A PostMortem Template

By Tyler Holmes

In my last 2 posts I discussed the importance of engaging in a postmortem at the end of your projects and promised to provide a template that can be followed when gathering feedback prior to the meeting and consolidating feedback during the meeting.

Templates like this have been created and posted all over the web so this is really just a collection of what I think is some of the “best of” details that should be gathered together to make a postmortem successful.  I have customized it for my uses.  Feel free to grab it and customize it for yours.

  1. Project
    1. Description
      1. Project Name:
      2. Client:
      3. Project Manager:
      4. Solutions Architect:
      5. Start Date:
      6. Completion Date:
    2. Project Overview [Describe the project in detail.
      1. Discuss the project charter
      2. What was the project success criterion?
      3. etc.
  2. Performance
    1. Key Accomplishments [List and describe key project accomplishments in the space provided below. Explain elements that worked well and why. Consider listing them in order of importance. Be specific.]
      1. What went right?
      2. What worked well?
      3. What was found to be particularly useful?
      4.  Project highlights
    2. Key Problem Areas [List problem areas experienced throughout the project. Be specific.]
      1. What went wrong?
      2. What project processes didn’t work well?
      3. What specific processes caused problems?
      4. What were the effects of key problems areas (i.e. on budget, schedule, etc.)?
      5. Technical challenges
    3. Risk Management [List project risks that have been mitigated and those that are still outstanding and need to be managed.]
      1. Project risks that have been mitigated:
      2. Outstanding project risks that need to be managed:
    4. Overall Project Assessment [Score/rank the overall project assessment according to the measures provided. A 10 indicates excellent, whereas a 1 indicates very poor.]

      Criteria

      Score
      Performance against project goals/objectives       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Performance against planned schedule       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Performance against quality goals       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Performance against planned budget       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Adherence to scope       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Project planning       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Resource management       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Project management       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Development       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Communication       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Team cooperation       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
      Project deliverable(s)       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10
    5. Additional Comments:
      1. Other general comments about the project, project progress, etc.
  3. Key Lessons Learned
    1. Lessons Learned [Summarize and describe the key lessons and takeaways from the project. Be sure to include new processes or best practices that may have been developed as a result of this project and to discuss areas that could have been improved, as well as how (i.e. describe the problem and suggested solution for improvement).]
    2. Post Project Tasks/Future Considerations [List and describe, in detail, all future considerations and work that needs to be done with respect to the project.]
      1. Ongoing development and maintenance considerations
      2. What actions have yet to be completed and who is responsible for them?
      3. Is there anything still outstanding or that will take time to realize? (i.e. in some instances the full project deliverables will not be realized immediately)

Enjoy

Dwain

Originally posted here: http://lastbytes.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/a-postmortem-template/