After Action Reports Are Crucial!

Have you ever done a project or process and thought to yourself, “Yep, that was perfect”? I highly doubt it. Most people relate after-action reporting with things like project management, but in reality, we could and should be doing these actions with lots of things in our lives and in a variety of careers.

What is an after-action report? Put simply it is a review of a scenario that is set to take place or has already taken place. In that review, you analyze what happened, why it happened, what went well, what went wrong, and how things could be improved. Now, before you go and think this is going to be a lecture on the process, rest assured it's not. However, I am a huge proponent of being intentional with this practice both personally and professionally.

Throughout my career, I kept a notebook of all the things I learned from every challenging experience I had and I noticed there were trends that popped up. Most of what I learned, outside of new technical knowledge, had to do with managing up and down the chain and delivering the results that others were looking for more efficiently. It taught me to ask questions that I would not have otherwise thought to ask had I not written down what went right and what went wrong. It also helped me zone in on what I did well and what I needed to work harder to improve.

When I realized that this trend existed in my work I figured that I could try it in my life and see if there were any real results to be found. I was beyond excited when I found that applying this tactic changed not only how I interacted with my friends and family, but also how I viewed my relationship with myself. It allowed me to ask the critical questions that I had been avoiding hoping that not knowing the answers would somehow improve the situation…spoiler alert, it doesn’t.

Now, don’t misunderstand this does not mean being hyper-critical of yourself or others. It means being reflective and objective of what has occurred, why it occurred, and how could you improve this in a future similar experience. As with all things, it is important to give yourself space while learning this skill. If you think this is an easy feat then you have clearly never asked a toddler for feedback in a way they understand…I have and it is very difficult.

In all seriousness, when we give ourselves space to learn and fully understand our experiences it allows us to recognize patterns in the world and our behavior in it. If you are not getting the results you want in your work, life, and relationships it may be time to take an inventory of the behavior (i.e. after-action reports) and reflect on how you are affecting the outcomes. At the end of the day, we can only be accountable for ourselves, but by being so we are modeling for others how they can do the same.

If you are looking for an opportunity to grow and learn in this area, contact me to discuss how you can model action and accountability.