efteraktionsanalyse

Efteraktionsanalys is a structured, systematic review conducted after an operation, mission, project, or incident to determine what happened, why it happened, and how to improve future performance. The aim is to support learning, accountability, and better decision-making in organizations.

It originated in military and emergency-response contexts and has since been adopted in public administration, healthcare, IT, and business. In practice, efteraktionsanalys draws on data such as timelines, performance metrics, and participant impressions to identify both successful actions and areas needing improvement.

Typical process involves defining the purpose and scope, gathering information, and conducting a facilitated debriefing session that emphasizes facts rather than blame. This is followed by analyzing differences between observed results and objectives, and producing a lessons-learned report with concrete recommendations. Recommendations are assigned to owners with deadlines, and follow-up actions are tracked.

Common methods include structured debriefings, templates or checklists, and root-cause analyses. Benefits include faster organizational learning, improved procedures, updated training, and better adaptation to future challenges. Challenges can include avoiding blame, ensuring psychological safety, allocating sufficient time, ensuring data quality, and securing implementation of the suggested improvements.

Terminology varies; the process may be called after-action review, post-action analysis, or post-incident analysis. In Sweden, the term efteraktionsanalys is widely used in defense and public-sector contexts to support continuous improvement.