Conducting an Effective After-Action Review
I have led and participated in dozens of project reviews, sometimes called debriefing or lessons-learned, and have come to favor a more in-depth assessment, an After Action Review (AAR). Here are some methods you can incorporate to ensure that the learning is retained and influences future projects – for all team members, not just the project manager (PM).
• What goes into a well-managed After Action Review?
• What goes into an AAR?
Start with the structure. The After Action Review is a vehicle for honest team performance self-assessment, not chest-thumping; for critique, not criticism. You’re not looking for who is to blame for each negative experience, nor for who gets the credit for positive experiences.
Here’s a suggestion for PMO executives, directors, and VPs who manage and coach project and program managers. Make the case to your PM staff for a deep-dive After Action Review to be part of Project Closeout, by including it as a task in the Gantt chart. Building it into the project schedule ensures it will be done before team members are assigned to new projects, and while memories of events are fresh.
Break the AAR into two meetings. In the first meeting, the idea is to ferret out the actions that Went Well (WW), that is, exceeded expectations, and those which Went Poorly (WP), fell short of expectations. Then in a second meeting, after the team has had a day or two to reflect, conduct the analysis (using cause-and-effect, 5-Why, and other tools) to determine the corresponding actions – either Do More Of (DMO) or Do Differently (DD).
You may notice that the sequence resembles the Lean Six Sigma continuous improvement framework of Plan-Do-Study-Adjust, or PDSA. Except in this case, the planning is far simpler because you’re planning the past. Plan-Do becomes Planned-Did. And the Study-Adjust piece guides implementation of revised project team standard work for all of the WW and the WP actions, including root cause analysis and development of preventive actions for the WPs.
How much time should you allocate to an AAR? My rule of thumb is about a day for each 6 months of project duration. In a recent AAR for a 15-month project, my team held 2 meetings of 2 hours each, plus prep time and report writing time, amounting to roughly 14 hours or 1.7 workdays.
We identified 11 WPs and 6 non-trivial WWs, and inspired several improvements to PM standard work flow on successive projects. (Non-trivial means we didn’t include things like “our meetings started and ended on time” or “enjoyed the bagels in the monthly reviews with the GM.” Although these statements went onto the brainstorming flipcharts, they were left out of the published AAR report.)
Afterward, don’t just stash the AAR report in the virtual filing cabinet, never to be viewed by human beings again. Socialize it through the organization – present it in senior leadership staff meetings, solicit feedback from peer managers, and build on the AAR process for ongoing and new projects.
Build a PMO library of project and program AARs for use by new and aspiring PMs to understand how your company manages projects. Such stories are far more effective educational tools than lists of rules or procedures.
The AAR will be most useful if it does not come as a surprise to the participants, and if it is not the first time they are asked to think about the process of running the project. Through the course of the project, at key milestone completions, practice AAR by taking a few minutes in a team meeting to involve members in abbreviated team performance reviews.
• For your PMO top performers
• PMO top performers
Here’s an “extra credit” suggestion to the PMO executive, for those “exceptional performer” PMs you are coaching.
Have them write professional, comprehensive case studies of their major projects for use in PM development and team building for future projects. Case studies should include discussion prompts at key decision points or phase gates so ‘students’ may engage in thoughtful dialogue about what they would do, before continuing reading the case.
This is not as easy as it sounds, but done right, can be a great learning tool. It’s one thing to read a published case study in a book or trade journal about some other company, but is much more impactful and relatable if the case is about your company, people, and culture.
Find an AAR facilitator with top-notch writing skill to help with this if your PM cannot devote the time to do it justice; it could be well worth your investment.
Start now to build your organization’s ability to maximize project team learning, making use of your growing library of After Action Review publications.
Dann Gustavson, PMP®, Lean Six-Sigma Black Belt, coaches Program Managers and their teams to achieve extraordinary results through high-impact program execution. Prepare, structure, and run successful programs in product engineering, manufacturing operations (including outsourcing), and cross-functional change initiatives.
Contact Dann@Lean6SigmaPM.com.