How to Run a Successful Project Post-Mortem Meeting

I’ve heard the premise of post-mortem meetings from several sources - the first instance was the book Creativity Inc., and recently I’ve seen HubSpot promoting benefits of this practice as well. Post-mortems help shape the way we progress as a company. While benefits of a post-mortem meeting are great, it’s sometimes difficult to prepare and pull off a successful post-mortem meeting.

Five Ways Post-Mortem Meetings Benefit You

It’s pretty common to hear objections such as meetings of this kind being time-consuming or not valuable (few people enjoy criticism). Five important reasons to practice post-mortem meetings include:

1. Consolidating what’s been learned.
2. Teaching others who didn’t participate.
3. Settling disagreements - issues that happen during the project can be assessed and smoothed over in a respectful manner, so they’re not carried over into future projects.
4. Schedule time to force reflection - reflection time before post-mortem meetings are just as important as the meetings themselves.
5. Pay it forward - post-mortem meetings arm people with the right questions moving forward into the next project. (Ex: why are we doing things this way vs. that way?)

Questionnaire & Prep

During the initial project timeline, schedule the post-mortem questionnaire, prep, and meeting. This ensures the practice happens weeks or months in the future or when projects end.

90 percent of the value gained during a post-mortem comes from preparation and reflection on the process. A solid questionnaire will help guide the post-mortem meeting conversation into a constructive discussion. Qualitative, quantitative, and subjective questions help gather possible improvements for the next time this type of project is executed.

Download or Print Our Example Post-Mortem Meeting Questionnaire

Knowledge & Follow-Up

Following up on the post-mortem meeting is an important final step. Outlining the conclusion and actionable steps. Don’t think of the post-mortem as what went good or bad; the results will guide how this project changes in the future and why.