Two templates for turning an exercise into a learning event. The Hot Wash is for a team leader to run in the ten minutes immediately after: what happened, what we noticed, what we would do differently. The After Action Review is the more deliberate version, usually run by a facilitator with clearer perspective; it turns observations and insights into a plan for improvement. Use the Hot Wash within the hour, while people still remember; use the AAR within a few days, before the next thing crowds it out.
The two are used in sequence. The Hot Wash captures the team’s own view while memories are fresh, and ends with three things to sustain and three to develop. Those headline lessons are where the After Action Review starts, with more time, more evidence and someone independent asking the questions. Both work for real events as well as exercises: a product launch, a difficult negotiation, an incident. Lessons that change how the team responds to a foreseeable event belong on The Actions-On Card.
Why reflection matters is set out in our article on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. Where an organisation wants its learning captured and acted on across many events, that is our organisational learning work. If you need support collecting observations and insight and delivering an effective AAR, get in touch.
The Hot Wash
Why would I use The Hot Wash?
Use it straight after an exercise or event, while people still remember what they saw, did and felt. The Hot Wash is a short, structured conversation led by the team leader: four questions, then three things to keep doing and three to develop. It takes about ten minutes and catches observations that would be forgotten by the next morning.
How to use it. Run it within the hour, with everyone who took part. The leader asks the four questions in order and one person takes notes on the responses. Keep to the immediate experience; the reasons and analysis can wait for the After Action Review. Finish by agreeing three things to sustain and three to develop, and hand the sheet to whoever will run the AAR.
A hot wash, or hot debrief, is the immediate debrief held by military and emergency service teams as soon as an exercise or operation ends.
Download The Hot Wash (A4 portrait PDF)
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The After Action Review
Why would I use The After Action Review?
Use it within a few days of an exercise or real event, when you want the lessons turned into changes that will actually happen. The After Action Review asks four questions, from what was meant to happen to what you will keep and what you will change, and ends with a list of actions, each with an owner and a date.
How to use it. Ask someone who did not lead the event to facilitate, so that the leader can take part like everyone else. Start from the Hot Wash’s headline lessons and whatever evidence you have: logs, timelines, messages. Spend most of the time on question three, because the reasons for the difference are where the useful lessons are. Keep the discussion on specific decisions and moments. End with a short list of actions, each with one owner and a date, and check at the next review whether they were done.
The after action review was developed by the US Army in the 1970s and is now used widely in emergency services, healthcare and business.
Download The After Action Review (A4 portrait PDF)
The sheet arrives by email. The button in that email confirms your address and opens the PDF. You will also receive our newsletter, once a month, from which you can unsubscribe at any time if you don't find it useful.
