if we learned to sharpen each other in a safe environment. Being teachable is a foundational attitude for any growth to happen. And rest assured, this is a loving, honest, respectful process. Showing empathy for each other is our desired practice.

An important caveat: the LAST thing we want is a culture of critiquing, where we cannot focus on God and worship when we gather (either the team leading or the congregation being led)! Engage the moment. Be present. The skill we’re building is our ability to reflect well on what happened. When in worship, please worship.

After answering these first questions, we have a LONG list of questions to choose from. Because questions direct our attention, these teach us to look for certain things we may not naturally look for. We’ve grouped them by Fader to help you see things through other Faders’ eyes.

ARTIST

• Where was the band in the scale of “making it through the music” to “actually making music?”

• Did we say musically what we sang lyrically?

• Did the music breathe? Did it have space, or did the entire band play on almost every part of every song?

• Did the music have wide dynamics, or did it never get really, really quiet or really, really loud? Was it alive?

• Was each part important? Was it produced well, or did the band just routinely play through the chords?

• Did the music get the groove right? Did it strongly support singing? Did it cause our bodies to move? How were the tempos?

• Was the music so beautiful and moving that it could have stood on its own outside of a church service?

• Did each player use their instrument as their worshiping voice, a very personal, emotional expression offered in creating a space for a community to worship?

• Did the music itself give words to our hearts, expressing the inexpressible?

• Was the music so “center stage” and constantly full that it tragically made us feel like we weren’t even needed to sing?

• Did the rehearsal flow smoothly or was it hard work?

• Did we discuss and implement what is carrying each song, what makes it work, and what parts/instruments are primary, secondary, or fill for this song?

• Was there a moment when the band could push ourselves past what we were comfortable with and already knew, or did we just stay in our ruts?

• How were musical improvements made? Are there any specific examples?

• Did you practice transitions thoroughly? Did you practice improvising?

• Did you ask, “How can we make this song more musical/beautiful/artistic/emotional?”

• Did I/we feel prepared after rehearsal [and did I/we come to rehearsal prepared]?

SHEPHERD

• What was the intensity level for worship [1 = people were standing and singing, to 10 = the crowd went wild!]

• Did the speaker or worship leader [or team] do anything that helped you connect/focus?

• Did you feel valued by how we spoke, led, played, sang?

• Did it feel like a team that loves to serve together?

• Was the conversation free of sarcasm? [sarcasm is literally “tearing flesh”]

• Was the team honest and humble with each other? Did issues get resolved quickly and lovingly?

• Did we create an environment where the teams felt honored and the leaders were gracious?

• Did you feel like good friends, serving God together?

• Did we connect more than just musically at rehearsal [relationally, spiritually, etc.]? Did the techs and the band feel like one worship team?

PRIEST

• How did people seem to be engaging in the invitation to meet with God?

• Did it cause us to rely on the Holy Spirit, or could we have pulled it off ourselves?

• Was the worship leader and band clearly leading worship versus just performing?

• Was the life, power, and glory of God on display? Did something unexpected happen that seemed like it was God’s doing?

• What/Who seemed to be the primary focus of the gathering?

• What was God saying to His church?

• How did this actually help us become more like little Christs? (aka Christians)

• How did you see Christ being honored?

• If “church” is two or more gathered [Matthew 18:20] to acknowledge His authority and presence, centered around Christ, discerning and declaring the will of God, making decisions for the Kingdom, declaring those decisions and acting on them corporately, what decisions and declarations were made, and what actions were taken?

• Did we speak and sing as if God was with us in the room?

EDUCATOR

• What was one thing that you learned about worship leading?

• Musical Artistry: What are the musical skills I want to work on?

• Spiritual Formation: How do I want to grow spiritually?

• Relational Integrity: How do I want my relationships to improve?

• Technical Excellence: How do I want to grow in my technical understanding and ability?

• Leadership Ability: How do I want to grow as a leader?

PRODUCER

• How did it require participation – was it an All-Play? Was everyone asked/invited to contribute something? Did the worshipers’ offering cost them something? (2 Samuel 24:24)

• What songs were meaningful?

• Did we follow the Magic Formula [listen to God and obey what you hear]?

• Is there anything about how we do things that doesn’t align with who we are as a church?

• How did your parts fit in and support the rest of the service?

• Was there a sense of flow? What caused it to feel seamless? What caused it to feel clunky?

• How effective were the creative elements? What made them work? How could they have worked better?

• Were there any cringe/awkward/confused moments? How were mistakes handled?

• Did it feel like you experienced a Sacred Space? What created (or hindered) that experience?

• How did the gathering end? Was there a sense of closure? Was there a noticeable desire for action based on the experience? Did you feel activated?

• Would I’ve invited my lost friends to this? Why or why not?

• Did it fit with who our congregation is?

• Did our schedule before the services allow ample time and no crunch factor?

• Did the techs receive what they needed in time? (special requests, items to project, etc.)

• How did the visuals support (or distract) what was happening? (inspiring, appropriate, correct lyrics, etc.)

Here is a bonus session with questions about the TECH!

• Was the band arranged on stage well?

• Did the set design look tremendous and enrich the environment?

• Did the lighting set the desired mood well? Did it transition smoothly?

• Was the stage neat? (cables run, unused equipment stored, minimum number of stands, etc.)

• How did the tech “Start Strong and Pay Attention?” How did he/she not?

• How did the tech make the leader and worship team feel at ease and supported?

• Was the tech able to have an effective gain structure? Were the faders (including the master) generally at Unity (0)?

• How did the input check and sound check go (were the house speakers on and mixed before the tech added monitors)?

• Was the tech able to have each worship team member hear themselves while not killing the balance between volume on the platform and in the house? Was the stage too loud or the house muddy?

• Did the techs and the band feel like one worship team?

• What one thing stuck out in the mix? Could you identify any “garbage” in the mix?

• What issues did you face in creating a pleasant, energetic mix?

• Were the acoustic guitar and piano low enough in the mix on the “up” songs to provide room for the energy of the bass and drums to drive the music?

• Did each input sound like it does naturally?

• Did the tech actively mix or “play” the board, reproducing the nuance of the band, or was it “set it and leave it”?

• Were the dB levels within the low/high parameters we agreed to?

• Did anyone have to tap a mic and say, “is this on?”

I know that’s a TON of questions, but questions teach and direct our focus. Again, we don’t want to become critics nor oblivious to what’s not best or working. Having a broad perspective or grid to evaluate the service will help us serve more effectively.

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

How I Debrief After Leading (Nº 420)