It can be so hard to deal with the end, even if it is of a project.

So it has ended! The painfully long project with its highs and lows at every turn. Most would think, let’s just close the project, file it away and move on. Wrong – this is the perfect opportunity to stop and look at what happened and see what can be implemented in the next one that will allow for a better experience and improvement in quality.

The definition of post mortem is “done, occurring, or collected after death,” essentially saying that something is “over.” Naturally, when a project at work is “over,” completing a post mortem would be appropriate.  They can tell you so much about the process and the impact of your project on the other stakeholders.

In our agency the post mortem covers two audiences - internal and external stakeholders. When we talk about these two audiences, they really need to be done separately to allow for more open communication.

Here is a list of key points you want to gather feedback on from both groups:

• Communication
• Content Development
• User Interface Design
• Development
  
• Testing
• Project Management
• Quality Control
  
• Scope Creep

Gather the list of what went well in these areas, what did not go well and the suggestions for improvement in each area. This is hard to do and hard to keep up with. Once  a project is completed everyone wants to celebrate and not sit down and rehash the good, the bad and the ugly of a project.

With that information coming in from your internal team, your client and even vendors on the project you’ll be able to create a Best and Worst Practices list.

• Best Practices -What do you feel went well?
• Worst Practices - What do you feel did not go well?
• Summary Solutions – List the recommendations for improvements.
  

Once the groups have given their feedback, you create the Summary Solutions list. When you have cleaned up the notes and the summary, feel free to send out to all the participants.

The most important part is next – implement the solutions right away !! And thank the participants for their valuable time and honest answers.

Showing people they are valued and bring worth to the process is the best way to get ongoing, honest value add feedback in the future! Celebrating the accomplishments are always fun but don’t forget the hard part of closing out the project in a way that makes the future projects even more of a celebration of teamwork, quality and great process!

Photo courtesy of TheGiantVermin. Original photo.