A guide to conducting an effective after-action review (AAR)

During the 1970s, the U.S. Army wanted more collaborative and constructive methods to learn from previous combat and training where the soldiers were interviewed after combat or commanders would pass on performance feedback in the form of critique. These methods tended to produce defensiveness and hampered learning.

To address this, the U.S. Army developed a formal process of continuous learning: after-action review (AAR). The focus was on emphasizing participation from all involved, encouraging open discussion, and identifying areas for improvement rather than blame.

The U. S. Army conducted AAR immediately after every combat and soldiers closely involved in the task or operation would take part in discussing:

• The planned outcome
• The actual outcome?
• Mistakes that happened
• Good decisions made

This helped the soldiers understand the tactical and strategic decisions made during the combat, learn from the mistakes, and build adaptability and preparedness for any situations or scenarios that come across them.

In this article, you’ll learn more about what an AAR is, how it moved into the corporate world, and how you can implement it within your product team.

What is an after-action review (AAR)?

As alluded to in the introduction, an after-action review refers to the process of conducting an in-depth study of an event after the fact, focusing on continuous learning to understand why what happened happened and how it can influence the future.

During the 1980s, when the U.S. Army formalized and standardized AAR by documenting the guidelines across the military, AAR spread into other sectors too, especially healthcare institutions, ever-changing businesses, and those administrative services where emergency response teams operated.

AARs conducted can be of two types:

• Formal — Conducted in a structured setup with established procedures and protocols. Well-suited for large-scale events, operations, or projects
• Informal — Conducted in a more spontaneous discussion fashion immediately after the task or operation. Well-suited for small teams working on tasks or executing emergency responses

AARs can also be event-driven where the focus is on dissecting the event outcomes or process-driven discussing the workflows or inefficiencies in the process.

Components of AAR

After identifying the task/event for AAR, there are four components in conducting AAR:

Plan and prepare

• Define the objective and write down clear intent
• Gather information about the task or event being analyzed
• Identify and list all the participants. Ensure all participants are informed to attend
• Develop an agenda to conduct AAR
• Secure the required resources and environment needed to conduct AAR

Conduct

• Introduce, set ground rules for discussion, and let people be comfortable with the environment
• Follow the agenda. Ensure no deviations in the execution of the plan
• Facilitate open discussion and encourage all participants to contribute
• Capture objective observations rather than interpretations

Analyze and document

• Document discussion points, key takeaways, decisions, and action items
• Analyze discussion points and transform them into actionable insights
• Prepare a concise summary of the findings, recommendations, and measurable action plans
• Capture and discuss learning opportunities and potential solutions

Follow-up

• Assign clear ownership for executing action plans with deadlines
• Identify potential roadblocks and discuss mitigation strategies
• Track progress and share learnings with relevant stakeholders
• Measure improvements

5 critical questions to ask

Within the process of an after-action review, the participants can ask and answer any number of questions that facilitate continuous learning and preparedness for the future. However, any AAR should record answers to the following five critical questions:

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• What was supposed to happen? Discuss the original objectives, expected outcomes, and defined approaches to execute
• What has happened? Reconstruct the factual timeline of events and unfold the difference from the plan. Avoid assumptions and stick to observations
• Why is there a difference between expected and actual? Ask why; get to the root cause of the differences in planned execution versus actual performance
• What went well and what can be improved? Acknowledge and celebrate successes. Identify strengths and embrace doing it well. Also, discuss the challenges faced, record weaknesses and opportunities to improve
• What will you do about it? Here AAR comes into action mode. Based on learnings, define action items, and develop measurable action plans

After-action review vs. others

Many similar approaches to AAR have been adapted by various industries. They have subtle differences in the purpose, formality, and approach to the process of conducting them. Let’s talk here about the most popular ones:

AAR vs. retrospect

AAR	Retrospect
Usually, narrowed scope of a specific event, task, or operation	Wider scope, mostly on the completion of certain milestones, sprints, and projects
Narrow focus towards recent experiences and lessons learned from them	Wider focus on overall process and improvement
Ideally conducted immediately after the task, event, or operation. Mostly reactive conducts	Done as a periodic celebration at regular intervals. Need not be for an event and is mostly a proactive improvement method
Mostly formal with structured discussions usually followed with a template	Formal but informal to keep it adaptable, open, and build an environment per the needs of participants

AAR vs. post-mortem analysis

AAR	Post-mortem analysis
Has a broader scope, considering the sequence of events, and activities	Narrow scope analyzing particular failed events or outcomes
Focus on learning all experiences; successful or failures. Goal to improve future actions	Focus on analyzing the cause for mostly negative outcomes or failures
Ideally conducted immediately after the task, event, or operation. Mostly reactive conducts	Conducted after some time has passed to allow for a more comprehensive analysis
The tone of the environment is forward-looking and positive, aiming to create space for open and honest discussions	Critical and analytical environment, dissecting the mistakes and responsibilities held. The goal is to create serious accountability

Conducting an AAR

Once the scope is defined and objectives are clear, the next step is to assign a facilitator, finalize the venue and time, and inform/invite every participant. Consider also assigning a note taker or recorder (if provisioned) in place during the AAR meeting.

Then, secure all the information and resources needed like a place to meet, recorders, stationeries, documentation about events/operations, etc. Once you do this, the following steps guide the AAR meeting:

1. Introduce and set the stage
   • The leader or host should introduce himself and the participants to the meeting
   • Communicate the importance of the AAR to participants and emphasize its role in learning and improvement
   • Open up with participants having casual talks to create a positive and open-minded atmosphere that encourages honest feedback and constructive discussion
   • Introduce the facilitator and invite them to take over from here
   • The facilitator should explain the ground rules, including respectful communication, active listening, and confidentiality guidelines
   • The facilitator then details the agenda including the structure of the discussion
2. Review purpose and objectives
   • Give the overview of the project, event, or operation being reviewed
   • Explain the project objectives, scope, timeline, and key milestones
   • Put relevant background, context, challenges, and outcomes that participants must note for discussion
   • Explain the purpose of this meeting and discuss the objectives of performing this AAR
   • Share any physical artifacts like documents, evidence, reports, or any props needed for review with participants
   • Explain if any format for analysis during brainstorming is to be followed such as SWOT or Fishbone diagrams
3. Open up for discussion
   • Start the review process. Ask the note taker to begin with notes and begin recording if available
   • Ask questions per the structure discussed. The most important part of the review is answering the five critical questions discussed above. Open more space for gathering more information from each participant by asking counter questions that are open-ended to the discussions made by participants
   • Apart from five critical questions, you can ask any other questions that are specific to the subject of review. Also, encourage participants to ask questions which will help to gather more information for analysis
   • Embrace honest and open feedback. Ensure active participation from all attendees. Maintain a balanced discussion covering positive outcomes as well as areas for improvement
   • The facilitator should ensure participants don’t get into blaming each other and deviate from the actual objectives of the review
   • It is always better to structure discussion around key aspects of the project, event, or operation. Touch base upon all areas of execution such as planning, implementation, decision-making, communication, teamwork, and any significant challenges or successes encountered
4. Analysis of notes and action items
   • Analyze the notes and identify lessons learned during the operation, project, or task
   • Identify improvement areas from lessons learned and translate them into actionable recommendations
   • Convert each improvisation recommendation into detailed action items. If time permits further steps/tasks to accomplish the action can also be discussed and noted down
   • Prioritize action items based on the potential impact and feasibility of completion. Develop a detailed action plan
   • Assign ownership for each action item and create a mechanism to track progress, monitor implementation, and follow-up
   • Discuss timelines and resources needed to complete the action items
5. Close the review
   • Time to create a detailed AAR report. Document the outcomes explaining lessons learned, action items, responsibilities, timelines, and progress updates
   • Summarize the discussion; highlighting key experiences, lessons learned, recommendations, and action items
   • Share the AAR report with all participants, relevant stakeholders, and anyone who might benefit from the learnings

After the AAR meeting, the next step is to follow up on the action items tracking their progress and ensuring getting them done. Do periodic check-ins to review progress, address any challenges or barriers encountered, and provide support as needed.

What to avoid in an after-action review

When conducting an AAR, it’s important to avoid the following:

• Blame games — Don’t ask blaming questions to participants such as “Why did you meet the customer without an internal review of the presentation?” Instead, encourage participants to acknowledge and answer by asking open-ended questions like “What happened at the customer meeting when you were presenting?”
• Dominating the show — Ensure leaders or dominant personalities don’t phrase every discussion towards “What I want is,” or “What we should do is…” Remind participants that it’s important to keep the forum open for discussion till the end to review
• Dismissing participants — Don’t dismiss any participant’s feedback even if it’s uncomfortable or challenging to hear. Don’t ignore small details that participants bought during the discussion
• Focus only on failures/negatives — The idea of review should not only be improvising on faulty areas but also on reinforcing positive practices. Don’t just focus on discussing problems, rather balance the discussion between failures and successes
• Rushing through the process — Don’t cut discussions short prematurely and give everyone a chance to contribute. Allow participants to reflect, analyze, and discuss to ensure that all key insights are captured

AAR templates

You help you get started, here’s a simple template that covers all the basics that you should include in an after-action review:

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The above template is sufficient for many smaller projects, tasks or operations, but if someone wants more detailed, complex bindings covered between cases/situations, one can use the following template:

Final thoughts

An after-action review is a powerful tool for you to analyze past events, identify lessons learned and improvisation areas, draw action plans, lead continuous improvement, and cash in better overall performance. AARs can be performed formally with larger groups for sizable projects and can be performed informally within small teams for smaller tasks, events, or operations.

AARs are about fostering a culture of learning. It’s important to set up a comfortable environment that encourages open communication and honest feedback. Avoid blaming, dominating discussions, or disrespecting/ignoring feedback to ensure the success of the review process. Execute a balanced discussion; acknowledge both successes and shortcomings, and translate learnings into actionable steps.

With continuous practice, AARs can become a cornerstone of your team’s health, growth, and consistent performance leading to organizational growth and success.

Featured image source: IconScout