Mortems: You Should Do Those

Inspired by an app idea I had a couple years ago.

Here is some advice you can use for a Pre/Post Mortems.

Defined Terms:

• Pre-Mortem: A meeting prior to the start of the project to gather ideas around a project that can identify key goals and potential pitfalls.
• Post-Mortem: Feedback once the project has been completed from those involved that identify the rights and wrongs of the project to help make better decisions in the future.

Problems:

Mortems are hard to template

Every project is different and will require some thought. That said you can start with the basics:

Pre-Mortem

• What OKRs will define the success of this project?
• What barriers will prevent us from reaching success in this project?
  • Is there anything we can do to reduce the potential of these barriers?
• Who are the stakeholders and what defines success to them?
• Will this project impact folks outside of our team? How involved should they be in this process?

Post-Mortem

• Based on the OKRs that we set, was the project successful? Did stakeholders find it successful as well?
• Did we prevent the expected barriers from arising?
• What unexpected barriers came up?

It's good to remember:

• There should be no judgement and all voices should be heard. If you feel this would be challenging then work to anonymize the input.

• Invite Hard/Soft connections to project to participate in the conversation

  • Hard Connect - someone that will/has worked on the project
  • Soft Connect - someone impacted by the project (stakeholders, etc.)

• Make sure to keep a record of the Pre/Post Mortems as they can be helpful in the future.