The role of an after action review facilitator is to keep the conversation moving for the purpose of determining how things happened and extracting lessons learned.  Good facilitators listen more than they talk. When they do talk they typically use questions.  Mastering question asking is essential for facilitation.   The focused conversation method (ORID) aligns with the Critical Decision Making (CDM) Model used in other workshops.

Objective Questions

Objective questions help participants recognize that there may be different assumptions, interpretations, and perspectives.

• What type of call were you dispatched to?
• How many vehicle occupants were visible?
• What is the history of the situation?
• What stands out to you as most relevant?
• What was your location during the situation?
• How many officers were on scene?
• Were you aware the subject was armed
• How many members of your shift were on scene?
• Have you received excited delirium training?
• Was K9 available at the time?

 

Reflective Questions

Reflective questions explore emotions related to an experience and help develop a shared understanding of decisions.

• Did this situation remind you of any others?
• What were you feeling as you approached the door?
• Having fought him before, what were you feeling?
• What about the data startles you?
• What were you sensing at the time?
• What about the subject cued your response?
• Can you recall ever feeling this way before?
• Did you feel an ethical conflict?
• What training were you able to call upon?
• Talk us through what you heard on the radio?

 

Interpretive Questions

The “So what?” Interpretive questions examine values, assumptions, significance, and implications for critical thinking.

• What can we learn from this?
• What does this mean for us?
• How might this affect public trust?
• What don’t we know?
• What do you think he meant when he said that?
• What other situations does this apply to?
• What are our strengths/weaknesses?
• What opportunities does this open up for us?
• Who was in the best position to decide?
• Was the scene secure?

 

Decisional Questions

The “Now what?” Decisional questions pull everything together and get participants to make a decision.  Decisions = growth.

• How do you see yourself doing this next time?
• what would you do?
• would you handle it differently If you had ___?
• What is the first thing you need to do?
• How would you manage that consequence?
• Who would you assign that task to?
• Would you grab your shotgun or your AR?
• How would you set up the perimeter next time?
• Money is not an issue, how would you do it?
• If you were there what would you change?