After Action

1
After Action Conference
2
Agenda

• Introductions Opening Remarks
• Exercise Summary
• Improvement Plan Development

3
Introductions

• Your name
• Your organization
• Your role during the exercise
• One key success during the exercise
• One key challenge during the exercise

4
Exercise Scope

• Insert a brief description of the exercise
  including the scope, duration, etc.

5
Exercise Objectives

• Insert Exercise Objectives

6
Scenario Synopsis

• Insert brief summary of the exercise scenario

7
Key Strengths and Accomplishments

• Insert the key strengths from the exercise

8
Key Areas for Improvement

• Insert the key areas for improvement from the
  exercise

9
AAR Review and Approval
Review the exercise AAR with participants and
solicit feedback on its contents)

• Report Section
• Executive Summary through Part 3
• Part 4 Exercise Synopsis
• Part 5 Cross-Functional Analysis
• Part 6 Conclusions Recommendations
• Appendices (except lessons learned)

• Comments
• Issues of disagreement
• Technical corrections to content
• Additions or deletions
• Approval

10
Report Approval Process

• Decision by consensus
• Parking lot for unresolved issues (e.g. consensus
  not attained)
• Consider compromises
• Refer to Exercise Directors
• Exercise Directors consult with applicable agency
  head

11
Improvement Plan Development

• Divide into groups
• Select a group leader and recorder
• Discuss each lesson learned
• Turn recommendations to actions
• Provide actions to facilitator
• Reconvene to brief actions to entire group

12
Writing Improvement Actions

• Determine action needed to fix the problem
• Choices
• No further action already fixed
• No further action not worth fixing
• Accept recommendation as is
• Choose new actionif so, write it

13
Writing Improvement Actions

• Generally plans, policies procedures, training,
  equipment facilities, outreach and inter-agency
  coordination, exercises
• All follow-up actions must have
• What must be done (an action e.g., a verb)
• Who will do it (agency and POC)
• When it will be done (specify reasonable date)

14
Sample Improvement Action Template

• Use these templates as suggestions for refining
  recommendations. You need not match the wording
  exactly.
• (Who) will prepare/revise ________ plan to
  (correct what?) by (when).
• (Who) will prepare/revise ________ policy or
  procedure to (correct what?) (when).
• (Who) will conduct training for (group) in
  (what?) so that ________ by (when).
• (Who) will obtain/repair _______
  equipment/facilities so as to __________ by
  (when).
• (Who) will conduct _________ study/analysis to
  __(action required)___ so as to _______________.
• (Who) will convene a working group of
  ___(people/agencies)___ to __(action required)__
  so as to correct ___(what)___.

15
Improvement Plan Matrix
16
Action Brief

• Please indicate
• Which items require no further action
• Recommendations with no change to actions
• Changed or new actions and why
• Facilitator will record revised actions.

17
Wrap-up

• Next Steps
• Memo report
• Follow-up progress meeting
• Closing Comments