How to Be a Continuously Improving Team
Dr. Tim Baker
Leadership Development and Change Management Specialist with 27+ years of experience in leadership, change, and performance management.
Improving the team’s systems can be done in a variety of ways. One reputable and highly effective way—although underused in the corporate world—is the After-action Review (AAR).
What exactly is an AAR?
The AAR is a debriefing methodology that shares lessons from the past to make enhancements for the future.
AARs are applicable in any review process. They can be done during or at the completion of any project. Further, an AAR can be used informally or formally. Its practice is versatile and can be employed to improving systems, or anything else that is open to enhancement.
According to management guru Peter Senge in The Dance of Change:
The Army's After-action Review (AAR) is arguably one of the most successful organizational learning methods yet devised. Yet, most every corporate effort to graft this truly innovative practices into their culture has failed because, again and again, people reduce the living practice of AAR's to a sterile technique
The spirit of the AAR is based on openness and learning—it’s not a tool for apportioning blame or finding fault. Lessons learned can be shared on the spot or documented and shared with a wider audience.
AARs were originally developed—and still extensively used—by the US Army. The business world has been slow to appreciate its value and adopt this tool in their workplaces. And unfortunately, many organizations that have adopted the AAR use it as a quality check, rather than as a continuous improvement methodology. Using the AAR as a box ticking exercise diminishes its power.
What makes the AAR so effective is that it can be used across a wide spectrum of team activities. At one end of the spectrum, AARs can be done by one or two people as a five-minute debrief on the spur of the moment. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, they can be used for a day-long off-site collaboration between several stakeholders of a large-scale project. Activities suitable for an AAR require a fixed beginning and end point, an identifiable purpose, and some basis for improvement in the future.
Would you like to know more about using the AAR for your team?
Join me on 23 April at 10am AEST for 30-minutes on a special broadcast (free-of-charge): How to Be a Continuously Improving Team.
Dr Tim Baker is a thought leader in leadership development and performance management, best selling author, and international consultant. having consulted across 21 industries over 18 years, Tim has discovered what makes people tick. To find out more, go to WINNERS-at-WORK Pty Ltd.