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Effective Post-Mortems

If you're doing anything interesting, chances are it's something you've never done before. And if you're doing something you've never done before, chances are you're going to make some mistakes as you go along. Ergo, if you're doing anything interesting, you're making mistakes.

Taking time to reflect on what's going right and what you can improve for next time can be tremendously valuable but is rarely done right. People conduct post-mortems because they think they should, or because their manager told them to. But too often it's just "going through the motions" and not really taking away actionable learnings.

A post-mortem doesn't need to be a tedious experience. You'll impress people by showing up with just a few simple questions and keeping the meeting to 20 minutes. (Get a small room with not enough chairs, so people will have to stand, and the meeting will be even quicker!) Cut to the chase and measure yourself on a short scale: red, yellow, green.

Consider these items:

1. The final deliverable
2. The team interaction
3. Your personal contribution
4. The overall project

Find a white board and get a red, yellow, and green marker. Make a grid with this list and rate yourself red, yellow, or green on each one. Next to each item, write down a few bullet points about what went right and what went wrong. If you keep the meeting short, lively, and focused, it can be an extremely valuable tool for improving your processes.

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