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The BDC has implemented several team briefing schemes into various NHS organisations over the last seven years. Evaluation over the last three years has highlighted several problems with the team briefing system. The article explores these and suggests ways of overcoming the problems with clear, definable actions. It highlights that the basic team briefing model is sound but that organisations need to consider their commitment and whether the culture is compatible or not with some reinforcement of certain processes which includes training team briefers and having effective feedback as part of the process. The article concludes that team briefing is a useful tool, which can help organisations communicate effectively with their employees.

There is little doubt that team briefing represents an increasingly extensive technique for employee involvement in British organisations. The problems and tensions which arose in three different establishments with their systems for team briefing are presented and a number of concerns about the way in which it is practised are highlighted. It is suggested that team briefing may not be appropriate for all organisations, and that much depends on factors peculiar to the company or service in question.

An effective client briefing process and the selection of an appropriate building procurement system both contribute to the attainment of client objectives with respect to time, cost and quality for construction projects. The present paper documents the results of an empirical study into the nature and effectiveness of the project briefing process, and the selection and effectiveness of procurement methods in the attainment of client objectives. A national questionnaire survey was administered to clients, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, project managers and general contractors in South Africa. The results show that room for improvement exists in the manner in which project briefing is conducted and the manner in which procurement methods are selected.

To identify the management tools and variables that impact briefing, assess the nature of current briefing practices, review the need for more structured techniques and determine the place of facilities management in briefing.

A detailed literature review to analyse and critique the briefing process was followed by a brainstorming session to explore relevant technical frameworks. A questionnaire survey investigated opinions of structured approaches to briefing.

The facilities manager operating within the strategic framework of the client organisation and having the necessary skills is a natural choice as brief writer. Facilities managers’ involvement is not strongly reflected in this research, indicating perhaps that they do not consider briefing a natural role or that they do not possess the skills for its undertaking. It is concluded that while briefing remains an unstructured investigative process, the skills for which are learned through experience, then architects and project managers will continue to dominate the activity.

Currently, briefing is unstructured, iterative, and uses a variety of media for its exposition. More formalised processes recognising strategic and project briefing are advocated in the literature. Options for improvement include a structured approach to investigative briefing and facilitated value management.

The limited involvement of facilities managers in briefing prompted this research. This paper identifies the structure and variables impacting the briefing process and concludes with options for formalised approaches to briefing.

To describe a research project which seeks to establish a value management framework for project briefing to systematically identify and clarify client requirements, and represent these requirements precisely and explicitly to facilitate the design process.

Two research instruments are used: structured questionnaire survey to validate the theoretical framework established; and experiments to test the proposed value management framework with real‐life projects, supported by case studies.

The primary research findings of this project are the identification of 13 variables that have an impact on the briefing process, which form the basis of the theoretical framework. It is revealed that the theoretical foundation of the research supports the use of value management to the briefing process. Further validation will be completed by conducting questionnaire survey and real‐life case studies.

This paper improves comprehension of the nature, characteristics and problems of the briefing process. It also introduces the theoretical foundation of the research project and describes the process for the development of the value management framework for project briefing.

This paper aims to examine briefing practices and whether these are related to the quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa. The rational for the examination stems from the view held by scholars that the briefing process is critical to the success of projects, as well as client/user satisfaction in the constructed facility, and also because of undocumented reports of client/end-user dissatisfaction in constructed health-care facilities in South Africa.

The research process consisted of a literature review to identify existing briefing framework and practices in use applicable to facilities. This was supported by an exploratory case study of a recently completed public hospital in East London, South Africa. Data collection for the study was undertaken by means of conducting semi-structured interviews with two groups consisting of client representatives and the technical design team on the project.

The research established that in the context of this case study, inadequate client consultation took place, not all design consultants were adequately involved in the development of the project brief, limited use was made of a specific briefing framework in developing the project brief and that despite these shortcomings in the briefing process followed, a comprehensive good quality briefing document was produced and the client was satisfied with the health-care facility constructed.

The results of this study are generalizable with health-care facilities only. As such, research inferences and projections can only be made within this set and may not necessarily be applicable to the wider construction sector or to all projects within this sector.

The implications of this research are applicable to constructed health-care facilities. Practical inferences include the need to acknowledge that there is a need for a briefing framework, which should outline the involvement of all design consultants and client representatives when developing the project briefs for health-care facilities. The briefing framework is proposed for use in addressing the shortcomings in the briefing processes and practices and will also help the client in the choice of a brief process and practice which will comprehensively capture their requirements, give clear directives/information to the design consultants and will result in higher levels of end-user/patient satisfaction in the constructed health-care facility.

Clients and allied professionals in charge of health-care facilities’ construction are encouraged to consider the implementation of a standard framework for use in the briefing process. This reflection should encourage engagement through formative legislative provision and transparent awareness campaigns.

This work is original insofar, as it directly addresses the alignment of briefing practices to quality of brief documents and client satisfaction in constructed health-care facilities within the context of the South African construction industry. However, similar exercises have been undertaken on briefing practices in the wider construction sector.

The rise of the ‘green movement’ in Europe over the last 10 years has been quite astonishing. From being dismissed as cranks and eccentrics, they have reached the position where they are either important pressure groups (as in the UK) or have real political power (in those countries that have proportional representation). This pressure and power has implications for the way in which businesses carry out their activity. We are already seeing the ‘greening’ of commerce, starting with those organisations who are nearest to the end user such as retail stores. This ‘greening’ process will move backwards up the supply chain over the next few years to influence many organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of cultural learning during the briefing process, to enable facilities managers to move into more strategic roles in the health sector.

Using a new hospital as an in depth case study the authors use comparative cause mapping to illustrate the cultural learning processes between actors in the briefing process.

The focus during the briefing process is primarily on the mechanical transfer of explicit technical knowledge about building requirements rather than the cognitive learning of tacit cultural knowledge. This results in the omission of important strategic information in the briefing process.

This research is limited to a single case study. Although this results in a high level of validity, more research is needed in other contexts to test the generalisability of the findings.

The new strategic model produced should help facility managers reconceptualise briefing as a cyclical process where project actors can arrive at a shared meaning of each other's values, beliefs and needs over time.

More effective hospital facilities can significantly contribute to better health outcomes in communities.

This is the first time that briefing has been explored using cognitive cause mapping. It is also the first time that cultural learning has been explored in this context.

Team briefings have long been used to engage employees in change. Alan Thomas, Henkel’s staff resourcing and development manager, describes how the company used the process when merging four sites into one.

This paper explores the impact of communication strategies on shaping employee involvement at Rover’s Longbridge plant, between 1997 and 1999. At this time, the firm was experiencing severe difficulties. This triggered a period of transformational change within the company. Qualitative methodology was utilised to explore management’s internal communications strategies, which aimed to initiate and sustain change. These strategies were analysed in relation to external forces, specifically the media, which played a significant role in shaping management action at this time. Semi‐structured interviews with senior management and trade union representatives were conducted, and company data was utilised to provide the shop‐floor perspective. New developments with regard to existing EI theory were uncovered. Communications increased in prominence and centrality to organisational objectives, and a radical communications technique was introduced. The research also highlights that EI initiatives cannot be divorced from the organisational context. Several key issues emerged: management must brief internal audiences before information reaches the media; the timely provision of consistent information is paramount; and finally, personal involvement by senior management is a prerequisite for the success of any change management programme.