by Jim Bruce
Peter Senge has written that After Action Reviews (AAR), the subject of today’s Tuesday Reading, are “one of the most successful organizational learning methods yet devised.”
AARs were designed by the Army as a tool to be used after a project or major activity has been completed. It allows employees and leaders to learn what happened and why. It’s a discussion that involves everyone involved in the work – from the most senior to the most junior – and seeks to understand what happened, why what happened did happen, and to learn from the experience. The key is openness and honesty, everyone is encouraged to speak frankly. (In military parlance, the symbols of rank are left out of the room.)
Conducting an AAR is relatively simple with only four steps:
So many teams have found such a review to be valuable at the end of their projects that I urge you to consider making it a regular practice.
In a newsletter I read recently, Patricia Wheeler, executive coach and managing partner of The Levin Group, suggested that we each use the AAR for our individual year-end review. After all, it is the end of one year and the beginning of the next year. She points out that all to often, we do not sit down and have a blunt review of ourselves. Should you choose to do this, Wheeler suggests that you ask three questions drawn from the review?
Don’t miss this opportunity to take time and reflect on the year that has just ended and prepare for the coming year.
…. jim
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