Directions for using template:
Read the Guidance (Arial blue font in brackets) to understand the information that should be placed in each section of this template. Then delete the Guidance and replace the placeholder within <<Begin text here>> with your response. There may be additional Guidance in the Appendix of some documents, which should also be deleted once it has been used.
Some templates have four levels of headings. They are not indented, but can be differentiated by font type and size:
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Version: 1.0
Ó 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.
This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS DOCUMENT.
Microsoft and Visual Basic are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft in the United States and/or other countries.
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Document Properties
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Post Project Analysis |
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TOC \o "1-3" \h \z
Development/Design/Specifications
Appendix: Guidelines for Successful Post Project Analysis Meetings
[Introduction to the Template
Description: The Post Project Analysis document records the results of conducting a depth and breadth assessment of the project from its inception (envisioning phase) to completion (deployment phase). This 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.
Justification: Conducting and documenting a post project review formalizes the process of learning from past experience. This has value for individuals and the organization as they move forward with new projects. The lessons learned while creating the solution need to be captured and communicated to all participating team members and other parts of the organization. This helps the creation of future solutions more quickly with less expense and risk.
The following table identifies the recommended time frames for a post project review based on various project characteristics:
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Project Characteristic |
2 Weeks After Completion |
5 Weeks After Completion |
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Scope of project |
Small |
Large |
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Short (days to 3 months) |
Long (3 months to years) |
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Energy level of team members |
Low |
High |
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Team member time available |
Some (working on other projects) |
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{Team Role Primary: Program Management is responsible for developing and distributing the Post Project Analysis. Their main responsibility is to facilitate the analysis and encourage information exchanges between the teams and among team members. Program Management also contributes input to the analysis from their experiences in project.
Team Role Secondary: All other roles should either contribute to this document or review it for completeness. Product Management will conduct analysis and provide information regarding the customer’s experience and satisfaction with the project and solution. Development will conduct analysis and provide information regarding the building of the solution. Test will conduct analysis and provide information regarding the quality of the solution. User Experience will conduct analysis and provide information regarding user effectiveness. Release Management will conduct analysis and provide information regarding the deployment process and the status of ongoing operations.}]
[Description: Provide a brief summary of this document, including what will be done with the contents, especially the lessons learned. It may be helpful to list the top three accomplishments, top three challenges, and top three valuable lessons learned.
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n What three things (in order of importance) went well?
n What three things (in order of importance) need improvement?
n What suggestions do we have for improvement?
n What other issues need followed up?
Justification: Some readers may need to know only the highlights of the document, and summarizing creates that user view. It also enables the full reader to know the essence of the document before they examine the details.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Objectives section defines the document’s objectives. These could include 1) recording the results of a comprehensive project analysis and 2) ensuring that lessons learned during the project are documented and shared.
Justification: A document containing valuable insight should direct the reader to specific actions of incorporating that insight into their knowledge base. The objectives statements should assist the reader in this process.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Planning section provides analysis and insight on the project’s planning aspect. This should include information regarding the planning processes used, who participated in the planning processes, and the quality of the plans (reliability, accuracy, completeness, etc).
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n Were the team goals clear to you?
n Were the marketing goals clear to you?
n Were the development goals clear to you?
n How complete do you think the planning was before the actual commencement of work?
n How could planning be improved?
n What recommendations would you make for the planning process for the next release?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s planning aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s planning aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about planning and how planning should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Resources section provides analysis and insight on the project’s resources aspect. This should include information regarding the availability, quality, and application of resources.
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n How can we improve our methods of resource planning?
n Were there enough resources assigned to the project, given the schedule constraints?
n What could have been done to prevent resource overload?
n Do you think resources were managed effectively once the project started?
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s resources aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s resources aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about resources and how resource management should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Project Management/Scheduling section provides analysis and insight on the project’s project management and scheduling aspects. This should include information regarding:
n The integration of planning
n Scope management
n Budget management
n Schedule management
n Resource allocation
n Vendor management
n Risk management
n Quality management
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n Was the schedule realistic?
n Was the schedule detailed enough?
n Looking over the schedule, which tasks could you have estimated better and how?
n Did having a series of milestones help in making and monitoring the schedule?
n What were the biggest obstacles to meeting the scheduled dates?
n How was project progress measured? Was this method adequate? How could it be improved?
n Was contingency planning apparent? How can we improve our contingency planning for the next release?
n How could scheduling have been done better or been made more useful?
n What would you change in developing future schedules?
n How were changes managed late in the cycle?
n Were the trade-offs between schedule and features handled well?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s project management aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s project management aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about project management and how it should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Development/Design/Specifications section provides analysis and insight on the project’s development aspect. This should include information regarding the development processes used (coding standards, documentation, versioning, approval, etc), who participated in the development 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:
n Were there issues in the functional design and ownership?
n Were there issues in the architectural design and ownership?
n Were there issues involved in using components or with code sharing? How could this be done more effectively?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s development aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s development aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about development and how it should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Testing section provides analysis and insight on the project’s testing aspect. This should include information regarding the testing processes used, who participated in the testing processes, and the quality of the testing plans and specifications that were used during testing (reliability, accuracy, completeness, etc).
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n Were there issues in test interaction?
n Were there issues in test case design and coverage?
n Were there enough testers?
n Was the quality of the solution we shipped acceptable?
n Did we work well with all of the testers?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s testing aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s testing aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about testing and how it should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Communication section provides analysis and insight on the project’s communication aspect. This should include information regarding the communication processes used, the timing and distribution of communication, the types of communication distributed, and the quality of the communication content.
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n Was communication in your group handled efficiently and effectively?
n Was communication between groups handled efficiently and effectively?
n Was program management effective in disseminating information?
n Was program management effective in resolving issues?
n Was the e-mail alias usage effective? How could the aliases be better set up to improve communication?
n Were the status meetings effective?
n Was communication with the external groups (component suppliers, content suppliers, OEMs, support, international) effective?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s testing aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s communication aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about communication and how it should be done the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Team/Organization section provides analysis and insight on the project’s team and organization structure aspects. This should include information regarding team leadership, any sub-teams and their structure, and the quality of the integration among the 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:
n Did you understand who was on the team and what each member was responsible for?
n Were the roles of the different groups (development, test, user experience, program management, marketing) clear to you?
n What would you do to alter the organization to more effectively put out the solution? What functional changes would you make? What project team organization changes would you make?
n Do you think the different groups fulfilled their roles?
n What was deficient in your group? Other groups?
n Did you have all the information you needed to do your job? If not, were you able to obtain the information?
n Did you think the team worked together well?
n Were management decisions communicated to the team? Did you understand how decisions were made?
n Were external dependencies managed effectively?
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s team aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s team aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about teams and how that aspect should be approached the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Solution section provides analysis and insight on the project’s solution aspect. This should include information regarding the processes of
n Understanding the customer’s business objectives and requirements
n Developing a solution concept
n Determining the need for and deploying a pilot
n Readying the operational environment for full deployment
It should also include information on customer satisfaction and any metrics on business value.
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n In retrospect, could the work of your group been done better? How?
n What needs to happen so your group can avoid problems in the future?
n Are you satisfied with the solution you shipped? If not, why?
n What would you do to improve the process of creating the solution?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s solution aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the project’s solution aspect. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about the solution and how that aspect should be approached the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Tools section provides analysis and insight on the project’s tools aspect. This should include information regarding the specific tools used, the specific application of the tools, the usefulness of those tools, and any limitations of the tools.
Example questions to answer to develop this section’s content:
n What improvements do you recommend for tracking bugs that will make the process more effective for use during development of the next release?
n What improvements do you recommend for document and code source control?
n What comments do you have about the build process and the compilers?
n What comments do you have about the coding standards?
n What other tools do you need?
n What other improvements do you need to make on your existing tools?]
[Description: The Accomplishments section describes what was successful about the project’s application of the tools. Be sure to describe what contributed to that success and why it was successful.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Challenges section describes any problems that occurred with the tools as they were applied to the work of the project. Be sure to describe what contributed to those problems and why they were problems.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Description: The Lessons Learned section describes what was learned about the tools and their application and how that should be approached the next time. This recommendation could be to use the same approach or could suggest significant changes.]
<<Begin text here>>
[Do:
n Be constructive and supportive.
n Be precise and specific.
n Focus on challenges and suggestions for improvement surrounding process rather than specific individuals
Do NOT:
n Use peoples names.
n Be negative or hostile.
n Ask permission.
n Explain or justify your comments and recommendations, unless asked to do so by someone else.
n Repeat comments and recommendations made by others.
n Express agreement or disagreement with comments and recommendations made by others.]