Tomicide Solutions, September 2011

How to Use After Action Reviews to Debrief IT Consulting Projects

By Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan

Synopsis

All good project managers know that if they want their projects succeed and create the desired results, they have to create memorable events for their clients. And the best way to do that is both at the beginning and at the end of their projects.

This month we discuss how we can create memorable events using After Action Reviews, adopted from the military.

Podcast: MP3 Version

Speech coaches have been teaching for years that the most important parts of a speech are the beginning and the end. Pilot instructors teach their students that the most dangerous parts of flying are take-off and landing. And I know from experience, that the two key moments of skydiving are leaving the plane and landing. In skydiving there is a third moment: the opening of the chute.

In IT projects, there are two key moments. The start and the finish.

Today we discuss how you can finish your projects with such a big bang that impresses the living daylights out of your clients, so they can better remember you for future projects.

Where It All Started...

To say that IT projects are complex is just as much of an understatement as saying that Pol Pot was a naughty boy, involved in some minor mischief.

To perform well during projects, all professionals must be technically skilled with high moral and ethical standards.

Managers must use every educational opportunity to improve their people's skills to provide higher quality services and of course charge for it.

One aspect of that skill development is the debrief at the end of projects when all participants discuss what's happened and what can be done better the next time.

I came across the concept of After Action Reviews during my own military service in the early 80s.

The concept of After Action Reviews (AAR) originates from the US Army, although apparently it was some of Julius Caesar's generals who used it (See "Commentaries on the Gallic War") first.

The AAR is a structured process of reviewing military missions and manoeuvres. And since it's become so successful for the military, businesses have adapted it too.

Although this is interesting...

The essence of AAR is that during the AAR debrief the ranks disappear. This can be done in a small or medium-sized company but not in large, politically-driven public companies that tend to have a chronic overdose of brownnoses, petty dictators and other corporate cretins who would rather die than relinquish their position power even for one single meeting.

Anyway...

An AAR is different from the traditional corporate debrief process in several aspects.

An AAR is a "let's compare notes" session to compare the intended and actual achievements. It is not an individual performance review process.

By contrast, the typical corporate debrief process is the proverbial slaughterhouse: Find out what went wrong, blame someone for it (this person is selected well in advance) and, figuratively speaking, chop his head off.

The main reason for the difference is that the military practises teamwork whereas the corporate world, by and large, merely talks about it and trains "experts" on it.

Why To Use AARs?

Companies, large and small, are riddled with all sorts of sophisticated performance evaluations, not to mention the more and more sophisticated performance-enhancing tools (CRM, etc.), but performance in general hasn't really been growing.

But there is a world of difference between individual performance evaluation and overall project evaluation. The AAR does overall project evaluation.

But if AARs are so good, why do so many managers stick with performance evaluation?

Simple. They get their kicks from reprimanding their people. They may be too old for sex or too dumb for doing anything meaningful, but they are sufficiently messed up in the head to practise management by browbeating their people on a regular basis.

There is a huge difference between evaluating a project and wielding the sword of some position power and slashing and cutting people here and there.

Let's remember Peter Drucker's words...

"90% of what we call 'management' consists of making it difficult for people to get things done."

So, let's focus on the overall accomplishment of the project.

The other reason to do AARs is because this is how the brain works.

In the brain there is a primacy effect and as recency effect. They refer to the brains ability to recall information, and were extensively researched and coined by German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus.

As we can see on the figure above, the brain can excellently recall information from the beginning an event, and fairly well from the end. But it forgets a lot of the middle bits.

So, it's one thing that you start your projects with a big bang, but you have to create another big bang at the end to make them memorable.

Many great projects end in dull hums, so regardless of how successful they've been relative to the pre-set objectives, they fail to become memorable experiences.

The AAR is the very last part of the project, and, if facilitated well, it can turn the project into a helluva experience for clients. Even if you've had some blunders during the project, a great AAR can save your arse and put your company on a pedestal in your clients' minds.

Where To Run AAR Meetings?

I recommend two types of AAR session.

External ARRs

External AARs are to be held on the client's premises, since it needs major client involvement. Both on your company's side and the client's side, it involves all the project participants. Yes, the group can be a bit large from time to time, and this is why I recommend to use a dedicated facilitator.

I prefer to give this role to women because they are more emotionally aware of the "tone" of the meeting, whereas guys tend to plough through the meeting without considering the participants' emotional states.

In my experience, women are better at both doing the meeting and providing a unique experience for all participants.

The external AAR focuses mainly on the overall achievements and how the client is better off as a result of doing the project.

Internal AARs

Internal AARs are to be held on home turf, and if possible, it should be facilitated by the same person who facilitates the external AAR.

The internal AAR focuses mainly on how the team delivered the contracted value and how well that value was captured in the project's fee. This is where the company's Chief Value Officer can chip in and present his observations.

This is also the place for evaluating participants. But not in a blaming way but rather in a "what can you do better the next time" way.

The Phases of AAR?

  1. Planning
  2. Preparing
  3. Conducting
  4. Following up (using AAR results)

Planning

Preparing

Conducting

Following Up (Using AAR Results)

How To Run AARs?

To make AARs more effective, always appoint a skilled facilitator who has somewhat familiarised herself with the project.

Short, interim AARs can be facilitated by project leaders. AARs on larger projects have to be facilitated by an objective outsider, not by a project team member.

There are some basic ground rules for AARs.

Confidentiality at AAR Sessions

The idea behind the whole AAR process is that people must be bone honest about their feelings and experiences during the project.

So, to assure 100% honesty, people have to know that everything they do and say stays top secret and 100% confidential. Yes, the overall summary of the AAR meeting is available to others too, but the details, leading to the summary, are not.

It's like Coke. It's available for the public. You can buy it and drink it, but the ingredients and the ratios of the ingredients are not available for the public.

The other part of confidentiality is to destroy any evidence that has led to the AAR summary. AAR is a process and it ends in the crescendo of a summary. And all trace of the process itself must be destroyed.

If it's absolutely necessary, and if ALL designated participants agree, a very limited number of non-designated people can attend AAR sessions but only in observer mode, quietly sitting in the corner on a beer crate. They also have to agree to be hanged, drawn and quartered if they spill the beans to the outside world on what they've just experienced.

And if confidential information leaks, then find the source of the leak and fire the person right away. Yes, this sounds harsh, but this is how you create a safe space where people can express their concerns about the project.

Project Cost and Quality Considerations

Using the image below, let's take a closer look at how we can use the project cost-quality matrix to evaluate how well the project team has delivered on the project's specifications.

In the original agreement it's specified what required quality (RQ) is to be delivered at what cost (RC). The buyer can increate quality to a desired level (DQ), but that requires a higher cost (DEC), a discretionary amount that is available if the extra value is justifiable.

As we can see, in order to reach required quality (RQ), the quality improves much faster than its cost increases. Beyond RQ though, the cost starts increasing more quickly than quality improves.

The problem is when sellers want to please their clients by going beyond Desired Quality (DQ), click over to Wasted Quality (WQ) and don't get paid for it.

In this region, even the tiniest quality improvements require very high costs.

So, the project is to be evaluated on how effectively the required value was delivered, and how well the seller captured that delivered value in its project fees.

If the client wants higher quality (DQ level) or beyond, that higher quality has to be paid for.

So, the lesson is that if you get paid RC, then don't try to deliver DQ. If your clients request DQ, then they have to pay you DEC.

And if your brain is not spinning yet in your skull, then, this is the time to have a very stiff drink. You can even opt for a large glass of pan galactic gargle blaster.

If you still have some gray matter left to pay attention, let's continue with...

The Anatomy Of An AAR Session

For the structure of the AAR, here is a PDF worksheet.

On Summary

Well, in my view, one of the best ways of creating a wow experience for your clients is the AAR process. It makes clients dig deep inside themselves about what they want to accomplish in the long run, and how to give their best effort to pull it off.

Yes, technical expertise matters a lot, but going from good to great, we need more than mere subject matter expertise. And in my experience, this extra lies in the AAR process.

So, see how you can use it to raise your project experiences for your clients to become the second best thing after sex.

Come and let's discuss this newsletter issue on my blog...

Attribution: "This article was written by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan who helps privately held information technology companies to develop high leverage client acquisition systems and business development teams in order to sell their products and services to premium clients at premium fees and prices. Visit Tom's website at http://www.varjan.com.