Post-Mortem Document

A Post-Mortem Document is an analysis document for a concluded project.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) be produced by a Post-Mortem Task (with a post-mortem meeting).
  • It can (typically) include Post-Mortem Document Sections, such as:
    • Executive Summary: A concise overview highlighting the project's scope, objectives, and high-level outcomes.
    • Project Overview: Detailed description of the project, including timelines, major milestones, and critical events.
    • Objectives and Results: Analysis of the project goals versus the actual results, noting variances and their implications.
    • Key Learnings: Summary of significant achievements and what contributed to them, plus challenges encountered; list Lessons Learned and Recommendations for future projects.
    • Analysis of Key Issues: In-depth root cause analysis of major problems faced during the project.
    • Recommendations for Future Projects: Actionable advice based on the lessons learned, aimed at improving future projects.
    • Root Cause Analysis: Detailed examination of specific project issues to determine underlying causes.
    • ...
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • A Multi-National Marketing Campaign Post-Mortem Document that overviews the project's achievements against goals, analyzes specific market reactions, and provides insights for future marketing strategies.
  • A Software Development Project Post-Mortem Document that details the development process, coding challenges, and system bugs with comprehensive root cause analyses and resolutions for future iterations.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Pre-Mortem Document (for a pre-mortem).
  • Project Status Reports.
  • Meeting Summary.
• See: Lessons Learned, Risk Management, Project Management Body of Knowledge, Software Development Retrospective .

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References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmortem_documentation Retrieved:2024-2-2.
  • 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, in which both positive and negative things are reviewed for a project.

    The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) refers to the process as lessons learned. 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.

2024

• GPT-4
  • For a smaller project, the structure of a post-mortem document can be simplified to focus on the most critical aspects while ensuring a comprehensive review. Here's a suggested table of contents:

1. **Executive Summary
  - Brief Overview of the Project
  - Key Objectives and Scope
  - Summary of Outcomes
2. **Project Overview
  - Brief Description of the Project
  - Timeline and Major Milestones
3. **Objectives and Results
  - Stated Goals of the Project
  - Results Achieved
  - Variance from Planned Outcomes
4. **Key Learnings
  - Major Successes and What Contributed to Them
  - Main Challenges Encountered
  - Overview of Failures or Shortcomings
5. **Analysis of Key Issues
  - Brief Root Cause Analysis of Major Problems
  - Discussion of Unexpected Challenges
6. **Recommendations for Future Projects
  - Key Lessons Learned
  - Actionable Recommendations
  - Suggestions for Process Improvements
7. **Conclusion
  - Final Thoughts
  - Next Steps or Follow-Up Actions
8. **Appendices (if necessary)
   - Supporting Data or Analysis
   - Meeting Notes or Feedback Summaries

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