We’re all about supporting our clients and constantly improving our game, and reviewing our performance post-project with an After Action Review (AAR) helps us do just that.
Here’s a quick rundown of what we learned in our latest AAR, and what we think will help you too.
What’s an After Action Review?
An AAR is a process to analyse the results of a particular event or activity such as a project. AARs were first introduced by the military, but have since been adapted to suit the business world.
The main goal is to identify changes that can be made to improve future outcomes, so that teams can learn, adapt, and evolve.
Our key take-aways
We had the pleasure of completing our latest AAR with James Jensen from the Corporate Sherpas.
According to James, “it’s not just about what went wrong, it’s about identifying what went right, and making sure we keep doing it!”
Here were our main key-takeaways from the review.
1. There are 5 main questions to answer:
- What was supposed to happen?
- What actually happened?
- What went well?
- What didn’t go well?
- What should be changed next time?
2. Adopt an attitude of extreme ownership and focus on what’s in your control.
3. To avoid jumping to conclusions, spend most of your time going through ‘what actually happened’ so that everyone’s perspectives are shared.
4. Attack the problem, not the person.
5. Focus on how good and bad results affected the people involved, rather than over-emphasising processes.
Get started
With each project or milestone you reach, take a moment to reflect, take notice of what you’re doing well and learn from what didn’t. By incorporating AAR’s into your processes, you’ll set your team up for future success, all while fostering a culture of growth and improvement.
So grab a Miro board, or a whiteboard, gather your team, and get started.
If you’re after a Miro board template, get in touch and we can share ours with you.
