Software tool for doing Project Postmortem

Question

Hello,

I work as a Project Leader. I am trying to do project postmortem for projects which my team works on.

Currently I use Wiki to note down problems, issues and final recommendations.

But it makes hard to note down every problem we noticed just when it happen, so we miss some issues.

I'd looked for some software which could help me to track project postmortem, but I didn't find anything and I can't believe there are no software for that.

Did anyone know some software for doing project postmortem. At best, free, web based application.

Answer 1

Depending on how your project goes, it might be done for you here:

http://thedailywtf.com/

Answer 2

Saw this on a mailinglist recently; i have no clue though if it will fit your needs. But probably still worth a try.

http://chandlerproject.org

Answer 3

I've often seen the bug or issue tracking system used to take notes in the midst of a project and then used on the post mortem. That can be a problem if those systems are politically charged enough that people can't actually be honest when entering an update to a ticket.

I'm also curious if you have looked at having a 3rd party (internal or external) to oversee the post mortem? I've just seen that having separate meetings with the devs, the business owners, the testers, the project manager(s), etc. reveals dramatically more candid tellings of the story of the project than the typical approach of getting everyone together.

On several of my last projects, I would love to have seen a neutral person go through those meetings and compile a report, "independent counsel" style. I suspect that the result would be FAR more informative and would work better for fixing the problems.

However, I haven't seen it done that way anywhere yet, so I might be full of it.

Answer 4

Further to J Wynia's comments,

It can important when doing a postmortem to get honesty. An ombudsman could be incorporated into the process. They can even be used to annonymise issues. Dumping it into a wiki removes the annonymisation.

Quite often we all know that Bob screwed up something in the project badly, but Bob is the senior person and has been known to take it out on the peons. So the peons learn to keep their mouths shut (i.e., they are now being dishonest to avoid pain).

Answer 5

Answering J Wynia:

My team does post mortem only with developers/testers. The aim for now is to learn from our mistakes. So, I strongly believe all of us our honest, because there are nothing bad for us being honest.

I would like to focus on mistakes done during project, development and release stages at first -- these are things which we have influence on.

And introducing business owners now is, in my opinion, bad idea.

Answer 6

We use a mind-mapping tool (which we wrote and sell - I can't mention it here as it will just look like an advert!), but this really does work in quickly collating all the relevant points in a post-project analysis.

And despite our best efforts, we always end up with a rather lop-sided tree; our "bad points" significantly out-numbering our "good points".

Answer 7

Not a software tool, but I'd encourage you to look at the 'Hot Wash' process (as described by the manger tools guys) - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/feb-2006-members-podcast-the-hot-wash/.

Forgetting some issues along the way isn't usually the biggest issue. I'd suggest focusing more on getting whatever people still remember at the end of the project out in the open, then picking a few key things to change for next time. Lots of small steps will be more effective than trying to fix every issue which came up in a single cycle.

Answer 8

I know you are asking for software, but let me suggest a piece of butcher block paper on the wall and sticky notes with a pen to add comments. (If it helps think of it as an Analog wiki/mind map.) If the real issue is getting problems noted before you forget and move on to the next, then this can help. Yes it means someone has to do data entry every once in a while (though a digital camera can capture the state to allow resetting it).