Knowledge Management Infostation
SQ Wing introduces Infostation

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The Force has been developing and applying Knowledge Management (KM) in daily policing duties for years. To raise Force members' awareness of KM, Service Quality Wing (SQ Wing) now sets up a Knowledge Management Infostation in Offbeat. The Infostation will serve as a platform for introducing KM related tools and disseminating information about Force KM projects.

After Action Review

After Action Review (AAR), which is a common yet important KM tool, is the theme for the first series of the Infostation.

What is AAR?

AAR is a simple and practical team-learning tool pioneered by the U.S. Army. It was originally used for army training, and later accepted by army officers as a way to capture learning during and after a mission. The turning point for the spreading of AAR in the Army was the Gulf War. During the war, soldiers were seen gathering around tanks in the evening to discuss their experience, and generated lessons to help them improve their performance the next day.

How is AAR conducted?

AAR is a review meeting that lasts for about 15 minutes to one hour. Facilitated by an officer in the same unit, soldiers get together to discuss four questions:

* What are we set out to do?

* What has actually happened?

* Why did it happen?

* What are we going to do next time?

There are a few guidelines to conduct AAR, such as "No personal attack", "Don't find fault", and "Discover the ground truth, which is the true fact and the reasons explaining the fact".

Why is AAR an effective tool?

AAR is basically an experimental learning tool. But having an experience does not guarantee we can learn from it. This is particularly true when people face a bad experience. They tend to rationalise or justify their mistakes. Without a proper and systematic reviewing process, many people and companies keep on repeating the same mistakes. Through AAR, team members come together during or after a project to share their individual learning experience and make up a complete story and understanding of the situation. Knowledge is then created from individuals to the team. The guidelines of AAR also help people to focus on learning, instead of fault finding. The key lessons identified in each AAR can be documented and formalised into the system and procedures of the organisation. In this way, the knowledge is further transformed into part of the organizational memory.

Adoption of AAR in other organisations

AAR has been adopted successfully in the US and other parts of the world, such as US Wildland Fire-fighting Department, Canadian Army, Singapore Police, British Petroleum and Motorola. It has been used for key project review, operational review and strategic business review. Commanders in disciplinary forces and business managers are learning the new role as a facilitator and draw out the collective intelligence of their team members.

Feasibility of using AAR in the Force

AAR is a simple and practical tool and can be mastered by commanders within a short period of time. They can simply use the AAR format in their daily wash-up meetings for identifying lessons learnt and formulating an action plan for the next day's implementation. In this way, no additional workload is created for commanders. Furthermore, the overall operational effectiveness, internal communication and teamwork can also be enhanced greatly.

For enquiries on AAR or Force Knowledge Management Project, contact the Knowledge Management Officer on 2860-6573.