post mortem template

Project Retrospective

Dennis Stevenson

April 23, 2008

2

To do it better next time

Re`tro*spec"tive\, a. [Cf. F. r['e]trospectif.]

1. Looking backward; contemplating things past; -- opposed to prospective; as, a retrospective view.

What’s the Point?

"retrospective." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 22 Apr. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/retrospective>.

LookingContemplating

Stuff that has already happened

3

What will we achieve today?

Identify the major events that led to the outcome Determine root causes for those events Identify monitoring thresholds Develop a shared action plan for the future

(a mini-prospective)

4

Key Roles

Facilitator (Dennis)• Keep the meeting on track with the designated processes

• Prevent dominating/hiding/scape-goating behavior

• Enforce the Rules of Engagement

• Remain neutral to the content being shared

Participant (Everyone else)• Participate

• Be honest

• Listen and share

5

Rules of Engagement

Talking Stick• Must go to everyone before repeating the cycle

• One person speaks… everyone else listens

• Speaker decides who to pass the stick to next

• Facilitator can remove from the floor to open discussion

No Pronouns (I, We, You, They, Us, Them…) This is not emotional therapy – Stick to the facts.

6

Exercise 1 – The Camera Perspective

Describe the result of the Iteration and the observable events which preceded and influenced that outcome

No opinions, no judgments, just the events that happened as a 3rd Party bystander would have seen• Use your knowledge of the events to determine what is

significant

• The camera cannot record those things that did not happen (but perhaps should have) – it can only see the things that happened instead.

7

Exercise 1 – The Camera Perspective

On your piece of paper, write down the following: What was the outcome or result of the effort?

• One concise, yet descriptive statement

What were 3-5 key points along the way that were significant in the process?• For recurring events, pick a representative instance

• For events that should have happened, but didn’t share what happened instead

8

Exercise 1 – The Camera Perspective

What was the outcome:• • • • • • • • • •

9

Exercise 1 – The Camera Perspective

Outcome

EventEvent Event Event Event

EventEvent Event Event Event

10

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones

Each major event leading to the outcome had a number of influences and factors that enabled it to happen.

An Ishikawa diagram maps out these forces in a cause-decomposition fashion

Focus on the top 4 events Answer the question… “Why did this happen?”

What underlying situations or events was it addressing?

11

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones – Event 1

FactorFactorFactorFactor

FactorFactorFactorFactor

Event

12

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones – Event 2

FactorFactorFactorFactor

FactorFactorFactorFactor

Event

13

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones – Event 3

FactorFactorFactorFactor

FactorFactorFactorFactor

Event

14

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones – Event 4

FactorFactorFactorFactor

FactorFactorFactorFactor

Event

15

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones Prioritization

For each event, select the 2 most critical factors that caused the event to happen

Each person gets 3 votes (post-it notes) and count up the most voted Factors

16

Exercise 2 – Fish Bones Summary

Event 1

Event 2

Event 3

Event 4

17

Exercise 3 – Risk Management Detection

Each of the Events and Factors represents a risk for a successful process going forward.

Risk: An occurrence which has not yet happened, but would negatively impact outcomes if it did.• Risks recognize the probability and impact of harm

Issue: An occurrence which has happened, creating consequences that impair the objective of the activity• Issues focus on ameliorating certain consequences

18

Exercise 3 – Risk Detection

Knowing when a risk becomes an issue is a critical factor in keeping a project on track.

At this point, team actions MUST turn from preventing the occurrence to addressing the consequences.

Key Question: “How do I know I’m in trouble?” For each of the 8 Factors in Exercise 2, Identify 1 or

2 ways the team can identify this factor in the future

19

Exercise 3 – Risk Detection – Event 1

Factor 1

Factor 2

20

Exercise 3 – Risk Detection – Event 2

Factor 1

Factor 2

21

Exercise 3 – Risk Detection – Event 3

Factor 1

Factor 2

22

Exercise 3 – Risk Detection – Event 4

Factor 1

Factor 2

23

Exercise 4 – Action Plan

If a given risk is detected in the future, what should we do?

When a Risk becomes an Issue, certain actions should immediately and automatically go into effect to reduce the consequences.

24

Retrospective Summary

Summarize the outcomes and the achievements of the session

25

Plus / Delta

Plus

Delta