6 steps for a successful project

post mortem meeting

Summary
A project post mortem meeting is a meeting held after a project's
completion. The main goal is to reflect on how the project went and
identify what can be changed moving forward to create a more
streamlined process. In this article, we talk about the key benefits
of hosting a project post mortem and the steps you need to take to
have a successful meeting.

A Post Mortem, in the context of meetings, is a process usually

conducted at the conclusion of a project to determine which
parts of the project were successful or unsuccessful. Project
post-mortems are intended to inform process improvements,
mitigate future risks, and promote iterative best practices.

A solid post-mortem meeting agenda includes:

Purpose—At the beginning, focus your team on the goals to
avoid it becoming a complaint session. ...
Recap—What did you and your team accomplish?
Outcomes—Did you accomplish what you needed to?
Improvements—What went well, and what didn't?
One of the most satisfying feelings in the project management process is
to complete the project itself.

You and your team worked hard to get to this point, and before you move
forward, it's important to take some time to celebrate and reflect on all of
the great work you've done.

A great way to reflect is the post mortem meeting. In this article, we

discuss the key aspects of a project post mortem and share six simple
steps to hosting a successful meeting.
What is a project post mortem meeting?
Post mortem meetings are meetings you hold once a project is over. This
meeting is a chance for your project team to identify the things that went
well throughout the project and the things that could have gone
differently.

Project post mortem meetings are a good opportunity to celebrate wins,

reflect on your team's workflow, and iterate on any processes to make
things better next time.

Post mortem meetings can go by a few different names. The most

common ones include:

• Project debrief: This term comes from military origins in which

teams would “debrief” after a mission to break down what happened.
• Retrospective: A project retrospective is commonly used in Agile
project management. Because Agile's main goal is continuous
improvement, retrospective meetings are commonly held after a
sprint cycle so the team can reflect.
• Project recap: A recap is typically a written update that captures the
key points of a meeting. Project recaps do the same thing, but highlight
the key points of an entire project.
• Wrap-up meeting: Commonly used at the end of the project to
complete or wrap up any loose ends.
• Lessons learned meeting: The Project Management Institute uses
this language to mark the end of a project. These meetings can help
project leaders have clear insight to what worked, what didn’t and
what can be improved.
Post mortem vs. premortem

The main difference between a post mortem and a premortem meeting is

when the meeting occurs. Premortem meetings happen before a project
begins. In a premortem meeting, the team proactively thinks about
everything that could possibly go wrong as a way to mitigate risk.

Post mortem meetings happen after the project already happens. It’s a
retrospective meeting to reflect on the things that happened during the
project.
Why should you run a project post
mortem meeting?
Running a project post mortem can give project managers a lot of good
insights on how to improve their project process. In particular, these
meetings help you:

Learn from your past experiences

Project post mortem meetings are important because they can help
project managers streamline processes for future projects. By taking time
to reflect on what went well during a project, you can use that feedback to
inform your plans for the next project. If something didn't go well during a
project, you can use this opportunity to adapt your strategy.

Applying your learnings from past projects can also help prevent mistakes
and mitigate risk. If you are running similar projects regularly, you can
create a template based on your past project processes. This way, your
project team knows what action items and deliverables need to go in your
project plan.
Retrospectives and iteration are important pillars as it relates to the Agile
project management methodology. Agile processes make iteration a
priority. Without taking the time to reflect on things that well or what didn’t,
you wouldn’t be able to change your processes for the next sprint.
Increase team communication

One of the major benefits of a project post mortem meeting is that it gives
the opportunity for project managers to take a step back and reflect on
how other team members felt about their part of the project.

A project's success is often contingent on how well a team works together,

so it's important to create space for everybody to share their unique
experiences. This is an opportunity for individuals to talk about their
specific pain points and work together to figure out solutions for the next
project, so those pain points don't happen again.

Improve team morale

Making time to reflect back on your team’s accomplishments is an easy

way to improve team morale. While it may be easy to wrap up a project
and immediately jump right into the next one, taking time to celebrate the
good things your team has done is important for team bonding.

The post mortem meeting is a great opportunity to recognize team

members who went above and beyond to make the project successful.
Recognizing your team members can greatly benefit team morale.

Here are a few ways you can improve morale during your post mortem
meeting:

• Include a section in your retrospective project template for “wins.”

• Have each team member share at least one “kudos” to another team
member on the project.
• Prepare some key wins in advanced before the meeting begins.
6 steps to running a successful post
mortem meeting
The post mortem process doesn’t need to be complicated. Here are a few
simple steps to get you started on leading a successful post mortem
meeting.

1. Meet within a few days of project completion

A post mortem analysis is most effective when the experience of the

project is still fresh in your team members’ minds. An easy way to make
sure that the post mortem is done in a reasonable time period is to
schedule the meeting when you begin the project. Building the post
mortem process into your workflow ensures that this step won’t be
forgotten.
In general, the best time to schedule a post mortem is a few days after the
project's completion. This offers your team a little break after the project
to reflect on their own time before diving into a team retrospective.

2. Send a pre-meeting questionnaire

During the gap between the end of the project and before the post mortem
meeting, it's helpful to send a questionnaire to your team to get some early
takeaways on what your team thought about the project. If several team
members mention the same issue, make sure that topic is a key point of
discussion during your post mortem meeting.

Sample pre-meeting questions:

• What are three things that went well during this project?

• What are three things that did not go well during this project?

• Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve for the next

project?
After you identify these discussion points, the next step is to create your
agenda and send it to the team before the meeting.

3. Share a post mortem meeting agenda

Sharing an agenda before any meeting, not just post mortem meetings, is
a good practice. Updating the team ahead of time gives them a heads up
about key topics, so they can prepare some thoughts ahead of time.

Sample agenda:
• Introduction (2.5 minutes)

• Team shoutouts (5 minutes)

• What went well (5 minutes)

• What could have gone better (5 minutes)

• Suggestions for next project (5 minutes)

• Wrap up (2.5 minutes)

4. Assign a dedicated note taker and moderator

Before a meeting starts, identify a note taker and moderator. Ideally, this
should be two different team members, as doing both at the same time
can lead to lulls in the conversation. Often, the main project manager
takes the role of the discussion moderator, while somebody else takes
notes.

If you're having this meeting virtually, it's a good idea to record the meeting
so attendees can reflect back on it and you have a point of reference when
you're reviewing your meeting notes.
5. Host the meeting

When you're actually holding the meeting, it's important to set some basic
ground rules for how the meeting will proceed. The moderator usually
guides the conversation by following the key points in the agenda. But
what happens if the conversation goes stale?

It's the moderator’s job to continue the conversation and encourage more
discussion regarding the project. Here are a few thoughtful questions that
moderators can ask team members to prompt discussion:

• Did anybody on the team have any challenges meeting the timelines
set by the project plan? If not, what would you say was blocking you?
• Do you think the team had enough resources to complete the project
by the deadline we set out? If not, what other resources could we have
provided to meet these deadlines?
• After having this experience under your belt, if you could redo this
project, what would you do differently?
• Would you want to work on a project like this again? Why or why not?
• Would you consider this a successful project? Why or why not?
Open-ended questions like these can help you identify aspects of your
project process that you may not be privy to during the process. You can
use these insights from your team to develop a better process for your
next project.

6. Send a meeting recap to attendees

After the meeting is over, send a recap of the main takeaways to your
team. Be sure to include any action items that you identified during the
meeting and share initial thoughts on what your team can expect for the
next project they work on.
Assignment:
Prepare a post mortem report on UUM Menghargai IbuAyah
(UMI) melalui Seni: Kasih Keramat Sejati that was held on 20
November, 2021.
Discussion should be focussed on:
Processes, lessons learnt, aspects to be improved, and any
other aspects that you think can help improve your
understanding on event management.
Report to be submitted before 11:59pm 4 December 2021 to
zakiuum888@gmail.com.
Failure to submit the report ON TIME will be affecting your
final grade TREMENDOUSLY.