After-Action Reports and the Blameless Postmortem Concept

Episode 74: After-Action Reports and the Blameless Postmortem Concept This week on the podcast Vanessa explores a new approach to an old tool with Justin Kates, the head of the Nashua (NH) Emergency Management Agency and president of the International Association of Emergency Managers, Region 1. The tool under discussion is the After-Action Report (AAR). Justin explains that in the past few years a new approach in preparing these reports has arisen as an alternative to the old approach, which was heavy on finger-pointing. He and Vanessa make the following key points: • The blameless postmortem concept, which was pioneered in the tech sector by companies like Google and Microsoft, encourages openness by putting the focus on improving things for the future. • A critical part of conducting a blameless postmortem is identifying the root cause of the emergency, something many emergency managers neglect to do. • Justin’s agency in New Hampshire has adopted the new approach as have many other emergency management agencies nationwide. • Two things an organization can do to determine if the blameless postmortem is right for them are: getting better at root-cause analysis and reading some of the resources on the concept prepared by Google and other organizations that are available for free on the Internet. On the lighter side, Justin talks about the surprising number of emergency exercises that fail because the organizers don’t feed the participants, and Vanessa reveals what she’s like when she gets “hangry.” Justin Kates • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kb3juv/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/kb3juv Asfalis Advisors: • Book Mathews as a speaker: https://www.asfalisadvisors.com/public-speaking/ • Asfalis Advisors: https://www.asfalisadvisors.com/ DRJ: • Register for DRJ’s weekly (Wednesday) webinar series at https://drj.com/webinars/up-coming/. • Register for the DRJ Fall 2021 conference in Phoenix at https://drj.com/fall2021/. • Register for DRJ Fall 2021: A Virtual Experience at https://drj.com/fall2021/virtual/. Connect with the podcast! • Email us at podcast@drj.com • Podcast Website: https://drj.com/decoded/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/BRDecoded • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/business-resilience-decoded/ Vanessa Mathews, host Vanessa Mathews is the founder and chief resilience officer of Asfalis Advisors, where they are focused on protecting the legacy of the leaders they serve through business resilience. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Mathews developed global crisis management and business continuity programs for government and private sector organizations to include Lowe’s Companies, Gulfstream Aerospace, and the Department of Homeland Security. • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-vaughn-mathews-mba-cbcp-70916b4b/ Jon Seals, producer Jon Seals is the editor in chief at Disaster Recovery Journal, the leading magazine/event in business continuity. Seals is an award-winning journalist with a background in publication design, business media, content management, sports journalism, social media, and podcasting. • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonseals/ • Disaster Recovery Journal: https://drj.com/