Debriefing is one of the four foundational skills of an intelligence analyst. Talking to people unlocks a level of detail and understanding not always available in a formal report and allows an analyst to focus conversation on specific questions. When done well, it builds trust within an organisation between intelligence personnel and front line staff, and unlocks a large amount of organisational knowledge sitting unused.
Debriefing is a structured approach to a conversation in order to gather relevant information, usually from a person with first-hand knowledge of a topic or event. It occurs between willing participants with full knowledge of the purpose of the conversation. Successful debriefing can often be achieved solely through internal interviews of personnel within an organisation.
Analysts trained with basic debriefing skills benefit an organisation beyond robust intelligence products. A large amount of organisational knowledge from front line staff is not captured in any way, remaining unknown not only to intelligence analysts, but unusable for any other organisational purpose. In addition to trained individuals, organisations can benefit from a deliberate and ongoing debriefing programme (as opposed to simply investigating incidents after they occur) to discern patterns and operational insights. Organisations have masses of first-hand knowledge and detail held internally, even without having to debrief outside personal or invest in gathering information through other methods or technical systems.
Debriefing allows analysts to gather information from individuals who have first-hand knowledge of a relevant topic or event. Detail is often filtered out from final reports in other intelligence gathering methods due to the gatherer’s perception of its importance, or simply for brevity. These details can often fill gaps in an analyst's wider subject knowledge, such as the background to relationships between people or casual relationships between events. This additional information can corroborate other sources and give greater confidence to intelligence assessments.
A structured conversation provides an analyst an opportunity for follow up. This is the key strength of an analyst with debriefing skills when compared to other forms of information gathering. A conversation allows clarification to be sought by an analyst and for an interviewee to discuss a topic they thought was irrelevant. While interviewees may not always recall events accurately, an analyst trained in the basic skills of structured conversation and knowledge can work methodically to overcome most short comings.
Debriefing can help intelligence analysts to build better relationships with their operational colleagues. By talking to individuals on the front line, analysts can gain their trust, establish relationships that benefit the areas of work of both professionals, and develop a more in-depth understanding of the situation. Front line staff also gain a greater understanding of what intelligence teams are interested in. This can lead to more accurate and proactive information being reported in the future.
The basics of a structured conversation and discerning how someone knows what they know is one of the four fundamental skills of an intelligence analyst. Being able to talk to front line staff in a methodical manner adds another level of detail to an analyst’s understanding of a topic or situation, enhancing information gathered through other means. Debriefing can build strong two way relationships between intelligence teams and operational personnel, as well as unlocking unused knowledge held at the front line.
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