What are the best practices for conducting post-incident reviews and implementing lessons learned?

1 Prepare for the PIR

Before holding a PIR meeting, you should gather relevant data and information about the incident, such as the timeline, impact, resolution, and feedback. You should also invite the right people to participate, such as the incident owner, responders, stakeholders, and customers. Make sure everyone understands the purpose and objectives of the PIR, and set a clear agenda and ground rules.

2 Conduct the PIR

During the PIR meeting, you should facilitate a constructive and collaborative discussion, using open-ended questions and active listening. You should focus on the facts and avoid blaming or finger-pointing. You should also encourage feedback and suggestions from all participants, and document the key findings and outcomes. Some useful tools for conducting PIRs are the 5 Whys technique, the fishbone diagram, and the SWOT analysis.

3 Identify root causes and corrective actions

After the PIR meeting, you should analyze the data and information collected, and identify the root causes of the incident. You should also prioritize and assign corrective actions to prevent recurrence or mitigate impact. Corrective actions can include updating policies, procedures, tools, training, or communication. You should also define success criteria and metrics to measure the effectiveness of the corrective actions.

4 Implement and monitor corrective actions

Once you have identified and assigned corrective actions, you should implement them as soon as possible, and communicate them to the relevant parties. You should also monitor and track the progress and results of the corrective actions, using tools such as dashboards, reports, or surveys. You should also review and adjust the corrective actions as needed, based on feedback or changing circumstances.

5 Share and celebrate lessons learned

One of the most important benefits of PIRs is that they generate valuable lessons learned that can improve service desk management and performance. You should share and celebrate these lessons learned with your team and other stakeholders, using channels such as newsletters, blogs, webinars, or workshops. You should also update and maintain a knowledge base or a repository of lessons learned, and make it accessible and searchable for future reference.

6 Continuously improve your PIR process

Finally, you should not stop at conducting one PIR, but rather make it a regular and continuous practice. You should also evaluate and improve your PIR process, using feedback, data, and best practices. You should also align your PIR process with your service desk goals, standards, and culture. By doing so, you can foster a culture of learning and improvement in your service desk.