After Action Review (AAR)

The After Action Review (AAR) is a simple and highly effective way to create a project report using action planning and issue analysis.

It's ideal when you need to unpick what really happened in a project and build learning to drive improvement.

Objectives

• To bring together the relevant people to understand what really happened.
• To identify learning and use it, to continually improve.
• To create a project report and develop an action plan with actions, owners and timescales to drive sustainable change.

When Would You Use It?

• At the end meetings.
• During and post change initiatives and projects.
• To resolve complex customer complaints.
• Can be completed in 5 minutes at the end of a team meeting or take up to 2 hours for complex topics – it’s the latter application that’s described here.
• When you need to create a collaborative project report quickly.

Are There Any Rules?

• Ensure ALL the right people in the room – these are those who played a key role in the project/change initiative/customer complaint.
• Only disclose one question at a time.
• A commitment to open discussion is needed – ‘the elephant in the room’ to encourage openness and honesty, may help!

Resources Required

• A Facilitator – someone who can objectively and assertively lead the review, capture the key points and write them up on flip charts.
• Flip chart paper, pens and something to stick them on the walls.
• 1 sheet of flip chart paper for each question, using each question as a header – you’ll need lots more paper to capture all the input during the session.
• A room with lots of wall space to stick up each flip chart as it’s written.

Ground Rules

• Encourage a climate of openness and trust – based on the metaphor “there’s an elephant in the room” (a toy elephant in the room acts as a good prop for this).
• Everyone is on equal footing i.e. no hierarchy.
• Everyone freely participates.
• There is no finger-pointing or blame apportioned.
• What is shared in the AAR, is not attributed to a specific person, unless by agreement.
• Focus on facts.

Roles & Responsibilities

Process

The discussion addresses 5 questions in sequence...

1. The Facilitator outlines the purpose of the activity – “to learn from and incorporate learning into future activities”.
2. The Facilitator outlines how the process will unfold, without sharing the questions and sets the Ground Rules (see separate slide).
3. The Facilitator asks the 1st question – “What was supposed to happen?” (i.e. what were the objectives). The Facilitator establishes how well the objective(s) were understood and capture all comments on flip chart. Place the flip chart/s where all can view.
4. The Facilitator repeats step 3 for four further questions:
   1. “What actually happened?” to establish the facts about what happened in chronological order – the reality/ truth.
   2. “Why were there differences?” to analyse and interpret the activities. Comparing the objectives to what actually happened is where the real learning begins. Successes and shortfalls are discussed.
   3. “What can we learn?” to continue the analysis and interpretation.
   4. “Who does what as a result?” to develop an action plan with owners, actions and timescales to sustain successes and improve upon the shortfalls.

Secret Sauce

• In Question 2 strong facilitation is needed as participants are often keen to unwittingly deviate and provide answers to the questions that will follow.
• Also be aware of reactions and emotions, as question 2 is where blame can start to appear.
• Depending upon your business culture, be careful about mixing seniority of staff. It may prevent disclosure of information.
• For an AAR to be successful, it’s ESSENTIAL that:
  • Everyone involved in the event freely participates.
  • Everyone is on equal footing i.e. no hierarchy.
  • There is a climate of openness and trust.
  • There is no finger-pointing or culprit blaming.