Are We Learning Lessons? A Candid Review of Post Project Assessments Plano, TX 2009-02-21 Robert Joseph Tinker

1. Are We Learning Lessons?A Candid Review of Post Project AssessmentsPlano, TX2009-02-21Robert Joseph Tinker

2. Do we perform a post project assessments? • How many of us perform a post project assessment at the end of our projects (or project phases)?

3. When do we perform a post project assessment and what do we do with it? • How many of us perform a post project assessment at the end of our projects (or project phases)? A better question might be: • How many of us reference post project assessments at the start of our projects (or project phases)?

4. Post project assessments record successes, challenges, and lessons learned There are a few simple questions to ask • What went well? • Why did it go well? • What needs improvement? • What should have been done differently for this project? • What could be done differently for the next project? Successes Challenges Lessons Learned

5. The program manager should facilitate discussion with all project team members to contribute to the post project assessment Additional questions that can be used to facilitate discussion • Were the project goals clear? • How could planning be improved? • Were there enough resources assigned to the project? • Was resource allocation managed effectively? • Was the schedule realistic? • Which tasks could have been estimated better? • What were the biggest obstacles in meeting the scheduled dates? • Was progress measured adequately? • Were changes managed effectively? • Were there issues with functional design or architectural design? • Were roles and responsibilities clearly defined? • Was the quality of the solution acceptable? • Did the team members work well together? • Was communication handled effectively? • Were issues resolved effectively? • Were project meetings effective? • Were the business objectives and requirements clearly understood?

6. Are there benefits to conducting a post project assessment? Opponents say: • The project is complete, team members are ready to move on to the next project • The solution has been delivered, post project assessments add no further value to the deployed solution Proponents say: • Conducting and documenting a post project assessment formalizes the process of learning from past experience • This has value for the individuals and the organization as they move forward with new projects • The lessons learned are captured and communicated to participating team members and others in the organization

7. In my experience, most post project assessments are relevant to the current project team without much benefit realized on future projects • Not every project conducts a post project assessment • When post project assessments occur, they are typically done once at the end of the project • Although beneficial for the project team, nothing seems to happen with the Lessons Learned • Lessons learned are maintained as knowledge with each individual who participated in the post project assessment • Past lessons learned are not reviewed in future projects • Project members are assigned to new and different projects • Lessons learned do not carry forward to the new and different project teams • Lessons learned may not be relevant to the next project’s objectives, scope, or processes

8. A formal PMO can assist in improving the benefits of a post project assessment • Enforce a standard methodology for all projects to follow • Ensure that all projects conduct a post project assessment • Maintain a central repository of documented lessons learned • Add a review step prior to the project kickoff to ensure that all project participants are aware of past lessons learned • Add post project phase assessments during the project, so that the lessons learned can be acted upon immediately

9. I have seen the most benefits during projects following agile practices Release Iteration Weekly User Story Integration & Performance Testing Test-Driven Development Iteration Review System Docs & Test Scripts Customer Review Peer Review Conversation ReleasePlanning IterationPlanning FacilitatedUAT Automated Deployment Acceptance Test Review Customer Team Test Continuous Integration AutomatedDeployment Automated Deployment Migrate To Prod Migrate To Test Migrate To Dev RegressionTesting • Notes: • Source: Pariveda Solutions

10. But wait a minute, post project assessments are seldom mentioned in agile procedures • Although there may not be a “post project assessment” step or artifact in a typical agile process, it does occur at regular intervals • The last principle behind the Agile Manifesto states “At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly”(1) • These regular intervals occur at the end of each iteration • It may be helpful to have weekly reviews as well • Notes: • Source: Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

11. In my experience, lessons learned from an iteration review is relevant to the current project team and benefits future iterations • Working software is presented to the product owner and end users • Understanding of their own requirements tend to evolve as stakeholders see and use the software • These changes can be applied to future iterations without impacting the scheduled release(s) • Every iteration review is an opportunity for the team to get feedback and guidance from stakeholders about how to make the system the most valuable it can be • Project team members stay together working on the same product with the same product owner for the next iteration(s) • The vision and objectives remain the same for the product, thus ensuring that the lessons learned from previous iteration(s) are relevant for future iterations

12. Many of the challenges with post project assessments are improved with agile iteration reviews

13. Thank You and Contact Information Robert Joseph Tinker Pariveda Solutions 2811 McKinney Ave | Suite 220 LB126 |Dallas TX 75204 |USA Phone: +1-214-777-4647 E-mail: Robert.Tinker@ParivedaSolutions.com The Business of IT® www.parivedasolutions.com