How to Run a Post-Mortem Meeting

In a post-mortem meeting, you need to find a balance between following the agenda and allowing space for unexpected but fruitful threads. Provide an opportunity for everyone to speak (without letting a few dominate conversation), and afford enough time to be productive without droning on too long. 

1. Schedule the post-mortem when you start the project. Post-mortems should be part of the project plan from the beginning, so the project team members will know to record their successes and failures (and related project data) as they occur.
2. Set a meeting time-limit. There are a couple schools of thought about the ideal length for a post-mortem meeting: 
   • At Least 90 Minutes: This time period can give everyone time to speak, and allows for an in-depth discussion of ideas. On the negative side, long meetings can be tedious or be perceived as a waste of time.
   • Thirty Minutes: This format will force people to discuss only the most critical items and keep them focused. However, such a short meeting means there’s not enough time to discuss all key issues or explore resolutions.
3. Compile a guest list. There are also many opinions on the ideal size of a post-mortem meeting. Smaller meetings (e.g., five to 10 attendees) can be more focused, but limit participation to key people (which may be difficult in the case of larger projects). For larger projects, it might make sense to have a series of smaller meetings, and then a final presentation or lessons learned. 
4. Assign a notetaker. Pick someone (not involved in the project) to keep track of the discussion and action items. It’s also a smart idea to record the meeting to reference when creating meeting notes.
5. Start the meeting with an introduction. Cover the ground rules, and remind the group that the meeting is meant to be a constructive discussion. The moderator will set the outlook of the group and help them feel comfortable and safe. Open on a positive note, such as a joke or mention a great success from the project. This should last a few minutes.
6. Create a timeline of milestones.
    
   
   Recap the high-level outcome of the project and the initial expectations. Then, create a timeline of the project with major milestones: This will be the core of the meeting (note that you will create a visual representation of the project). Paula Cizek, Chief Research Officer at nobl.io, an organizational design firm, says, “The first thing to do is to generate milestones. This could be anything from official project milestones and deliverables, like signing contracts, to delivering the new product. It could also include more informal or social events, such as a team happy hour.” Include dates on each milestone.  
   
   
   Go around the room and ask everyone for their most important success. Add each above the timeline. Repeat the process for issues and add them below the timeline.
   
   Cizek suggests, “Have people silently reflect and jot down what went well, focusing on just the positives connected to each of these milestones. Ask them to be specific. It doesn't help to say, ‘great meeting.’ How do I repeat a great meeting? What made it great? Have people really specify what worked well and why, and then have them map it to the timeline.” 
7. Start listing action items. Each success and issue should generate at least one action item. Assign an owner to each action item; this person will be responsible for following that action item to closure. “Before you leave the meeting, identify individuals who are responsible for making sure the policy is incorporated into existing processes,” adds Cizek.
8. Explore the issues. At this point, you should be at the crux of the meeting, where you’re delving into what went wrong, what went right, and what you should do differently on future projects. The meeting leader should ask both quantitative and qualitative questions to help the team dig deeper into each success or issue.
   • Quantitative Questions: These questions seek a set response (e.g., yes or no) or a selection from a list of choices. They are closed-ended questions, such as the following:
     • Was your portion of the project successful? 
     • Rate the success of the procurement process on a scale of 1 to 5.
     • Was the schedule realistic for you to meet the majority of your deadlines?
   • Qualitiatvie Questions: This type of question requires some analysis or subjective responses. They are also called open-ended questions, such as the following:
     • What made your portion of the project successful? 
     • How can we improve the procurement process?
     • What could be done differently on the next project schedule to make sure you can meet the deadlines?
       
       This discussion should also bring up root causes. They usually fall into one of the following three general categories, which may be helpful when assigning action item owners:
   • Process: Something is amiss with the organization’s processes. For example, lines of communication may need to be changed or the procurement process may need to be restructured. 
   • Project: There was a problem with the management or execution of the project, such as incorrectly estimating the cost or timeline, or not managing change control. 
   • People: A team member made an error, like missing a deadline or not following correct process steps. 
9. Close the meeting. Thank everyone for their participation and input. Spend a few minutes recapping what you’ve learned, and give a timeframe for when you’ll follow up with your action plan. End on a positive note, such as calling out a handful of successes, or reminding the team of the positive impacts the project will have on your business.
   
   Grant Aldrich adds, “In our organization, we don't leave the room without a list of actionable items that individually we're going to do better as a team, and that is agreed upon by all the participants in the room.”
10. Share the post-mortem meeting notes. Everyone in the meeting should get a copy of the notes, which should include the following:
    • A summary of each problem and each success
    • An analysis of the root cause for each problem
    • The steps that were taken to diagnose each problem and success, what assessments were made, and the steps taken to resolve each 
    • A timeline of each problem and success 
    • Lessons learned
    • A list of the action items and who is responsible for each

You’ll also need to figure out a way to prioritize the action items. There are many ways to do this, including the MoSCoW method, which puts action items into the following buckets:

• Must Have: Critical items that need to be addressed immediately
• Should Have: Important items that will add significant value to the organization
• Could Have: Nice-to-have items that will have a small impact 
• Won't Have: Low-priority or low-impact items that don’t need to be addressed any time soon

Regardless of which prioritization scheme you use, look for quick wins: changes that can be made with little effort but that will have an immediate positive impact.