How to Conduct a Project Post-Mortem

Conducting a project post-mortem, also known as a project review or retrospective, is crucial for learning from past experiences and improving future projects. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to conduct a project post-mortem:

  1. Define the Purpose: Clearly establish the objectives and goals of the post-mortem. Determine what you want to achieve through the review process, such as identifying successes, pinpointing challenges, and gathering lessons learned.
  2. Select the Right Participants: Gather a diverse group of individuals who were directly involved in the project. This may include project managers, team members, stakeholders, and anyone else who contributed to the project’s success or faced challenges during its execution.
  3. Prepare an Agenda: Create an agenda that outlines the key topics and questions to be discussed during the post-mortem. This will help maintain focus and ensure that all relevant aspects of the project are covered. Share the agenda with participants before the session to give them time to reflect on their experiences.
  4. Review the Project’s Goals and Objectives: Begin the post-mortem by revisiting the project’s initial goals and objectives. Evaluate whether these were met, partially met, or missed entirely. Discuss any discrepancies and identify the underlying reasons.
  5. Focus on Successes: Celebrate the project’s successes and achievements. Encourage participants to share what went well, highlighting best practices, effective strategies, and positive outcomes. Analyze the reasons behind these successes to understand how they contributed to the project’s overall performance.
  6. Analyze Challenges and Failures: Address the challenges, setbacks, and failures encountered throughout the project. Encourage an open and honest discussion about the issues faced, including their causes and impacts on the project’s timeline, budget, or quality. Emphasize the importance of learning from these experiences rather than attributing blame.
  7. Identify Lessons Learned: Create a collaborative environment where participants freely share their insights and lessons learned from the project. Document these lessons, emphasizing their relevance to future projects and how they can inform improved processes, communication, decision-making, or risk management.
  8. Discuss Process Improvements: Based on the lessons learned, encourage participants to suggest specific process improvements that can be implemented in future projects. These may include changes to project planning, communication protocols, risk assessment, resource allocation, or any other area that was identified as lacking efficiency or effectiveness.
  9. Document and Share Findings: Assign someone to take detailed notes during the post-mortem session. Compile all the findings, insights, and recommendations into a formal post-mortem report. Share this report with the project team, stakeholders, and relevant stakeholders to drive continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
  10. Follow Up and Implementation: Ensure that the lessons learned and process improvements identified during the post-mortem are incorporated into future projects. Encourage ongoing communication and follow up to track the implementation of changes and monitor their effectiveness.

By conducting a thorough project post-mortem, teams can learn from both their successes and failures, enabling them to improve their processes, avoid repeating mistakes, and enhance overall project performance.