Project Post Mortem's 4

[pivan]

Hi:

To take advanatage and provide feedback on lessons learned during course of a software project I would like to institure Project Post Mortem's at the end of each project.

If any of you have templates or outlines/agenda of what exactly should occur during a post mortem, as in:
1) who should be invited
2) documentation of results
3) questions to be asked/answered
4) meeting format/structure
5) scope

I would really appreciate any of your insight.

Thanks,
Ivan

 

[elizabeth]

I recently saw an article that suggested doing the post mortem at the end of each phase, as well as at the end of project. Apparently you then get impressions while they are fresh in everyone's minds, as well as the perpective at the end, when tempers have had a chance to cool!

 

[Guest_imported]

Michael Earl of Templeton College (was once Anderson Prof of Computing)cites the need for 2 kinds of Post mortem which I certainly subscribe to.

1. A process review which examines the project processes to establish what can be done better next time(process lessons learned) This review can be done fairly soon after the project has finished and the production of the report could be part of project closure as I believe is suggested in prince.

2. A Product review which establishes if the project achieved its stated benefits. This review may need need to be done some time sfter project closure to allow benefits to become visible and measurable. This should aid the business in its future project evaluations and identify any follow on activities

 

[egray]

A good link with lots of specific questions for conducting a post mortem is

http://www.michaelgreer.com/postmortem.htm.