Sticky Notes: Make After-Action Reviews a Habit

After-action reviews can focus on how a process runs or how a whole group dynamic can function better. Or they can be tightly focused on the actions of individual participants.

Originally developed by the U.S. Army, the after-action review is being used by more private-sector organizations. Such reviews can focus on how a process runs or how a group dynamic can function better. Or they can be focused on the actions of individual participants.

Questions that can guide an after-action review include:

  • What happened?
  • Why did it happen?
  • What went right?
  • What went wrong?
  • How could it go better next time?

When you get into this habit, you build an expectation of, and mutual commitment to, continuously improving together.

Bruce Tulgan
Bruce Tulgan is a best-selling author and CEO of RainmakerThinking, the management research, consulting, and training firm he founded in 1993. All of his work is based on 27 years of intensive workplace interviews and has been featured in thousands of news stories around the world. His newest book, “The Art of Being Indispensable at Work: Win Influence, Beat Overcommitment, and Get the Right Things Done” ( Harvard Business Review Press) is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major booksellers. Follow Tulgan on Twitter @BruceTulgan or visit his Website at: rainmakerthinking.com.