Work

Home | Work | Play | Photos | Contact | About

Review / Post Project Analysis

Home > Work > IT Consulting \ Post Project Analysis

Introduction

Project reviews. In other engineering disciplines (civil, electrical, chemical and so on) they're part and parcel of maintaining one's professional standing. In software development they're one the most neglected practices. There are quite a number of reasons why the software development industry doesn't like them.

Top of that list is ego - software development, as a discipline, seems unwilling to admit to failure or shortcoming, let alone a misstep. When they do happen, reviews are often politicised, rather than being seen as oppotunities to learn, or as a time of reflection. Some agile projects I've worked on do retrospectives. Unfortunately all of them limit themselves to discussing the backlog, and studiously avoid talking about the important stuff (see below).

The benefits of reviews are worthwhile to the organisation, the team and to individuals. For each it's an opportunity to learn, improve, and to do it better next time. You could also use the opportunity to identify the the project's unsung hero (there always is one) and thank her with a bottle of wine - especially when the project failed, resulted in a death march or was otherwise difficult.

So what does a useful project review look like, exactly? And how does one conduct a post-project assessment whilst keeping it constructive?

Overview

A post-project analysis is a review that records the results of a depth and breadth assessment of the project from its inception to completion. The assessment captures successes, challenges and failures, and identifies what should have been done differently on this project and what could be done differently for the next project.

Use this table to determine the recommended time frame for a project review:

Project Characteristic   2 weeks after completion   5 weeks after completion
Project scope   Small   Large
Project duration   Short (days to 3 months)  Long (3 months or longer)
Team morale   Low   High
Team member availability   Some (team reassigned)   Available

As a guidline, a useful project review might include the following topics:

The topics above are discussed in a little more detail below. However, for each of the topics, also consider:

When conducting a post-project analysis, try to:

Avoid:

The Solution

Describe aspects of the solution that was delivered. This should include:

Also include customer satisfaction metrics, and metrics on business value delivered.

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

Project Planning and Resources

Analyse the planning processes used for the project, who participated in the planning processes, and the quality of the plans (reliability, accuracy, completeness, etc). Include information regarding the availability, quality, and application of resources.

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

Project Management and Scheduling

Describe project’s project management and scheduling aspects. This should include information regarding:

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

Architecture/Solution Design

Describe the project’s development aspect. This should include information regarding the architecture, design and development processes used (methods, versioning, approval, and so on), who participated in the architecture and design processes, and the quality of the designs and specifications that were used during development (reliability, accuracy, completeness, etc).

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

Tools and Technologies

Describe the project’s experience of the products, tools and technologies used. This should include the specific application of the products, tools and technologies, the usefulness of those tools, any limitations of the products, tools and technologies, and if known, any recommended alternatives for future projects.

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

Testing

Describe the project’s testing aspect. This should include the testing processes used, who participated in the testing processes, and the quality of the test plans and specifications that were used during testing (reliability, accuracy, completeness, etc).

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

The Team

Describe aspects of the project’s team work and roles. This should include information regarding leadership, any sub-teams and their structure, and the quality of the integration among teams. It could also include information about the scope of each team’s work, the performance of its designated role on the project, and the balance among the teams regarding decision-making.

Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:

< Back to IT Consulting | ^ Back to top


All content copyright © Michael Wittenburg 1995 to 2024. All rights reserved.
Merch (t-shirts designed by my twin)