Project post mortem tips: 6 steps for better meetings

One of the most satisfying feelings in the project management process is to complete the project itself. You and your team worked hard to get to this point, and before you move forward, it's important to take some time to celebrate and reflect on all of the great work you've done.

A great way to reflect is the postmortem meeting. In this article, we discuss the key aspects of a project postmortem, share six simple steps to hosting a successful meeting, and cover the common mistakes you'll want to avoid.

What is a project postmortem meeting?

A project postmortem meeting is a structured team discussion held after a project ends to evaluate what went well, what didn't, and how to improve future work. It's your opportunity to celebrate wins, reflect on your team's workflow, and iterate on processes to improve next time.

Postmortem meetings can go by a few different names. The most common ones include:

• Project debrief: This term comes from military origins, in which teams would "debrief" after a mission to break down what happened.

• Retrospective: A project retrospective is commonly used in Agile project management. Because Agile's main goal is continuous improvement, a sprint retrospective is commonly held after each cycle so the team can reflect.

• Project recap: A recap is typically a written update that captures the key points of a meeting. Project recaps do the same thing, but highlight the key points of an entire project. Using a project debrief template makes it easier to turn reflections into improvements for future work.

• Wrap-up meeting: Commonly used at the end of the project to complete or wrap up any loose ends.

• Lessons learned meeting: The Project Management Institute uses this language to mark the end of a project. These meetings can help project leaders have clear insight into what worked, what didn't, and what can be improved.

Postmortem vs. premortem

The main difference between a postmortem and a premortem meeting is when the meeting occurs.

Why run a project postmortem meeting?

Running a project postmortem can give project managers a lot of good insights into how to improve their project process. In particular, these meetings help you:

Learn from your past experiences

Project postmortem meetings help project managers identify process improvements for future work. By reflecting on what went well, you can inform your plans for the next project. If something didn't go as expected, you can adapt your strategy.

Applying learnings from past projects also helps prevent mistakes and mitigate risk:

• Create reusable templates: If you regularly run similar projects, build a lessons learned template based on past processes.

• Clarify expectations: Your project team will know what action items and deliverables need to go in your project plan.

Retrospectives and iteration are important pillars in the Agile project management methodology. Without taking time to reflect on what went well or didn't, you wouldn't be able to change your processes for the next sprint.

Increase team communication

One of the major benefits of a project postmortem meeting is that it allows project managers to step back and reflect on how other team members felt about their roles in the project.

A project's success depends on strong team communication, so create space for everyone to share their unique experiences. This gives individuals a chance to discuss pain points and collaborate on solutions for the next project.

Improve team morale

Making time to reflect on your team's accomplishments is an easy way to improve team morale. While it may be tempting to wrap up a project and immediately jump into the next one, taking time to celebrate builds team bonding.

The postmortem meeting is a great opportunity to recognize team members who went above and beyond. Here are a few ways you can improve morale during your postmortem meeting:

• Include a section in your retrospective project template for "wins."

• Have each team member share at least one "kudos" to another team member on the project.

• Prepare key wins in advance of the meeting.

Key components of a successful postmortem

Every effective postmortem includes these key components:

• Open team reflection: Create space for honest feedback from all team members about their experiences throughout the project.

• Goal evaluation: Assess whether the project met its original objectives and key performance indicators.

• Timeline review: Analyze how actual timelines compare to planned schedules and identify what caused any delays.

• Root cause analysis: Look beyond surface-level issues to understand the underlying reasons why problems occurred.

• Action items: Document specific, actionable improvements that can be applied to future projects.

• Documentation: Create a clear record of findings that can be shared and referenced by the broader team.

6 steps to a successful postmortem meeting

The postmortem process doesn't need to be complicated. Here are a few simple steps to get you started on leading a successful postmortem meeting.

1. Meet within a few days of project completion

A postmortem analysis is most effective when the project experience is still fresh in your team members' minds. An easy way to ensure the postmortem happens on time is to schedule the meeting when you begin the project. Building the postmortem process into your workflow ensures that this step won't be forgotten.

In general, the best time to schedule a postmortem is a few days after the project's completion. This offers your team a little break to reflect on their own time before diving into a team retrospective.

2. Send a pre-meeting questionnaire

During the gap between the end of the project and the postmortem meeting, send a questionnaire to get early takeaways from your team. If several team members mention the same issue, make that topic a key point of discussion.

Sample pre-meeting questions:

• What are three things that went well during this project?

• What are three things that did not go well during this project?

• Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve for the next project?

After you identify these discussion points, create your agenda and send it to the team before the meeting.

3. Share a postmortem meeting agenda

Sharing an agenda before any meeting is a good practice. Updating the team ahead of time gives them a heads-up on key topics, so they can prepare their thoughts in advance.

Sample agenda:

• Introduction (2.5 minutes)

• Team shoutouts (5 minutes)

• What went well (5 minutes)

• What could have gone better (5 minutes)

• Suggestions for next project (5 minutes)

• Wrap up (2.5 minutes)

4. Assign a dedicated note taker and moderator

Before a meeting starts, identify a note taker and a moderator. Ideally, this should be two different team members, as doing both at once can lead to lulls in the conversation. Often, the project manager serves as the discussion moderator, while someone else takes notes.

If you're having the meeting virtually, record it so attendees can reflect on it later. This also gives you a point of reference when reviewing your meeting notes.

5. Host the meeting

When holding the meeting, set basic ground rules for how the discussion will proceed. The moderator guides the conversation by following the agenda and keeps dialogue moving when it stalls.

Here are thoughtful questions moderators can ask to prompt discussion:

• Did anyone on the team have any challenges meeting the project plan's timelines? If not, what would you say was blocking you?

• Do you think the team had enough resources to complete the project by the deadline we set out? If not, what other resources could we have provided to meet these deadlines?

• After having this experience under your belt, if you could redo this project, what would you do differently?

• Would you want to work on a project like this again? Why or why not?

• Would you consider this a successful project? Why or why not?

Open-ended questions like these help you uncover insights you may have missed during the project. Use this feedback to develop a better approach for future work.

6. Send a meeting recap to attendees

After the meeting, send a recap of the main takeaways to your team. Be sure to include any action items that you identified during the meeting and share initial thoughts on what your team can expect for the next project they work on.

Common postmortem mistakes to avoid

Even well-intentioned postmortem meetings can fall short if you're not careful. Here are the most common mistakes to watch out for:

• Creating a blame culture: Pointing fingers at individuals shuts down honest conversation. Focus on processes and systems rather than people.

• Skipping postmortems altogether: When teams rush into the next project without reflecting, they miss valuable opportunities to improve.

• Failing to translate lessons into action: Documenting insights without embedding them into future workflows means the same mistakes will happen again.

• Only reviewing failed projects: Successful projects also offer valuable lessons about what worked well and should be repeated.

• Waiting too long to meet: When postmortems happen weeks after project completion, team members forget important details.

• Lacking clear facilitation: Without a moderator to guide the discussion, meetings can go off track or be dominated by a few voices.

Avoiding these pitfalls keeps your postmortem focused on solutions and ensures your team's insights translate into lasting improvements.

Build better projects with Asana

In addition to learning from your project postmortem meeting, you can effectively prepare for a successful project with key project management skills like establishing a project plan and hosting a project kickoff meeting for your next project.

Ready to streamline your project workflows and make postmortem insights easier to track? Get started with Asana to keep your team aligned from kickoff to closeout.

Frequently asked questions about project postmortems