Stop 6 of 8 · Daily
Incident reports and after-action reviews
Write the report as observed facts on a timeline, and the after-action review as lessons attached to roles, so the document teaches without exposing anyone.
The report you write while it is still fresh
Something happens on most engagements eventually. A gate left open, a delivery driver who talked his way past the door, an approach in a car park, a medical event at a venue, a contractor who did not answer the radio. Curtis writes it up the same day, because a report written on Friday about a Tuesday is a report about what he now believes happened.
Two documents come out of it, and keeping them apart is most of the skill.
| Incident report | After-action review |
|---|---|
| Observed facts, numbered, in time order | What the sequence teaches |
| No opinion, no cause, no blame | Cause, contributing factors, what changes |
| Written same day, distributed narrowly | Written within the week, distributed to the client |
| Roles, labels, offsets | Roles only, no timeline detail |
Keeping names out without losing the lesson
Everyone in the report is a role: Contractor 2, Household Staff 1, the driver, the venue manager. Places are Site labels. Times are clock times only where they matter to the sequence, and the annex holding the date and location stays offline like every other annex in this course.
That constraint is not a compromise. A review that says the person on the gate had no way to verify a delivery against a schedule is a stronger document than one that says a named housekeeper made a mistake, because the first one names a fixable system and the second one names someone to be angry at.
Try this
Turn my notes below into an incident report. Structure: summary in three sentences, numbered timeline of observed facts in time order, actions taken with the role that took each one, outcome, and information not yet established. Every person is the role they were performing. Do not state a cause, do not assign responsibility and do not use the words should or failed. Where my notes contain an opinion rather than an observation, move it to a separate list at the end headed Opinions to keep out of this document. [paste your incident notes]
From the incident report below, write an after-action review. Sections: what was supposed to happen, what happened, why the difference occurred with contributing factors separated from the immediate cause, what worked and should be kept, and corrective actions. Each corrective action gets an owning role, a target date column left blank, and a line stating which assessment finding it closes or opens. No individual is identified, including by a detail that would identify them to their colleagues. [paste the incident report]
Write the client facing note about the incident below. Under a page. What happened in plain terms, what we did, what we are changing, and what we need from the client. Calm, no reassurance we cannot support, no detail that would help someone repeat it. End with the one decision I need from them this week. [paste the after-action review]