Applying the After-Action-Review Tool with a side of Hainan Chicken Rice

I love to cook!  It’s my therapy from a long day.  Many get nervous to host and cook for lots of guests, but not for me.  The kitchen is my happy place.  So whenever I want to learn a new dish, I tend to make it 10x and serve it to my family.  If you happen to get an invite to try out my most recent dish, Hainan Chicken Rice, then I’ve tested this dish on my family for the past 2 weeks – tweaking and perfecting the dish.

The most rewarding time for me is the TEST KITCHEN experience of tinkering with the recipe and cooking techniques.  The process usually starts with a BASE recipe that I’ve curated from various chefs that I follow.  From here, the art and science of cooking takes over.  I’ll usually make adjustments based on my taste-preference and the cooking technique I am most comfortable with.  And most importantly, I always ask for FEEDBACK afterwards from the “customer”, my family’s opinions.  We’ll go through several rounds of what adjustments are needed… too salty, too bland, not enough spice, something’s missing, etc… 

Now DON’T miss this part.  I record the notes and update the BASE recipe for version 1, then version 2, and so forth.  Why is this necessary?    Let’s revisit the AAR tool.

Introducing the AAR – After Action Review Tool

For many of you reading, this isn’t a novel tool, but it is definitely an underused tool in many of the teams I consult for.  The tool is a formalized corporate practice that can also be known as a “Debrief” or “Event Review” or “Post-Mortem” report.   Pro-tip: see AAR Facilitator toolkit.  

I’ve noticed that teams will usually ask for feedback after the “event”, but there seems to be a disconnect between revisiting these notes and updating the “recipe” / “playbook” for the future.  The biggest value of the AAR tool is for continuous improvements to the recipe.  Where are the areas we want to experiment to obtain better results?  If we made this one adjustment, would we yield better outcomes than the previous?   

My team recently hosted a webinar introducing a SaaS product for the staffing industry.  It took 4-6 weeks of preparations for this 60-min event.  It will take an additional 3 weeks of following up for feedback.  I want to utilize the AAR tool and process with the Sales & Marketing team to “perfect the recipe” for hosting a successful webinar.  

These will be the sections, I would want to explore for the NEXT webinar:

• Goals (initial vs reality)
• Learnings
• Keys for Success
• Goals for Next time
• Experiments to consider

From here, we’ll update the “recipe” so we can pull it out the next webinar.  At which point, the first task will be… let’s review the previous AAR?  Always start here.  

I am always collecting great AAR experiences.  Do you have one to share with me?  Here are some of my previous “recipe” adjustments.  

Previous Recipes:

• Survey Connection Form
• Orientation Seminar for New Visitors
• Volunteer Expo – Talent Recruitment
• Top of Funnel Event Experience – Virtual AAR
• Guest Assimilation Seminar

Let’s continue to get a little bit better every day.