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research-article

A Defined Process For Project Postmortem Review

Authors:

Bonnie Collier,

Peter FeareyAuthors Info & Claims

IEEE Software, Volume 13, Issue 4

Pages 65 - 72

https://doi.org/10.1109/52.526833

Published: 01 July 1996 Publication History

Abstract

Conventional wisdom in the software industry decrees that it's good practice to conduct a postmortem study at the end of each project. Some would even suggest that this is not just a useful undertaking, but one of the fundamental principles of successful software development. The rationale authors most often cite for postmortem analysis is that only by analyzing our shortcomings can we learn to do better.We must begin by cataloguing such failures and learning from their patterns. The success of the postmortem-or of any learning process-demands a context that makes organizational learning possible. Participants are empowered when they know that each issue raised during the postmortem process must be added to the risk database and evaluated methodically on each subsequent project.

References

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T.K. Abel-Hamid and S.E. Madnick, "The Elusive Silver Lining: How We Fail to Learn from Software Development Failures," Sloan Management Review, Fall 1990, pp. 39-48.

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V. Basili and H.D. Rombach, "The Experience Factory," Encyclopedia of Software Eng., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1994, pp. 469-476.

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J. Boddie, "The Project Postmortem," Computerworld, Dec. 7 1989.

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Digital Library

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S. Shiba A. Graham and D. Walden, A New American TQM, Productivity Press, Portland, Ore., 1993.

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Cited By

Singla TAnandayuvaraj DKalu KSchorlemmer TDavis JTorres-Arias SMelara MSimon LVasilakis NMoriarty K(2023)An Empirical Study on Using Large Language Models to Analyze Software Supply Chain Security FailuresProceedings of the 2023 Workshop on Software Supply Chain Offensive Research and Ecosystem Defenses10.1145/3605770.3625214(5-15)Online publication date: 30-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3605770.3625214
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cover image IEEE Software

IEEE Software Volume 13, Issue 4

July 1996

128 pages

ISSN:0740-7459

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Copyright © Copyright © 1996 IEEE. All Rights Reserved.

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IEEE Computer Society Press

Washington, DC, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 July 1996

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Cited By

Singla TAnandayuvaraj DKalu KSchorlemmer TDavis JTorres-Arias SMelara MSimon LVasilakis NMoriarty K(2023)An Empirical Study on Using Large Language Models to Analyze Software Supply Chain Security FailuresProceedings of the 2023 Workshop on Software Supply Chain Offensive Research and Ecosystem Defenses10.1145/3605770.3625214(5-15)Online publication date: 30-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3605770.3625214
Przybyłek AAlbecka MSpringer OKowalski W(2022)Game-based Sprint retrospectives: multiple action researchEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-021-10043-z27:1Online publication date: 1-Jan-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-021-10043-z
Bjarnason ESharp HRegnell B(2019)Improving requirements-test alignment by prescribing practices that mitigate communication gapsEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-019-09698-624:4(2364-2409)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-019-09698-6
Hyysalo JHarper GSauvola JKeskinarkaus AJuuso ISalminen MPartala JShin SShin DLencastre M(2017)Defining an architecture for evolving environmentsProceedings of the Symposium on Applied Computing10.1145/3019612.3019902(1178-1181)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3019612.3019902
Lehtinen TItkonen JLassenius C(2017)Recurring opinions or productive improvements--what agile teams actually discuss in retrospectivesEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-016-9464-222:5(2409-2452)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-016-9464-2
Unterkalmsteiner MGorschek TFeldt RKlotins E(2015)Assessing requirements engineering and software test alignment-Five case studiesJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2015.07.018109:C(62-77)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2015.07.018
Savolainen PAhonen JRichardson I(2015)When did your project start? - The software supplier's perspectiveJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2015.02.041104:C(32-40)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2015.02.041
Lehtinen TMäntylä MItkonen JVanhanen J(2015)Diagrams or structural lists in software project retrospectives - An experimental comparisonJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2015.01.020103:C(17-35)Online publication date: 1-May-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2015.01.020
Lehtinen TMäntylä MVanhanen JItkonen JLassenius C(2014)Perceived causes of software project failures - An analysis of their relationshipsInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2014.01.01556:6(623-643)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.infsof.2014.01.015
Crosby P(2012)Building Resilience in Large High-Technology ProjectsInternational Journal of Information Technology Project Management10.4018/jitpm.20121001023:4(21-40)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/jitpm.2012100102
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