Post Mortem Report Page 1 of 5

Brought to you by Software Planner (www.SoftwarePlanner.com).

Deliver software solutions to specification, on time and on budget with Software Planner. Tracks
customer requirements, test cases, defects, project deliverables, and your schedule
(appointments and to-do lists) via the web.

Discussion forums and contact management also built in. FREE 2 WEEK TRIAL

Interested in learning more? Call us at 800-773-7785 or click here.

Software Planner Guided Tour Pricing Brochure Free Trial Software Planner Details

Post Mortem Report

Owners and List of Contacts

Name Email Phone Role

John Doe Jdoe@Me.com 303-894-7315 W Project Manager
303-471-8344 H Development Lead
303-203-5567 Pgr
Joe Tester System Test Lead
Jane ProdSupport Production Support Mgr
Joe UserMgr User Test Lead
Joe Tester Tester
Jane Tester Tester
Joe Customer Department VP
Jane Customer Department Mgr
Josey Customer Product Support

Signoffs
Phase Name Date Signature
Post Mortem John Doe, PM/DM xx/xx/xx

Joe Tester, System Test

Lead

Jane ProdSupport,
Production Support Mgr

_____________________________________________________________________________
Developed by Pragmatic Software Co., Inc. http://www.PragmaticSW.com
Post Mortem Report Page 2 of 5

Joe User Mgr, UM

Joe Customer, Customer

Revision History

Date Reason for change(s) Author(

s)

09/15/198 First Draft John Doe

8

Table of Contents

OWNERS AND LIST OF CONTACTS...................ERROR: REFERENCE SOURCE NOT FOUND

SIGNOFFS............................................................ERROR: REFERENCE SOURCE NOT FOUND
REVISION HISTORY............................................ERROR: REFERENCE SOURCE NOT FOUND
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background......................................................................................................................3
1.2 References............................................................................................................................3
2. Processes...................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Processes that were most effective.......................................................................................3
2.2 Processes that had a negative effect on the project..............................................................3
3. Action Items................................................................................................................................4
3.1 How to continue doing what was done “Right”..................................................................4
3.2 How to correct what “Needs Improvement”......................................................................4

_____________________________________________________________________________
Developed by Pragmatic Software Co., Inc. http://www.PragmaticSW.com
Post Mortem Report Page 3 of 5

1. Introduction
The purpose of the Post Mortem Report is to describe in detail the specific activities that were
most effective and those that need adjustments prior to the next test project. A goal of the
document is to inform future project teams of the obstacles encountered during this release.
These activities will focus upon identifying the following:

• Processes which need adjustment

• Most effective Processes
• Providing Action items

1.1 Background

Describe the project in detail here.

1.2 References

List all reference material used to create this report:

1. PostMortemAnalysis.Doc , dated xx/xx/xx

2. [ProductName] Functional Specification, xx/xx/xx
3. [ProductName] Test Plan, xx/xx/xx

2. Processes

2.1 Processes that were most effective

The following processes were described as positive to the project.

Ref # Category # of Votes “Good Statements”

2.1.1 Team Work 6 Good/Responsive Communication

2.1.2 Team Work 5 Cooperation from Program Management

2.1.3 Risk mgmt. 2 Testers stuck to project schedule
2.1.4 Document 2 Test Plan

2.2 Processes that had a negative effect on the project

Ref # Category # of Votes “Need Improvement”

2.2.1 Planning 4 Tester turnover
2.2.2 Planning 3 Setup delay

_____________________________________________________________________________
Developed by Pragmatic Software Co., Inc. http://www.PragmaticSW.com
Post Mortem Report Page 4 of 5

3 Project Manager (PM) should be able to review the detail

2.2.3 Team Work
test plan & test cases
2.2.4 Risk mgmt. 2 Incomplete testing as per the test plan
2.2.5 Planning 2 Functional specification is almost close to final
2.2.6 Team Work 1 Test Case review with PM
2.2.7 Planning 1 Option to start testing sooner – needed more info
2.2.8 Team Work 1 Commitment from everyone who is/was involved

3. Action Items

The action items themselves must be concrete and objective, that is: dates must be assigned,
assignees identified, and a form of “measurement” determined so as to assess the
performance towards the action item’s end objective.

3.1 How to continue doing what was done “Right”

Ref # 2.1.1 Continue to be polite and nice. Do not be-little or condescend someone or his or
her input.

Ref # 2.1.2 Educate the value of a solid testing methodology and process.

Ref # 2.1.3 Continue to manage risk.

Ref # 2.1.4 Continue to review plans.

3.2 How to correct what “Needs Improvement”

Ref # 2.2.1 Resource planning from management.

Currently researching several programs to retain QA employees. This will
require a considerable amount of effort from the team.

Ref # 2.2.2 Project Plan should have ample setup time for hardware.
The new test plan templates will prompt the test lead to ask certain questions
about hardware/software requirements during the planning stage. This will allow
better planning for configuration management.

Ref # 2.2.3 Notify Project Management upon completion of each project deliverable.
Our current methodology would have prevented this. Weekly status reports
would indicate what tasks need to be completed and what tasks have been
completed. These reports would indicate when a review is required by PM.

Ref # 2.2.4 Review and Prioritize Test Tasks.

Manage risks associated with slippage. Many times the project plan is under
estimated which causes missed due dates. One way to mitigate this risk is to
stack-rank the importance of each test case. Also, on larger projects the
business should drive an effort to coordinate the dependencies on deliverables.

Ref # 2.2.5 Draft form of functional specification will need to be used in preliminary test
planning. The test plan should refer to sections of the functional spec.
This is a common practice and it should be noted in our risks and critical dates

_____________________________________________________________________________
Developed by Pragmatic Software Co., Inc. http://www.PragmaticSW.com
Post Mortem Report Page 5 of 5

section. It needs to be clear to the PM that if the functional specifications

change, it may have an impact on the test schedule. One tool that would help is
the Defect Tracker software (http://www.DefectTracker.com ). When
requirements change e-mail should be sent to all related parties.

Ref # 2.2.6 During test case creation, periodic peer reviews need to be conducted by the test
lead. After adjustments have been made to existing test cases, the PM should
review the test cases. With our new test methodology, this should no longer be
a problem. During the planning phase, a weekly status report will keep all team
members informed of progress and slippage.

Ref # 2.2.7 Start dates for resources need to be flexible.

Test needs to have accurate project forecasts. Also inform the PM (set
expectations) that we do not have a solution for this one.

Ref # 2.2.8 The quality of testing can be improved when feedback from the team is
documented and analyzed. This feedback can only be communicated by
participation in the post-mortem process. Solicit feedback during the project in
the form of reviews, stopping by, a phone call, and triage meetings. Keep notes
for the post-mortem report.

Brought to you by Software Planner (www.SoftwarePlanner.com). Deliver software solutions to

specification, on time and on budget with Software Planner. Tracks customer requirements, test
cases, defects, project deliverables, and your schedule (appointments and to-do lists) via the
web. Discussion forums and contact management also built in. FREE 2 WEEK TRIAL.

Software Planner Guided Tour Pricing Brochure Free Trial Software Planner Details

_____________________________________________________________________________
Developed by Pragmatic Software Co., Inc. http://www.PragmaticSW.com