AARs: Questions that Invite Participation
The steps for leading After Action Reviews (AAR) are not difficult; however, where a lot of AARs go wrong is the failure to promote a learning environment that encourages all members to actively become involved. A large part of this failure is caused by phrasing questions in the wrong manner. That is, when asking questions, they should never be confrontational, but rather invite all the members to participate. While there are places for confrontational questions (for example, see Confrontation Counseling), the AAR is not one of them. This is because the AAR is a method for improving performance, not an environment for placing blame.
Activity for Learners
Objective: Rephrase confrontational questions so that they invite all the AAR members to participate.
Directions:
- Break the learners into small groups (2 to 4 learners per group)
- Hand out the Badly Phrased AAR Questions below and instruct them to “Rewrite the confrontational questions so that they invite others to join in on the conversation and look for solutions, rather than attempt to ward off blame.” Time: about 15 minutes.
- After they have completed the activity, bring them back together and have the groups read and discuss some of their alternative questions aloud. Time: about 20 minutes.
Badly Phrased AAR Questions
- 1. “Sue, your mechanics failed to use the Lock-Out Tag-Outs when they serviced the plant machinery. How are you going to correct that?”
- 2. “Robert, why did your equipment operators remove the safety guards from the equipment?”
- 3. “Paula, you are in charge of the engineering group; why did you allow them to enter confined areas without following procedures?”
- 4. “Yesterday the inspector discovered that we had two employees operating forklifts without proper certification. They are on your team Sam. Can you explain to me how we allowed that to happen?”
- 5. “We had multiple violations in almost every department! Does anyone around here follow the proper safety procedures?”
Next Steps
Return to the chapter on After Action Reviews
Return to the Leadership Training and Development Outline