Conducting after action reviews is a global best practice.
But organizations and teams that use this practice usually do so after a project or incident.
And while both of those uses generate great insights, I always suggest that leaders also conduct a team performance after action review as well.
What Exactly Is An After Action Review?
After Action Reviews are a structured process for evaluating the success or failure of a project’s ability to meet business goals.
Sometimes after action reviews are referred to as post-mortem meetings or retrospective reviews.
Formal after action reviews originated in the U.S. Army and are used today across many industries as a knowledge management resource.
The debrief focuses on analyzing what happened and why it happened with the intent to either replicate the good outcomes in the future or prevent the same mistakes from happening again.
So, if we expand the concept to reviewing team performance every year, the basic premise is the same.
A team performance after action review or an annual after action review is about critically examining how the team did against the year’s goals.
It removes the focus from any one individual (that’s what individual performance reviews are for) and shines the light on the collective. With an emphasis on both what happened but also how it happened.
Why Are Annual Team Performance After Action Reviews Important?
When done properly, annual team performance after action reviews result in many benefits, including:
- Improving work processes
- Increasing productivity in the workplace
- Reducing error rates
- Increasing trust and open communication within the team environment
- Reinforcing the team’s commitment to continuous improvement
Remember the purpose of the team performance after action review is to learn, replicate , and prevent, when applicable.
Team Performance After Action Review Tips.
Let’s break down the process into three stages: Before The Review, During The Review, and After the Review.
Before The Review
1.Tell the team. In a regular team meeting, explain what a team performance after action review is, why you believe it will be beneficial and invite them to participate.
2.Reshare the team’s goals for the year. If you have not been doing so all along, it will be important to refresh everyone’s memory on what exactly the team committed to accomplish for the year. This will shape the feedback provided.
3.Solicit input. Ask for input from the team, internal partners and customers on:
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- What worked well
- What did not work well
- What should be changed for the future
To save time when you gather the group together, you may want to have the group provide input beforehand via survey or email. The survey can be anonymous if that works best for your team culture.
4.Share input. Before bringing the team together to discuss, let them see the collective feedback. This allows everyone the opportunity to review and come prepared for the group discussion. It will demonstrate your commitment to transparency as the team leader. And it will allow for a more focused and meaningful group dialogue.
During The Review
1.Set up the logistics. You will want to set the tone and expectations for the annual team performance after action review early and reiterate it often. Examples of this is that everyone is required to attend and participate, no blaming or fingerpointing, whatever is discussed remains confidential, everything we say and do will be solution focused, etc. (Note – although you solicited input from partners and clients, only your intact team needs to participate in the session unless there is a business reason to invite others).
2.Facilitate. You may opt to have a third party facilitate or facilitate yourself, rather than one of the team. You want your entire team 100% focused on the conversation and session. And it should be recorded so people can refer back.
3.Allow the dialogue to occur with minimal disruption. This means deciding on an appropriate amount of time beforehand and you or the facilitator only interrupting with when one of the group goes on a tangent or challenges an expectation.
4.Decide on actions going forward. Remember, the dialogue is about a) what, b) how, and c) what needs to be done differently in the future. Actions for change should be part of the results.
After the Review
1.Share results and outcomes. After the group session, you will want to share notes, a recording and the decisions made from the review with the participants. This will again allow the group time, space and the support to review and process. As well as demonstrate that you want to continue to be transparent throughout the experience.
2.Use the outcomes of the team performance after action review to make changes to projects, protocols, or business goals for the upcoming year.
3.Ask team for feedback on the after action process overall to determine whether you want to continue it, make it a part of your quarterly process, etc.
4.Share the outcomes with your boss. You’ve heard me say it before, and I will say it again. Part of your responsibility leading a team is to manage up. And to advocate for your team. Conducting a team performance after action review demonstrates thought leadership and a desire to continuously do better. Even if you and the team decide not to incorporate team performance reviews into your regular protocols, the fact that you tried it and the outcomes are worth sharing.
Final Thoughts.
Questions about team performance after action reviews? Just ask!
And after you conduct one, leave a reply below to let me know how it goes.
