An after action review and an after action report are closely related, but they’re not the same thing. An after action review is the structured discussion that helps a team reflect on an event, while an after action report is the written document that captures the findings, recommendations and actions arising from that discussion. Understanding the difference is essential if you want lessons learned to become lessons applied.

The Short Answer

An after action review is the collaborative process of evaluating what happened after an incident, exercise or project. An after action report is the formal document that records the findings, lessons learned, recommendations and action items.

The review generates the insights. The report ensures those insights are documented, shared and acted upon.

What is an After Action Review?

An after action review is a structured discussion conducted after an incident, emergency, exercise or major project to identify what worked well, what didn’t and how performance can be improved in the future.

Unlike a general debrief, an after action review follows a consistent framework designed to encourage honest reflection, identify opportunities for improvement and strengthen organisational learning.

A typical after action review explores four key questions:

• What was supposed to happen?
• What actually happened?
• Why was there a difference?
• What should we change next time?

The objective isn’t to assign blame, it’s to understand performance, improve decision-making and strengthen future responses.

Who Is Involved?

After action reviews should include the people directly involved in the response, along with key decision-makers, subject matter experts and facilitators where appropriate.

Depending on the event, participants may include:

• Incident management teams
• Operational staff
• Executive leaders
• Emergency response personnel
• Communications teams
• External partners or contractors

Having a skilled facilitator helps keep discussions objective, constructive and focused on learning rather than individual performance.

When Should an After Action Review Be Conducted?

An after action review is most effective when conducted soon after the event while details are still fresh.

Common examples include:

• Following emergency incidents
• After crisis management activations
• After business continuity events
• Following emergency exercises or simulations
• At the completion of significant projects
• After major organisational changes

Holding the discussion promptly increases the accuracy of observations and captures valuable insights before they’re forgotten.

What is an After Action Report?

An after action report is the formal written record of an incident, exercise or project review. Its purpose is to document what occurred, analyse contributing factors and record recommendations for future improvement.

While an after action review focuses on discussion and collaboration, the report creates an organisational record that supports accountability, governance and continuous improvement.

A comprehensive after action report typically includes:

• Executive summary
• Incident overview
• Timeline of events
• Objectives and scope
• Key findings
• Root cause analysis
• Strengths demonstrated during the response
• Areas requiring improvement
• Recommendations
• Assigned action items
• Responsibilities and completion timeframes

Who Is the Report For?

Unlike an after-action review, which primarily involves those directly involved in the response, the report often has a much broader audience.

It may be used by:

• Executive leadership
• Boards and governance committees
• Risk and resilience teams
• Compliance and audit functions
• Regulators
• Future incident management teams

The report becomes part of the organisation’s institutional knowledge, helping future teams avoid repeating past mistakes.

How Does It Relate to an After Action Review?

In many organisations, the after action report is developed directly from the discussions held during the after action review. However, the two don’t always occur together. 

For example: 

• An organisation may facilitate an after action review without producing a formal report 
• A report may be prepared independently following an investigation, audit or regulatory requirement, without conducting a collaborative review session.

While each has value individually, combining the after action review and after action report delivers the strongest outcomes by capturing operational insights and translating them into documented improvements.

Key Differences at a Glance

Why Skipping the Report Undoes the Value of the Review

Many organisations invest time bringing people together for an after action review but never formally document what was discussed. That’s where valuable lessons are often lost.

Without an after action report:

• Recommendations may never be assigned
• Improvement actions lack accountability
• Organisational knowledge remains with individuals instead of becoming institutional knowledge
• Future teams repeat the same mistakes
• Evidence of continuous improvement is difficult to demonstrate during audits or regulatory reviews

A discussion alone rarely changes organisational capability. Documenting findings, assigning ownership and tracking implementation are what transform observations into measurable improvements. This is a core principle of organisational resilience.

Continuous improvement depends not only on identifying lessons but also on embedding those lessons into policies, procedures, training and future planning. An after action report provides the mechanism for making that happen.

At Resilient Services, we see after action reviews and reports as critical components of a mature crisis management and resilience framework. They ensure every incident, exercise and disruption becomes an opportunity to strengthen the organisation’s preparedness for the future.

How This Fits Into Your Crisis Management Plan

An after action review and after action report are key activities within the recovery and post-crisis review phases of an effective crisis management framework. 

Once immediate response activities have concluded, organisations should evaluate performance, document lessons learned and implement improvement actions before the next incident occurs. This closes the loop between response and continuous improvement, helping build long-term organisational resilience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an after action report the same as an incident report?

No. An incident report records the facts of an event, such as what happened, when it occurred and who was involved. Its primary purpose is documentation.

An after action report goes further by analysing performance, identifying root causes, capturing lessons learned and recommending improvements to future responses.

Who should write the after action report?

Responsibility varies depending on the organisation. In many cases, the report is prepared by the incident manager, resilience manager or crisis management lead. Larger organisations may engage an independent facilitator or consultant to ensure objectivity and capture insights from all participants.

Regardless of who writes it, the report should accurately reflect the outcomes of the review and include clear ownership for each recommended action.

How long should an after action report be?

There is no standard length. A report for a small operational incident may be only a few pages, while a report following a major crisis or large-scale exercise could be significantly longer.

The focus should be on capturing meaningful analysis and practical recommendations rather than producing unnecessary documentation.

Do you need an After Action Review for small incidents, or just major crises?

After action reviews aren’t reserved for major emergencies. Smaller incidents, operational disruptions and routine exercises often provide valuable learning opportunities. Conducting brief reviews after these events helps organisations build a culture of continuous improvement and identify emerging issues before they contribute to larger failures.

The scale of the review should simply reflect the significance of the event.

Turn Every Incident Into an Opportunity to Improve

Every disruption, whether it’s a cyber incident, operational outage, emergency response or crisis activation, offers valuable lessons. The organisations that become more resilient are those that consistently capture those lessons, document them and turn them into meaningful improvements.

Resilient Services helps organisations facilitate structured after action reviews, develop comprehensive after action reports and integrate findings into broader resilience, crisis management and business continuity programs. Our practical approach ensures lessons don’t end when the meeting does, they become actions that strengthen your organisation’s preparedness for whatever comes next.

If you’d like to assess how your organisation captures and applies lessons learned, book a free 30-minute resilience assessment with the Resilient Services team and discover practical opportunities to strengthen your crisis management capability.