Week 3 OutlinePost-MortemBy: Jamaral Johnson

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After Actions Review• In this presentation I will do my best

to highlight what went wrong.

• This is just an overview of my performance, and our team process.

• Other details can be found on my blog.

• Goal: To come up with a presentation outline in week 3 for the presentation in week 5−There wasn’t any metrics, there was no

way of knowing if I met the goal or not.

• Actual: I believe what actually happened is that we completed an actual paper, not an outline.−I (Jay) was not clear in my understanding

of what happened.

Performance Against Goals

Performance Against Schedule• Plan: We were told to have all parts

completed by, Tuesday, June 25−I thought parts meant theme as the

email suggest.

• Actual: I did not finish my part till Thursday, June 27−I posted it six hours before it was due.

Performance Against Quality• Quality goal: There was know

explicit definition of quality...−The only thing listed was send it through

write point...I failed to ask questions about this...

• Actual: I felt as if the part of the assignment that I turned in was horrible...−I turned it in late.−I barely understood what I was talking

about.

Team Post-Mortem

Project Planning How Was the Project Planned?• Who was responsible for original

plans?−How did that work? Right set of people?

• Was project well defined from beginning?−Was there an actual written plan?−How was project plan communicated?−How well did that work?

• Was the plan a good one?−What was good? What was missing?

• Was the plan realistic?

• How did the plan evolve over time?−Was the change good or bad?−How did the changes affect the project?

• Key areas for improvement:−Make very specific recommendations.

Project Planning Was the Plan the Right One?

Research & Development How Was R&D Managed?• How was the project managed

through R&D? −I was unsure who was responsible for

what...and I did not ask.−The improvements I would like to make

in week 4 are knowing what is clearly expected of me.

• How did the R&D teams communicate−The assignment was communicated via

email and the OLS?−I thought the primary communication

was email, during class I noticed that everyone posted papers.

Research & Development How Effective & Efficient Was R&D?• Identifying & solving technical

problems−I tried at the last possible minute to

develop a method of communication my progress and failed to do that?

−I think I did the best I could but it was not effective.

−What worked was the idea that we could actually communicate in real time and all work on the assignment together.

−I had no idea no one was getting my emails.

Research & Development How Effective & Efficient Was R&D?

• Estimates & execution−My estimates were way off what I said I

was going to do.−What caused me to estimate so poorly is.

I overestimated my abilities as a writer.−I did not understand the scope of the

question until I actually started to answer it.

Project Management How Was the Project Managed?

• Meetings: most of the meetings were handled over email and forum.−This did not work at all for me, because I

did know what, I did not know. Until the day of class when I was given information that I did not know

• Communication: April seemed to really take a lead role on this project.−she did a great job taking a proactive

approach.

Project Management How Was the Project Managed?• Changes: I did know what the scope

of the assignment was to the night of class.−This did not work well for me at all.

• Other methods: I got all the emails, and what was posted in the forum was not different. −What I was not aware of is that people

had posted there assignments in the forum and everyone stopped communicating via email.

Quality Assurance & Support

• How did final product compare against quality goals?−I have no idea if I even did it correctly. I

am still unaware of the teams reaction to what I turned in. There is not an active discussion about how to avoid future failures.

−What seems to be happening is more conflict avoidance. However, if I do not know where I went wrong...How do I improve?

Key Lessons

What Went Right• Summarize in quick bullet points

specific things that worked well−I love the fact that April took a proactive

role in the breakdown and distribution of the team assignment.

−The Learning Team Charter states

What Went Wrong• Summarize in quick bullet points

specific things that caused problems−I did not ask enough questions?−I made catastrophic assumptions that

caused team failure and paralysis.

• How did team respond to problems?−No one on the team other than April

addressed me directly. Even when I did not meet my own 12 noon deadline, no one called. Even though I posted my number everywhere and said call if you have questions.

Recommendations• The most critical recommendation I

could make is to meet in person, if no one wants to try different technologies.

• I will do a detailed summary of this presentation via video showing specific examples of where I and we as a team kind of dropped the ball.

Now that you have read it...• Do you think the post-mortem is

effective?

• Is it too detailed, or not detailed enough?

• Should I add graphics or media, if so what type?

• Are there grammar errors that are distracting?

Thank you for your time!