After Action Review is a simple process for improving learning on a daily basis. After a business event - you conduct an AAR and ask the questions:

• What were the planned outcomes?
• What were the actual outcomes?
• What were the differences and why did they occur?
• What can be learnt?

The event may be an entire action or small part of a larger action such as a meeting or a presentation. For example - a complete client assignment; a day with a client; a telephone call; a day in the office; a week's work

BP-Amoco has developed the discipline further to include the concepts of "Learn Before", "Learn During" and "Learn After".

• Learn Before: before a project starts - a project leader might call upon people who have run similar projects previously to discover what can be learnt from the past.
• Learn During: AARs are conducted on a regular basis during a project.
• Learn After: a large more formal AAR is held at the end of a project to determine what can be learnt from the activity.

An AAR is not about "performance appraisal" - it is not about "judgement" - it is not about "blame". It is about "learning".

We can all start to conduct AARs today without waiting for organisation permission. They are easy to run and their payback is high. We can start by just conducting them personally for personal events or if we are a team leader or manager for team events. We also have the opportunity where appropriate to suggest them at any meeting we attend. It need only take a few minutes. Ask the questions:

• What was the purpose of this meeting?
• Did we achieve it?
• If not, why not?
• What was learnt?

And there is no reason why that is not done with a client at the conclusion of a meeting. It might make the difference to the learning and also to the relationship.