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Ray Jorgensen, Ph. D. "Aspiration:A Leadership Capability" 1:28:08 minutes |
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| After Action Reviews | ||
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| Written by Ray Jorgensen, Ph.D. |
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"The Army's After Action Review (AAR) is arguably one of the most successful organizational learning methods yet devised. Yet, most every corporate effort to graft this truly innovative practice into their culture has failed because, again and again, people reduce the living practice of AAR's to a sterile technique." -- Peter Senge An After Action Review (AAR) is an assessment conducted after a Big Picture item, project or major activity assisting support personnel and leaders to learn what happened and why. It may be thought of as a focused and disciplined professional conversation about an event or set of events that assists those involved in understanding why things happened during the progression of the process and to learn from that experience. Typically, an After Action Review is an example of an abbreviated Knowledge Management System. It provides an opportunity to surface and share the personal practical knowledge of the project team members. Although a common practice, the AAR does not have to be performed at the end of a project or activity. Rather, it can be performed after each identifiable event or milestone within a project or major event, thus becoming a live team oriented learning process. The AAR is a professional discussion that includes both the planning and implementation participants and focusing directly on the tasks and goals. It is not simply a critique of the Big Picture project or event. Rather it is a learning protocol to determine how to maintain practices that aided in the project or event completion and to refine or end practices that failed to support accomplishment. An AAR has several advantages over a critique: • It does not judge success or failure. • It attempts to determine why things happened. • It focuses directly on the tasks and goals that were designed to accomplish the project or hold the event. • The process encourages participants to surface important “lessons learned.” • Multiple participants are engaged so that more of the project action-items or activities can be recalled and more lessons can be learned and shared. As a leader, you are responsible for influencing the learning of the workforce. The AAR is a learning protocol that can assist you with developing those you lead by providing feedback. Typically, some feedback is direct and in real time. During major projects or activities, it is not always easy to notice how actions affect the outcome of the project or successful completion of an event. Usually, performances or actions leading to the successful completion of a project or event will be unclear or even unknown until a milestone is accomplished or the project reaches conclusion; conversely, actions or activities that hindered success will be equally difficult to determine. For these reasons, the AAR should be designed during the planning process and calendared as part of the project. A Leader should guide the After Action Review, rather than direct it, as it is worker centric and focuses on what was done correctly, incorrectly, and how to do better next time around. An AAR presents characteristics of both art and science; as such, a fine line between keeping the meeting from falling into disarray where nothing significant is accomplished, to people speaking in a formal and polite ways that mask issues where again, actual assessment is not realized. Steps for Conducting the AAR An AAR may be designed as formal or informal. The same JLC Meeting Protocols should be employed involving the frank and candid exchange of observations, perspectives and ideas. Regardless, all meetings require planning. The following Ground Rules are helpful in the design process. • Gather as many of the players as possible. • Establish the Context, Purposes and Outcomes of the AAR. • Review Learning Conversation Guidelines and JLC Ground Rules. • State the Big Picture item with the expected success indicators or evidence. • Describe the action-item or of the specific activity. • Encourage participation. • Invite participants to restate portions of their part of the activity. • Keep focused on action-item strengths and upgrades. • The following will help: Ask why certain actions were taken. Ask how they reacted to certain situations. Ask when actions were initiated. Ask leading and thought provoking questions. Exchange "war stories" (lessons learned). Ask participants what happened from their own point of view. Connect actions and events to subsequent results. Explore alternative courses of actions that might have been more effective. When the discussion turns to errors made, emphasize the idea of upgrading for future efforts and point out the challenges of making decisions in realtime. Inquire, Summarize and Inquire Again. Invite participants to discuss the events with in pairs and small groups. Follow-up on agreed-upon actions. Design a final report emphasizing “lessons learned.” Leaders who facilitate an AAR must remember to: • Remain neutral, positive and unbiased throughout the review. • Use learning protocols to draw out comments from all. • Immediately stop personal attacks. • Keep the focus on learning and continuous improvement. • Invite others to offer solutions from all participants • Avoid offering your own solutions. An effectively designed and facilitated AAR can have a powerful influence on the culture and climate of an organization. It is part of an ongoing system of learning and can assist in preventing future confusion on organizational priorities and philosophies and emphasize the idea that we learn from our mistakes. |
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