Following the company’s just-completed offsite two-day training project, I propose to conduct a postmortem review of the project, and for your information I am setting out here the details of the proposed review, who should participate in it, the benefits that I consider the company and the participants will gain from it (and any drawbacks that may be involved), and what I hope we (the company) will discover by analyzing the review upon its conclusion.
Review Details:
Questionnaires: I propose to kick off the review process by circulating a set of targeted questions that I have prepared about the project. Questionnaires are to be distributed and answered in advance of a review meeting (see below), so that each respondent will have the time and the opportunity to answer them individually and fully. This approach offers the advantage of allowing each person to respond thoughtfully and without possible influence by others, which might occur if the questions were posed during the meeting, when the more outgoing and/or vocal among those present could dominate proceedings. I will include in the circulation everyone involved in the training, including project managers. The proforma will specify the return date, so that all completed questionnaires are submitted ahead of the scheduled review meeting.
Proposed Questions:
- Are you proud of our products? If “Yes” state the best features; if “No” say why.
- What one thing (if any) frustrated you about the training?
- What would you do instead to avoid that frustration?
- What part of the training impressed you most?
- Was your role in the project clearly defined? (If not, explain)
- What was the single most useful fact you learned from the training?
- Was the training program too short or too long?
Note: For each question, ample space for answers will be provided, plus respondents will be encouraged to attach extra answer pages if needed.
The Review Meeting:
This will be attended by everyone involved in the training project. I will have reviewed the completed questionnaires in advance of the meeting, so that I can focus the agenda and the time on issues arising from points raised by the respondents, and can maximize the benefits of the meeting to the team members by discussing lessons learned from the review and by dealing with specific concerns highlighted in individual questionnaires.
Benefits of the Review:
The review process will not only give team members an opportunity to give further consideration to the completed training program and thus to reinforce the knowledge and expertise gained from their participation, but will give the company an insight into the views of the participants, allowing us – if required – to modify future training programs accordingly. The drawback to the whole review process is of course the company time spent on it by all those involved. However, I firmly believe that the longer term benefits will be seen in improved future training programs, as well as confirming that all our trainees gained full benefit from this program.
References
Greer, M. “Project Post Mortem Review Questions.” (Sep 2009). Michael Greer’s PM Resources. Retrieved from
