The After Action Review (AAR)

Skipping It Is Managerial Malpractice

Want to frustrate yourself, your team, and your organization? Keep making the same mistake over and over again.

Photo by ahmad gunnaivi on Unsplash

Most likely you don’t want all that frustration. The answer is to regularly conduct after action reviews (AARs) so you can learn how to improve and avoid those repetitive mistakes.

What is an After Action Review (AAR)?

An AAR is a structured discussion held after a project, event, or task is completed. Its purpose is to evaluate what happened, why it happened, and how to improve future performance. Originating from military practices, AARs are now widely used in business to help teams reflect on their actions and identify key takeaways.

Unlike a performance review, which tends to focus on individual contributions, AARs are a collective team reflection that encourages open dialogue about successes, challenges, and lessons learned. This process promotes transparency and continuous learning, fostering a stronger sense of teamwork and trust.

It does not focus on performance; instead it focuses on process - which prevents it from becoming a session to shift blame and get defensive.

Why Are AARs Important for Managers?

As a manager, there are several reasons why conducting AARs regularly is critical to your team’s success:

• Improvement through Reflection
  Teams can only improve if they understand what worked and what didn’t. AARs provide a formal opportunity to step back and assess both the successes and the challenges of a task or project. It forces the team to pause, reflect, and then pivot toward growth.

• Encouraging Open Communication

  AARs foster an environment of open communication, where team members can voice their opinions without fear of blame. This openness can strengthen team dynamics, resolve underlying issues, and give you, as the manager, deeper insight into how your team operates under pressure.

• Building a Culture of Continuous Learning

  Regularly implementing AARs embeds a culture of continuous learning in your team. Each review becomes an opportunity to apply new lessons and adjust for the future. When a team knows that every action will be reviewed and discussed, they are more likely to take accountability and focus on improvement.

• Enhancing Decision-Making

  Managers are often tasked with making quick, impactful decisions. AARs equip you with more detailed information about past decisions, successes, and failures, which ultimately leads to better, more informed decision-making in the future.

• Boosting Team Morale

  By involving the entire team in a reflective process, AARs can help everyone feel more invested in the outcome. When people see their feedback being used to drive changes or improvements, it increases their sense of ownership and morale.

Guidelines for Conducting an Effective AAR

So how do you lead a successful After Action Review? Here are some key guidelines:

1. Create a Safe Environment

   The success of an AAR depends on candidness. Your team members need to feel safe enough to share their honest feedback, both positive and negative. Make it clear that the goal is to learn, not to assign blame.

2. Focus on Specific Events

   Avoid making the AAR a broad evaluation of overall performance. Instead, focus on specific projects, tasks, or events. This keeps the conversation grounded and actionable. A clear focus helps ensure that the lessons learned can be applied directly to similar situations in the future.

3. Ask the Right Questions

   AARs are structured around a simple set of guiding questions:

   - What was supposed to happen?

   - What actually happened?

   - Why were there differences (if any)?

   - What went well, and what can be improved?

   These questions help frame the discussion in a way that is both constructive and forward-looking.

4. Encourage Full Participation

   The more perspectives, the better. As a manager, make sure you involve everyone who had a role in the project or task. This ensures that the feedback is well-rounded and captures insights from various angles.

5. Document and Share Findings

   Once the AAR is completed, document the key takeaways and share them with the team. Writing things down ensures accountability and provides a reference point for future reviews. Additionally, these notes become valuable for training new team members or even for tracking long-term performance improvements.

6. Follow Up

   One of the most important aspects of AARs is the follow-up. After gathering insights and creating a list of improvements, ensure that actions are taken to implement those changes. Regularly reviewing the results of the AAR keeps the process from becoming just a routine exercise and instead turns it into a powerful tool for growth.

Conclusion

As a middle manager, conducting regular After Action Reviews can help you and your team identify strengths, address weaknesses, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. When done properly, AARs are more than just a reflection tool; they become a driver for long-term success. Take the time to incorporate them into your team's routine, and watch the benefits unfold.

By encouraging open dialogue, learning from past actions, and applying those lessons moving forward, you’re setting your team up for sustainable growth and improvement—qualities that every manager strives for.