Leveraging the After Action Review Process for eCommerce

One of the most critical environments for learning is in the military - your life may be on the line. That's why, in the 1970s, the United States Army created the After Action Review (AAR). It is considered one of the top organizational learning methods created!

Remember too, we want to learn from our successes and our challenges. It's not just a "post-mortem" and looking for who to blame. The After Action Review process is an equal opportunity tool and can be used for all performances, whether it ends as a win or a loss.

Your Q4 After Action Review Process

At bookskeep, we value education and continual learning in our team and the AAR is a critical method for growth. With Q4 still a fresh memory, let's conduct an AAR on your business performance for the quarter so you can benefit from the learning as we set our plans for 2024.

An AAR is made up of a short series of questions, and we'll walk through them now:

Question 1: What did we intend to happen?

Think back to last year this time or maybe the early second quarter. When you were in the thick of preparing for Q4, what were your intentions? Did you document them? Did you share them with your team? Or did you consider them more as simply hopes and dreams?

Pro-tip: For 2024, make sure you document your intentions and goals early so you can determine how you did relative to that objective.

Question 2: What happened?

This question is built upon the first question. If you're not clear about your intentions, how can you evaluate your performance against the objective? If you didn't have your intentions documented, don't let that stop you from taking stock.

You know inherently if you were disappointed or pleased with the results of Q4. That's the high level. Now consider all the factors that caused you to make that assessment.

What happened with sales? Did some sales channels perform better than others? How did your ads perform? How about supply issues? Are there any quality issues resulting in returns? Did your shipping solution work? Did your warehouse team keep up with fulfillment? Was your quarter profitable? How did it compare to last year's Q4 performance? This is the place to dig deep, state, and document the facts.

Question 3: What worked well?

Now look back at question two and assess. I'll give you a hint, you'll want to go right to what didn't work well. That is question four. Don't jump ahead!

Often we move into problem-solving mode trying to fix things when the problem could be insignificant if we did more of what worked well. Besides, when do you take time to celebrate? If the quarter didn't go well, look for the rays of sunshine that did. You need to celebrate those wins because that will fuel you going forward.

Question 4: What didn't work as well?

Ok, lay it out - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know you've been itching from the first question to list out all the issues. Here is your chance. Get it all out of your head and over to the screen or paper.

Question 5: Why did it happen that way?

If your performance wasn't what you hoped, it's easy to place blame. Notice that this question asks “WHY” not “WHO”. Ultimately when we want to blame someone, we can look in the mirror because as a leader, we either didn't communicate clearly, created the systems that failed, or made a bad decision - even if it was that we hired the person that screwed up.

My policy is asking “Why” five times can usually get you to the root cause. It's not fun recognizing that we're the ones holding the reins, yet that is our role as entrepreneurs. Of course, if you had a great Q4, you can secretly take all the credit, while at the same time recognizing and giving all the accolades to your team.

Either way, you want to understand the why, so you can do more or less next year. Get clear at this step before you move on to the last question.

Question 6: What will we do next time?

Spend some time considering this question. I like to spend some of my morning ritual time journaling about this topic. During this time, I can reflect on a deeper level and the insights become clearer.

If you have conducted your AAR with your team, you will get many ideas popping like popcorn in the microwave. Don't evaluate, let them flow. Add them all to a list and once you've all gotten them out, you can go back and rank them or take time to let them soak and then revisit them.

No matter your approach, the next step is to ensure that what you learned carries forward into your organization. If your organization is just you, then put some notes where you will use them when it's time to prepare for Q4 later this year.

Why Do I Need an AAR?

After Action Reviews aren't complicated. Their value is based on taking the time to do them and incorporating what you learn in your plans and actions for next year. It's so easy to rationalize and place blame, but this tool will require you to slow down and think deeply, then take steps to improve. If you have a team, then get them involved in this process and you'll be building a culture that learns and grows and takes some of the pressure off you in the process.

If your After Action Review has you feeling confused or overwhelmed about what to do next, we can help! Reach out to the bookskeep Team today and we can start building your 2024 together!