We’re now a couple months into the new year. But it’s never too late to capture the great things your unit accomplished last year. You may have done something similar for your family Christmas card, but did you do it for your organization?

Ann Handley’s book, Everybody Writes, was the inspiration for this idea. I highly recommend the book for everyone who writes and anyone thinking about writing. Among her many tips on writing effective content, one is devoted entirely to building an engaging annual report.

“Even if you aren’t required to put together an annual report for investors or donors, you might consider writing some sort of annual wrap-up. Why? Because annual reports provide you with an opportunity to tell your brand’s story, giving your audience a way to connect with you and travel along with you as you mark your milestones.”

Although this sounds like something only a trendy startup would do, distributing a routine report really is not a new idea for the military. Retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General William “Oscar” Senter, the first commander of the Army Air Forces’ Weather Wing during WWII and later head of the Air Force’s Air Weather Service after the war, explained in his oral history:

Every 3 months I wrote a letter to the commanders of [Strategic Air Command], [Tactical Air Command], Air Defense Command, and so forth. I had to functionally align the Air Weather Service to suit their needs, and this letter was on the principle of “here’s where we are, here’s where we plan to be, and here’s what we’re going to do in the next period of time.”

He then said:

People are distrustful. They think that everybody is taking a vacation except them. Nobody is really working in the interest of the Air Force except them. Here they work their heart out, they fly, and do their best for Strategic Air Command, and here’s this damn Weather Service and these logisticians and whatnot, and they don’t do anything but work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and they have vacations all the time. That’s the attitude of people about somebody who is not working directly with them. If you can change that and let them know that you have been working also, and that you have been accomplishing this and accomplishing that, it changes the whole climate between you and your customer.

In the Air Force, writing annual individual and unit award packages dominate the end of the year. Sadly, these write-ups are full of career field-specific acronyms and awkward abbreviations that require a decoder ring. This means these accomplishments aren’t exactly going to go viral. Or read in the first place.

Instead, present your organization’s year-worth of good news in a plain language presentation. The format is completely flexible based on how much time you have and who is likely to see the year in review. The goal is for people to actually read it.

For the one I developed for my squadron, all I needed was PowerPoint, relevant photos from throughout the year, and a little time to compile the unit’s accomplishments. I built an easy-to-read, brochure-style PDF with the visually appealing philosophy of “less is more.”

Your organization’s year in review should target at least three demographics:

- Internal. Build pride in your unit’s successes. We are often so forward-focused that we forget about the hard work and effort that got us to where we are at now. And in diverse organizations, one section may not know what another has done.

- Higher Headquarters. Give your higher-level commander an easy way to brag about his or her subordinate unit. This is also a great way to get accomplishments that may have gone unnoticed throughout the year onto the commander’s radar.

- Supported Organizations/Users/Customers. Are you in a support organization? Communicate your capabilities to those who you support. They may not have a full picture of what you have worked so hard on during the past year.

There’s nothing that says you had to be around for the entire year either. I developed my squadron’s year in review despite being away from the unit for nearly 8 months due to a deployment and post-deployment leave. While you engage members of your organization in conversations, ask them what their proudest achievements were in the past year.

The “year” in review can be extended to any time frame. We already do this with after action reports (AARs). Why not do an easily presentable “exercise” in review or “quarter” in review or “project” in review?

It’s not simply about just capturing what your organization did in the past year or whatever period you choose, it’s just as much about building rapport with the organizations that you support, the organizations that support you, the people who you work for, and the people who work for you.

If you want to derive even more value from the year in review, building the document is just the first step. The next step, albeit more difficult, is to take a hard look at what you accomplished. Are the things you accomplished the right things that your organization should be doing? Is there anything that you should stop doing in the next year? Were there any efforts not captured in the year in review that your organization should be focusing on?

Before too much time goes by, take some time to capture what your organization accomplished and spread the good word. But do it in a format that people will want to read.