As an owner or senior manager of a small to medium size business, you are acutely aware of how important it is to change direction quickly to maintain your competitive advantage. Failure to constantly improve your business model often opens the door to new competitors with a strategic goal of making your business non-competitive. One method to adapt to the changing business environment is adopting an After Action Review (AAR) planning process to continuously improve your value chain.
AAR was developed by the U.S. Army to incorporate continuous improvement learning as part of their military operations. You know the military has always briefed their leaders before a mission and performed a de-briefing after the mission. AAR is a form of de-briefing with new twist – continuous strategy modification using a planning process.
The goal of AAR is to learn: identify the facts, discover new methods, and apply this learning into future operations. If AAR sounds familiar to you, we believe the process is a variation of a quality tool popularized by W. Edwards Deming, P.D.C.A. Plan, Do, Check, Act. The goal of both AAR and PDCA is the same, continuous improvement by learning from the mistakes or successes of action.
Here are the nuts and bolts of AAR. Like all planning strategic methods, you start at the end and work backward. At any major initiative (project, proposal, big job), gather your team and review the original goal, what strategies were intended to accomplish the goal, and what was the end result. Avoid blame and criticism – the goal is learning not to beat someone up. Take 25% of the allotted time to review. Spend the remaining time (75%) of the process in analysis. Brainstorm new strategies. Take what you have learned and design something different or if the project was successful, decide how to replicate into other initiatives. The goal is learning and how to apply this continuous learning process into competitive advantage. If this concept is new to you, solicit some help from an experienced project provider. Have some fun. Your staff will appreciate the engagement and enjoy making their work more meaningful. GMO