Seven minute briefings – resources for all

The MSB have introduced ‘seven minute briefings’ to allow managers to deliver a short briefing to staff regarding on key topics – they can also be used to support reflective discussion with practitioners.

7 minute briefings are based on a technique borrowed from the FBI! Research suggests that seven minutes is an ideal time span to concentrate and learning is more memorable as it is simple and not clouded by other issues and pressures. Their brief duration should also mean that they hold people’s attention, as well as giving managers something to share with their staff.

Clearly such short briefings will not have all the answers, but it is hoped that they will act as a catalyst to help teams and their managers to reflect on their practice and systems. The expectation is that team leaders will present briefings to their staff, on a regular basis – seven minutes is manageable in most services so why not discuss one in your next team meeting?

Thanks must go to our colleagues in other LSABs and LSCBs (in particular Lancashire, Knowsley & Rochdale) for sharing this innovative learning tool.

Our briefings will be issued on a regular basis, providing a mixture of new information or a reminder of basic information with challenge for teams to think about the application to practice within their teams.  Partners and subgroups are encouraged to draft a briefing and submit it for publication – find out more in our MSB 7MB Process guide.

The briefings can be downloaded from the table below; we have also provided text only versions as these may be more suitable for some learners.

The MSB also publish a 7 minute briefing a part of each Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) and Serious Case Review (SCR) learning pack – these can be found in the Safeguarding Adult Review resource and and Serious Case Review resource.

We encourage all agencies to record or evidence how they have used our 7 minute briefings on the MSB 7MB Action Plan proforma.

If you have any comments about the content or format, or suggestions for topics, please let us know at manchestersafeguardingboards@manchester.gov.uk

MSB 7MB Action Plan proforma