After Action Review: What It Is, How to Run One, and a Free Template

What Is an After Action Review?

An after action review is a short, blame-free look back at something that has finished. It compares what you meant to happen with what did happen, finds out why, and settles on changes for next time.

When You Need One and Who Reads It

Run one soon after a project, event, campaign or busy period ends, while memories are fresh. It suits small jobs as well as large ones. For a complaint about a person or a serious incident, follow your own policy instead. A plant sale, a product launch and a month-end close all benefit.

The readers are the team that did the work, and the person who will plan the next round. They want to know what to repeat and what to fix. A review that points fingers is ignored. One that points at causes gets used.

What Goes in an After Action Review

1. The Goal. What the work set out to achieve, with any target.
2. What Happened. The events in order, stated as plain facts.
3. What Went Well. Things worth repeating.
4. What Got in the Way. Problems, and the cause of each.
5. One Change Per Problem. A specific action, not "communicate better."
6. An Owner and a Sign of Success. Who will make each change, and how you will know it worked.
7. Open Questions. Things the notes cannot answer, and who might know.

How to Run an After Action Review, Step by Step

1. Gather What You Have. Notes, messages, a timeline, the numbers.
2. State the Goal. One line.
3. Lay Out the Events. In order, without judgment.
4. Sort the Effects. Mark each as went well or got in the way.
5. Find the Cause. Ask why until you reach something you can change.
6. Write One Change for Each Problem. Give it an owner.
7. Share the Draft with the People Involved. They will spot what the notes missed.

A Short Example

This sample is invented.

Goal: Raise 1,500 dollars at a plant sale on April 25. Result: Raised 1,180 dollars.

Went well: Two people counted the cash and it matched the receipts. Visitors liked the free seed packets.

Got in the way:

• Flyers arrived five days late and were handed out two days before the sale. Change: send flyers to print three weeks ahead. Owner: publicity lead.
• The hall booking was made by phone with nothing in writing, and the kitchen was closed on the day. Change: confirm every booking by email. Owner: volunteer coordinator.
• Seven of 12 volunteers came, and the sign-up sheet gave no arrival time. Change: add a start time and send a reminder two days before. Owner: volunteer coordinator.

Still unknown: Why five volunteers did not come. Ask them.

Common Mistakes

• Blaming People. Say what happened and why. Leave names out of causes.
• Listing Problems with No Fix. Every problem needs a change.
• Vague Changes. "Plan better" cannot be done. "Order three weeks ahead" can.
• Waiting Too Long. Memory fades within a couple of weeks.
• Skipping What Went Well. Teams need to know what to keep.

How to Do It with AI Using the Template

The Logic Lab template, "Run a Lessons-Learned Review," takes the goal and your notes, in any order. It lays out the events, sorts what went well from what got in the way, turns each problem into a change, and writes the review.

Checks are built in. Every quote in the event list must be word for word from your notes. Every effect is marked went well or got in the way. Every change has an owner and a way to know it worked. Every number in the review must appear in your notes. No line may put the fault on a person. The review ends with a reminder to check it with the people involved, and that step stays yours.

The template runs in your own AI tool. Logic Lab runs no AI and does not see what you paste. You copy the template, add your notes, and run it where you already work.