A project post-mortem is a process used to identify the causes of a project failure (or significant business-impairing downtime), and how to prevent them in the future. This is different from a
Retrospective
A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...
, in which both positive and negative things are reviewed for a project.
The
Project Management Body of Knowledge
The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a set of standard terminology and guidelines (a body of knowledge) for project management. The body of knowledge evolves over time and is presented in ''A Guide to the Project Management Body ...
(PMBOK) refers to the process as
lessons learned
Lessons learned (American English) or lessons learnt (British English) are experiences distilled from past activities that should be actively taken into account in future actions and behaviors.
Definition
There are several definitions of the ...
. Project post-mortems are intended to inform process improvements which mitigate future risks and to promote iterative best practices. Post-mortems are often considered a key component of, and ongoing precursor to, effective
risk management
Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...
.
IEEE: A defined process for project post mortem review
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Elements of a project post-mortem
Post-mortems can encompass both quantitative data and qualitative data. Quantitative data include the variance between the hours estimated for a project and the actual hours incurred. Qualitative data will often include stakeholder satisfaction, end-user satisfaction, team satisfaction, potential reusability and perceived quality of end-deliverables.
Role of time tracking
Successful analysis of project estimate variance is dependent on accurate time tracking. The greater the granularity with which time is tracked, the more detailed an analysis can be performed during the project post-mortem.
See also
* Kickoff meeting
A kickoff meeting is the first meeting with the project team and with or without the client of the project. This meeting would follow definition of the base elements for the project and other project planning activities. This meeting introduces ...
* Pre-mortem
* Project management
Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...
* Risk management
Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources (i.e, Threat (sec ...
*
References
{{reflist
External links
Nine steps to IT post-mortem excellence
– article on ZD Net
A Defined Process For Project Postmortem Review
– article on ACM Digital Library
Project management