By Dave Bailey, PPS Editor
Whew, you finally got that big project done! During the weeks or months of a project’s life span, a lot of work gets done and a lot of decisions get made that not only affect that project, but may have implications for how similar projects are handled in the future. These project decisions could have an important effect on how smoothly the next project is handled, which affects future profits. But if these decisions and procedures are not reviewed and documented, it’s very possible they won’t be used in the next project and a different decision could be made, making your company appear inconsistent in its standard operating procedures. This is where the post-mortem comes in.
What is a project post-mortem in the business world?
In business, a project post-mortem is a process for determining what elements of a project were successful or unsuccessful with the ultimate goal of making the next project better. Most post-mortems take place immediately after a project is finished (“post-mortem” means after death) when the details of the project are fresh in everyone’s mind. The members of the project meet to discuss the various details of the project in a structured setting. If the term “post-mortem” seems a little morbid to you, just call them project reviews; it’s the same thing.
But first, you need an agenda.
Before the meeting, an agenda is sent out by the project manager, who is normally the moderator for the meeting and who will outline the meeting itinerary and also recap the project.
Why do you need an agenda? Couldn’t we just get together and discuss the project issues more informally? Well you could, but these informal meetings could easily turn into complaint sessions, where team members’ feelings could be hurt and little else gets accomplished. Additionally, it’s necessary to keep track of the items discussed to benefit future projects.
What’s on the agenda?
There are almost as many post-mortem agenda templates as there are companies (see https://zapty.com/blog/post-mortem-meeting-template/ and https://www.teamgantt.com/blog/post-mortem-meeting-template-and-tips for a couple ideas), but here are some key items to include:
- State the purpose of the meeting (to find out what went well/what could be better; identify areas of improvement for future projects). By stating the purpose for the meeting upfront (we want to make the next project better), it helps focus the team members on accomplishing this goal, not just bringing up problems and pointing fingers.
- Project recap: What type of project did we complete? What services did we provide?
- Project outcome: This includes answering questions such as; Was the project goal met? Was the product delivered on time and on budget? Is the client happy?
- Identify project items/decisions that either worked well or didn’t, and discuss. This can often include a series of questions for the team members to discuss, including: Are you proud of the work done on this project (yes/no and why)? What worked well? What didn’t work well? What would you do differently? Are there any current projects that could benefit from this feedback before we deliver the final product?
- State problem areas that should be fixed before the next project AND/OR state processes/decisions during this project that would benefit the next project, and how best to implement them.
The Takeaway
Post-mortems (aka “project reviews”) can be an effective tool to find out what went well or needs improvement after completion of a project, so that the next project can go even better.