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27 - Implementing After-Action Review Systems in Organizations

Key Principles and Practical Considerations

from Postevent Meetings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2015

Joseph A. Allen
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska, Omaha
Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Steven G. Rogelberg
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
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Summary

Abstract

Actors in high-reliability organizations often form meetings to discuss incidents and learn from them. Such after-action reviews (AARs) are structured opportunities for shared retrospective learning, innovation development, and continuous improvement. Research on AARs has examined the meeting-level antecedents and outcomes associated with various elements of AARs, but has generally stopped short of considering how they should influence and respond to the organizations in which they are situated. After connecting the functions of AARs using the theoretical frameworks of collective sensemaking, organizational learning, and knowledge management, this chapter presents an input-process-output model of AAR systems that accounts for a range of extra-meeting factors that influence and are influenced by the content of retrospective discussion. It also describes best practices and directions for future research associated with these inputs, processes, and outputs.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2015

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