Prepare a Review With a Learning Purpose
Choose the activity and what the team wants to learn. Explain that an AAR supports reflection and future practice; it is not an ordinary staff appraisal or a substitute investigation. Invite relevant perspectives, identify missing voices and explain how notes will be used and shared. Do not promise confidentiality beyond the actual arrangements.
UNDP's AAR guide, pages 1-2, covers preparation, timeline, reflection and documentation. The following complete fictional exercise adapts those ideas without imposing its illustrative timing as a requirement.
Establish the Supplied Sequence
The team planned a routine staff session for 09:00. The final notice named the correct community room; an earlier notice named another room. The facilitator's log records a 09:20 start and a key arrival at 09:15. The custodian recalls handing the key over before 09:00, with no receipt. The coordinator has no confirmed handoff record. No complete participant-arrival data is supplied.
| Event | Evidence in This Packet | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Planned start 09:00 | Final session notice | Supplied plan, not proof of actual start |
| Earlier room named differently | Earlier and final notices | Document difference; effect on attendance unknown |
| Start 09:20 | Facilitator's log | Recorded account, not independently verified |
| Key at 09:15 | Same log | Disputed by custodian |
| Key before 09:00 | Custodian's recollection | Attributed account without a contemporaneous receipt |
Keep source labels beside the timeline. A clean chronological chart should not erase a disputed time.
Facilitate the Difference
Facilitator: "What did we expect to happen before the session?"
Coordinator: "The room should have been accessible early enough to set up, but I did not confirm who would receive the key."
Custodian: "I remember handing it over before nine."
Session lead: "My log says nine fifteen. I may have recorded when I received it, not when it left the custodian."
Facilitator: "Those could be different handoffs, but we cannot confirm that from this packet. We will retain both accounts. What change would make the next handoff clear?"
The facilitator explores a possible reconciliation without declaring it true. Ask who else has relevant evidence and whether further checking is proportionate. Do not take a vote on the timestamp or force the custodian to endorse the log.
Consider More Than One Explanation
Room access may have affected setup. Conflicting notices may have affected arrival. The actual start could also reflect facilitation choices or another unrecorded event. Ask what supports each account and what would change the recommendation. The missing arrival record prevents a claim that every participant was late because of the key.
If a quiet or absent colleague has relevant information, use an agreed accessible way to receive it. Do not interpret silence as agreement. Avoid unnecessary personal details in the learning summary.
Select a Feasible Recommendation
The group proposes that the coordinator confirm a named authorized key receiver, handoff time and backup with the venue before the next session. It also proposes one clearly versioned final notice and an appropriate correction route for earlier information. The manager checks time, venue permission and resources before adopting the change.
The record says accounts differ on the prior key timing, the handoff was not clearly evidenced, and the team favors the new check as a practical response to that uncertainty. It does not claim consensus on the historical cause or blame an individual.
Close With Owners and Limits
Record the planned versus reported sequence, competing explanations, selected recommendation, unresolved evidence, actual decision owner and next check. Circulate factual corrections through the agreed route. If a formal allegation emerges, transfer it to the proper confidential process rather than resolve it in the AAR.
Use the changed-practice guide for implementation and the handover record when the coordinator changes. This retrospective review does not create prospective commitments by itself or prove that the next session will start on time.