How to Develop and Implement After Action Reports

foreign should be standard protocol after any emergency or drill not only do they help you diagnose and address critical gaps in emergency preparedness plans but they also help you respond faster and with greater confidence during an actual crisis this video will cover everything you need to know about after action reports including what they are why you need them how to develop them who should be involved and when to use them now that's a lot to unpack so let's jump in hi I'm Peter Steinfeld se

nior vice president of Safety Solutions at alert media for the last 20 years I've worked with hundreds of companies including some of the world's largest Brands to help them develop strategies to improve emergency preparedness and response assess and mitigate risks and communicate faster when an emergency strikes I'm glad you're here to learn more about after action reports or aars they're different than after Action reviews which typically involve a brief meeting or discussion immediately follo

wing an emergency or drill the after Action Report refers to the actual document of record that breaks down action items and Improvement plans that you can execute and refer to in the future you may have noticed the free downloadable after Action Report template in the video description if you're new to creating an AAR or looking for ideas to make your existing AAR more impactful I encourage you to check it out but first let's talk about why aars are important [Music] there are significant benef

its to developing and implementing formal aars as part of your standard post-incident process these documents lay out vital details such as the effectiveness of your emergency response what went well and areas of improvement specifically a good AAR can help you create a tactical action plan for future emergencies simplify your improvement plans and identify Trends or repeated issues every business will experience an emergency or unplanned event at some point and it could severely impact your emp

loyees safety and your bottom line it could be a severe weather event or natural disaster a security incident or any unexpected disruption that's why it's important to take a long hard look at your emergency response after an actual event occurs and after preparedness drills or tabletop exercises after action reports will help you assess your response to either scenario real or simulated [Music] to get the most value out of your after Action Report there are a few preparations you'll want to mak

e before meeting with the stakeholders involved in executing your response plans let's break those down number one establish the intent to define the goals of your report ask yourself are you trying to prevent a certain type of incident from happening again was there a misstep or breakdown of a process you're trying to understand are you attempting to accelerate response time knowing what you hope to accomplish will give you better more specific answers in your report number two identify the pla

yers a comprehensive AAR should involve all critical stakeholders in the conversation ask yourself who was part of the decision-making process who was or could be impacted by the incident who is involved in executing response plans who can provide insightful data or evidence to understand the impact of the event and here's a great tip you might want to consider inviting an external facilitator to your meeting to serve as an objective third party and help moderate the discussion number three dete

rmine Logistics when and how to have your discussion is a critical yet often overlooked component of developing after action reports to help you determine the best timing and format ask yourself is an in-person meeting the best method or can a virtual meeting be just as effective how much time is necessary to allow all stakeholders to thoroughly assess the incident or drill how and who will document Lessons Learned before the meeting adjourns and remember there's no one-size-fits-all approach to

these meetings each organization must decide what's best for their company number four set ground rules when discussing critical events it's also important to have rules in place that facilitate open and honest discussion a few examples might include all contributions will be taken seriously participants are expected to be honest and respectful feedback will be used solely to inform the AAR no ideas will be discounted without posing alternative Solutions and here's a pro tip make sure to commun

icate your ground rules to all meeting participants in advance so everyone knows what to expect [Music] completed your preparations it's time to meet with your stakeholders to conduct your after action review that will inform your written report you'll want to discuss each of these Concepts in your review then document your conclusions in the final report first is the post-incident recap in this stage you'll want to discuss what was expected from your team leader and responders during the event

or drill ask questions like what was expected to occur was this event predicted how much notice did you have were there previous plans or strategies intended for events like this what resources were available to you before the event who was responsible for responding during this event second is the incident review this is when you'll review everything that actually happened during the emergency or drill make sure everyone in the meeting has an opportunity to share their experience here are some

questions that you can ask what was the chronological order of events who was there or Within Reach who responded what did they do what resources were used who was communicated to and what were they told third is the incident analysis determine what went well and why so you can replicate or expand that response in the future you can inquire about who was the most helpful and why which strategies were the most effective which resources were most useful what were the most positive responses from e

mployees which knew in the moment actions were effective and which technology was the most useful fourth is Improvement areas the last discussion points are the elements that did not meet expectations or standards for Success so you can avoid them in future responses be sure to discuss areas of improvement without judgment or assigning blame here are some helpful questions you can ask which functions on the response team did not meet expectations which strategies prove the least effective which

resources prove the least useful what were the most negative responses from employees which new in the moment actions did not help or actively made things worse which technology failed you when you needed it here's a pro tip alert media can help you get started remember you can download our free after Action Report template to save time and expedite the process now that you've completed your AAR it's time to implement it as we've all experienced at some point the best plans are useless if you do

n't act on them here's some guidance on how to get the most bang for your buck with your report one assign action items find the best person to implement each specific change create new documents or procure resources two establish a timeline set a clear and realistic deadline for each action item and be sure to communicate it to all relevant stakeholders three check in regularly set guidelines for communication regarding status updates and completion make sure to discuss obstacles or bottlenecks

as soon as possible so you can address them quickly and here's one last tip don't assume everything in your report will be done according to plan be sure to track changes and check in frequently with the responsible parties to ensure you're making progress alright I hope you found these strategies for developing and implementing after action reports helpful it's easy to write off emergencies as just one-offs or accidents but the truth is any emergency can provide Lessons Learned for the future

whether it happens again or not when you take the time to complete an after Action Report you will develop better strategies respond faster and communicate more effectively when disaster strikes now before I wrap up I want to invite you to participate in the discussion please let me know in the comments below if you found this video insightful have questions about the content or have an idea of a safety topic for a future video thanks again for joining me and on behalf of all of us at alert medi

a stay safe out there