I was doing some coaching this morning. That got me remembering how hard it can be to get someone to present a concise analysis of an important situation – especially clear recommendations that I can base a decision on. If you’ve run into that, you may like this tip about asking for an SBAR report, which is about one page long and has four standard sections.
- Situation is a concise statement of the problem.
- Background summarizes context about the situation, such as relevant knowledge, research, and observations.
- Assessment analyzes the situation and presents options.
- Recommendation lists the actions that the author recommends based on his or her assessment.
The SBAR technique is a concrete, easy-to-remember framework for getting the information you need to make a good decision. It has several advantages for clear communication.
- It encourages the author to avoid vagueness by assessing options and making specific recommendations instead.
- It’s oriented toward taking action.
- The format is simple and concrete. Leaders can grasp the information in it and make good decisions quickly.
- Used consistently, it encourages discipline in critical communication and decision making.
SBAR was developed for patient safety communications by physicians at Kaiser Permanente of Colorado. Thanks to my colleague Denise Hoover at Salem Hospital for first introducing me to this simple but powerful technique. It is widely used in healthcare and should be adopted in other fields.