So for those that don't know what a Post-Mortem is, here is a quick explanation:

After you launch a site update, new product, at the end of a quarter or basically at any point you have a team that worked on something or together sit down. The goal is to break down processes and how teams/people worked together to figure out how to be better, faster, and more efficient in the future.

4 Key Steps to Running a Post-Mortem

Set Expectations EarlyDiscuss What Went WellDiscuss What Needs ImprovementCreate an Action Plan

Post-Mortem Questions To Ask

Here are some quick tips or ideas on questions to as during your meeting(s).

Create an anonymous form.Ask what went well.Ask what went badly.Ask what could be improved.

Post-Mortem Resources

11 Tips for a Successful Post-MortemUX Retrospectives 101

Lastly if you are thinking "well how do I structure or start" this process? What and where do I document it? Take a look at this post-mortem report template.

Full Transcription

Matt Siltala: [00:00:00] Welcome to another exciting episode of the business of digital podcast, featuring your host, Matt scintilla and Dave roar. Hey guys, excited to be here with you on another one of these episodes. Uh, how's it going, Dave?

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:16] It is good. And we're going to talk about the sexy topic of project management today.

Matt Siltala: [00:00:21] Oh, come on. I like the title better. Why you should conduct a post-mortem

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:26] or tips for a successful post-mortem or why you should do it, even though it's painful and annoying and sucks and isn't fun.

Matt Siltala: [00:00:37] Did

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:37] I, did I sell you on why you should do one yet?

Matt Siltala: [00:00:39] Did we sell you on why you should listen,

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:43] like click next?

Matt Siltala: [00:00:44] No, it actually is going to be very useful when, when the. And maybe you should take this opportunity to jump into how you've explained it to me as well and what you want to share. It actually is going to be quite a useful episode for a lot of people, I believe.

Dave Rohrer: [00:00:59] Yeah. [00:01:00] And we've got two great, um, resources that always, um, one from the Nielsen Norman group and one for important.

Matt Siltala: [00:01:08] Ian always is the man with his info.

Dave Rohrer: [00:01:11] We just need to like, I don't even know. There's. The Fortinet article we'd literally just found this morning was not even one of the ideas that foster like spurred it, but it's a great resource that walks you through the 11 steps. Um, but I think anytime, and this isn't just for agencies, although I think more agencies should do it, we used to do it at  every so often.

Um, it was. Sometimes painful, sometimes not. Depending on the project. If, you know, if it was a successful project, it's less painful. Of course, if it's a not successful project that's kind of painful. A lot more painful. Well, yeah, cause everyone's pointing fingers. It's a sports analogy. Like how many times have the bear sign someone and everyone's like, [00:02:00] yeah.

And then, you know, two years later, you know, we got a new coach or, um, you know, we're suddenly looking for a new quarterback or. Oh, well, I'm the bears fan. We're always looking for a new quarterback. Ever since I remember, ever since I was a bears fan, we've been looking for a new quarterback. Um, but there's always finger pointing.

It's like, Oh, it's the GMs fault. It's them fault. Well, it's like what was the process? And so what this post-mortem is supposed to do is pick out the good so that when the next project comes up. You do the good and figure out what screw, what, who, not who, but what got screwed up and where and why, so that in the next project it doesn't happen.

See how simple that is.

Matt Siltala: [00:02:44] Very. I mean, you know, I'm looking at the notes here and you have four. You have your four main steps