Ace A Post Mortem: Day #3

Having discussed all that went right, all that went wrong, and all that you learned during your project, your team is now primed to take the bold step toward improving the work that you perform and the ways in which you perform it. Now you get into How You Will Improve!

Action #3: Produce

Have each team member give a suggestion. Do this one-by-one until no one has any more ideas. As each idea is offered, list it on your white board so that everyone can see them all.

Get them all out. This is very much like a brainstorming session – any idea is fair game at this point! Get every idea for improvement out and get it on the board.

Once all of the ideas are listed, begin to discuss the benefit of each. Which improvements would have the most impact?

Have the team talk about each improvement and then give each a rating. Number each improvement 1, 2, 3, etc. to designate the level of impact the team believes the improvement would produce.

Once you have designated the impact of each improvement, you must decide how each improvement could be implemented. It is important to have specific steps that can be taken immediately to create the desired change. If you have written your report in a well thought out manner, you should have a list of possible actions that would produce the outcomes you have suggested.

From the list you have created, pick the improvements that the team agrees will be implemented. This can be a list of the top 3 or the top 10; it’s up to your team. Decide on a list of improvements that you will commit to implement.

Each improvement on the list should have a set of actions attached to it that will be taken to produce the desired change. Each action item should have a specific person assigned to it and a date by when the action will be completed.

This gives you:

• The agreed list of improvements
• The actions that will create each improvement
• The team member that is responsible and accountable for each action
• The agreed upon completion date for each action

Armed with this plan, you can now begin to affect real change in your processes and in your organization. Your list of action items may include participation that you need from other departments. An action may need more than a single team member to implement.

If so, this is fine. Work as a team, that is all the better. Just make sure that each item is owned by a single person. Only one person may be accountable for each action. Follow this guideline and you will see greater improvement sooner and will experience less confusion.

After deciding what improvements to implement and how to implement them, your next step is execution. You must be able to follow through individually and collectively, as a team, in order for any of what you just did to have any meaning. How can you help this process along? Glad you asked!

When the meeting has been completed, one of the team members will need to create a summary report of the meeting and distribute it to the whole team. This report is simple. Capture the decisions that were made to affect improvements:

• What will be improved
• What the improvement will affect / What the benefit will be to the team
• What steps will be taken to implement the improvement
• Who is responsible for each action to be taken
• When each action will be completed

With all of this information detailed, each team member is accountable to the whole team. Everyone will know what they are responsible for and when their tasks need to be finished.

This will give the team a solid timeline of when they should expect improvements in the way that projects are handled. This will make them even more aware of areas that are not as efficient or as effective as possible.

Since this report is so simple to compile, since whoever creates and distributes it will look as though they are brimming with initiative, and since the team member that compiles the report will gain even greater insight into how to improve the project processes…who do think I am about to suggest should write this report?

If you have gotten this far in the courses, I am sure you know that I think you should write this report. It is another chance to separate yourself. It is an opportunity to learn more. You should be jumping at every opportunity like this that comes your way. If you do, you will be getting paid to learn and positioned to shine.

Write the report and send it out to the team. Show your boss that you are a person that is interested in doing the right things and doing them in the right way. Seize the opportunity to learn and practice and gain a deeper understanding of the work that you do.

That is how you can most effectively achieve in the Post Mortem process.

After you have prepared your own report, participated in the meeting, and then produced the report for the whole team you are truly ready to wrap up this project. The testing has been completed and now the reports are achieving completion.

Send the compiled report you produced from the meeting contents to the whole team. Then submit your own, personal, Post Mortem report to your QA Lead or Manager (and be sure to keep a copy for yourself).

This report that you send to your Lead or Manager is your final “Here is my view of the project” report. This will give them the explicit information that only you, with your unique perspective can provide.

Ace a Post Mortem with 3 Actions

1. Prepare
2. Participate
3. Produce

Create your reports. Discuss the content of your reports in the meeting. Compile the agreements for distribution. Once you have submitted your reports, get ready and gear-up for the next project. It is surely on its way!

Congratulations!