AAR

With the end of the year fast approaching, is it time to have an After-Action Review of the years wins and losses to prepare for them occurring again. An AAR is is any form of retrospective analysis after an exercise, event or mission. 

You can run an AAR for your whole organisation, your branch, team, cohort or even for yourself. 

You can have a rehash or your mission focus to see if your mission focus is still in the front of your and your teams’ minds and you haven't lost your way. 

It’s not about pointing fingers and criticising others people feel could have avoided situations or events. 

Nor is it about just looking at the misses, but the near misses and the successes. You can even investigate the events that were the mundane normal BAU (Business As Usual) events to plan them better for the next year. 

You can also restate your teams mission focus to ensure you are all completing tasks to work with the mission focus of your CEO, 

An AAR doesn’t have to as in depth as Julius Ceasars ‘Bellum Gallicum’ but it can cover, or as short as some of the reviews offered by some of my former colleagues who would just say that “it was shit” and offer no constructive feedback.  

You can start by putting out a broad overview of the years events to put everything in perspective. Then rehash the initial goals and objectives from the beginning of the and if they were achieved or not. How were these task and outcomes conquered or how were they not met, and, how did everyone perform during these tasks? Then summarise the period of review and offer recommendations for improvement and steps to avoid any poor outcomes.