Imagine you are working in a project-based global organization. Then, assume that this organization had set up a project to develop and implement a portfolio management software to manage a portfolio of projects and that this project has failed.

Perform a postmortem review on this imaginary project and share the findings of this review with the class. Please pay close attention to the project type (software development) and its requirements (ability to effectively manage a portfolio of projects that are implemented internationally). Make sure your review contains all the elements that the course textbook identifies for a postmortem review.

THE POSTMORTEM REVIEW Sometimes called the post project review or post-implementation review, the project postmortem goes by many names. Regardless of what you call it, the project post- mortem is a review of a project after the project closure acceptance, after all project closure activities are complete, and after the project has been in operational mode for a period of time. The purpose of such a review is to determine the following: 1. Was the project successful? 2. Were all closure activities handled properly, especially any final handoffs from the project team to the operations team or customer? 3. Were lessons learned captured and transferred to project teams across the enter- prise properly? 4. Has the project achieved planned operational outcomesthe business goals and objectives outlined in the project's business case? As can likely be imagined, a postmortem review can be rather stressful, especially if the project was not deemed successful. In such events, individuals could engage in finger-pointing, placing blame, dodging responsibility, skirting accountability, and miss all opportunity for learning, growth, and improvement. Because of the probability of such a negative event, it is the responsibility of the project manager to work with the project sponsor and operational team leadership to ensure that an honest postmortem review occurs without negativity. To establish an honest and positive postmortem review, the project manager, spon- sor, and team must work from the very beginning of the project to cultivate a positive culture: a culture of team, a culture of we are in this together as compared to "us" versus "them," a culture of how can we win together rather than how can I make sure I win and you lose. With this in mind, we can add one more element to our inputs-outputs illustra- tion to capture how the postmortem work will leverage earlier project work. Figure 13.6 illustrates how early planning documents can be used for postmortem review work. Conducting the Postmortem Review The three steps most associated with the postmortem review are: (1) gather feedback from project and operational teams, (2) organize and facilitate a meeting among the teams and key stakeholders, and (3) capture the meeting outcomes in the form of a postmortem report. Gathering Feedback Feedback is important in general, but it is especially important fora postmortem review. Thoughts and opinions from team members are also important, but more so are facts about the project and operations. In order to get the facts, the project sponsor and operations leadership should identify a well-respected and nonbiased person to gather information among the project team members and stakeholders. This same person may