#Project Post-Mortem Meeting
About to have a Project Post-Mortem meeting? This guideline identifies the key participants and their roles.
##Post-Mortem Participants and Roles Each project post mortem should have one or more people in the following roles: ###The Facilitator
Collates the documentation for the meeting to act as reference points. This would include the Project Charter, Project Plan(s), Project Status Reports, Key emails from stakeholders etc.
Sets the date and time of the session and invites the necessary participants, who should represent all stakeholder groups and the delivery team. Participants should have a reasonable amount of time to prepare and to plan for attendance.
Identifies any roles, other than simple attendee, to any participant who is expected to perform that role. For example, if someone is to perform a walkthrough of the project then that person needs to be notified in advance that this is their role and how long they are expected to take to perform their function.
Acts as a central collator of any materials to be collected and distributed prior to the meeting.
Acts as the meeting moderator to:
- Control the flow and keep the meeting crisp and on-time.
- Stop the meetings from being blocked by single issues
- Ensure that all attendees get a fair share of voice if they have something to contribute
- Suggests priority and severity ratings on tasks
- Encourages timely decision-making (on-the-spot if possible)
- Encourages and assists group discussions
- Leads the meeting wrap-up where points discussed and actions agreed are reiterated for final consensus that these are the conclusions to be drawn
- Ensures that the meeting is formally recorded and all attendees receive a copy of the minutes. One great technique is to collect email addresses as people walk into the meeting, project the minutes and action points as they are taken, and send the minutes to all attendees before they leave the room Prepares and distributes the Project Post Mortem Report.
###Project Manager
- Delivers a walkthrough of the project, highlighting milestones, successes, issues that arose and their mitigation, and lists any outstanding tasks that ideally should be assessed from a resourcing standpoint.
- Is responsible for all the project documentation collected prior to the meeting and therefore is jointly responsible with the facilitator for collating the documentation.
- Participates in the session discussions and decision-making.
- Usually produces or assists in the production of the Post-Mortem Report.
- Manages the action items identified in the meeting.
###Team Members and business stakeholders
- Prepare by listing their personal and team input.
- Identify successes and issues, with reasons for both.
- Participate in group discussions and decision-making.
- Suggest overall process improvements for any future projects.