What are the best practices for conducting project post-mortems?

1 Define the purpose and scope

Before you start a project post-mortem, you need to define the purpose and scope of the review. What are the main objectives and questions you want to answer? What are the specific aspects of the project you want to evaluate? Who are the key stakeholders and participants involved? How will you collect and analyze the data? Having a clear and agreed-upon purpose and scope will help you focus your efforts and avoid wasting time and resources.

2 Collect and organize data

The next step is to collect and organize the data that will inform your project post-mortem. This may include quantitative data, such as budget, schedule, scope, quality, and customer satisfaction metrics, as well as qualitative data, such as feedback, surveys, interviews, and observations from the project team, clients, and other stakeholders. You should also review the project documentation, such as the project plan, risk register, change log, and issue tracker, to identify any gaps or discrepancies. Organize the data in a way that makes it easy to access and compare.

4 Generate and prioritize recommendations

Based on your findings, you need to generate and prioritize recommendations for future improvement. These are the actions or changes that you suggest to address the issues or gaps that you identified in the project. You should also consider the benefits, costs, risks, and feasibility of each recommendation. You can use a matrix or a scoring system to help you rank the recommendations by their impact and urgency. The goal is to provide practical and actionable solutions that can enhance your project delivery.

5 Present and document results

The final step is to present and document the results of your project post-mortem. You should prepare a concise and clear report that summarizes the purpose, scope, data, findings, and recommendations of the review. You should also include any supporting evidence, such as charts, graphs, or quotes, that can illustrate your points. You should present the report to the relevant stakeholders and participants, such as the project sponsor, client, or senior management, and invite their feedback and questions. You should also document and store the report in a central location that can be accessed and referenced by other project teams.

6 Implement and follow up

The project post-mortem is not complete until you implement and follow up on the recommendations. You should assign responsibilities and timelines for each action or change that you proposed, and monitor their progress and outcomes. You should also communicate and celebrate the achievements and improvements that result from the project post-mortem. You should also review and update your project management processes, standards, and templates based on the lessons learned. The goal is to ensure that your project post-mortem leads to continuous improvement and innovation.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?