Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
—Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert
Typically, at the end of any significant undertaking, there is a general sense among those involved that it was either a success or failure. We feel that if you follow the process outlined in this primer, you have a much better chance of getting a win… but even so, you should take stock of what has happened.
Post-mortems shouldn’t be reserved just for those projects that go sideways: there are lessons to be learned from successes, though we sometimes don’t take the time to document. Given that you are now in the business of digitally extending your property, it’s time to start building up your corporate memory.
There has been a lot written about how best to carry out post-project analysis: we won’t try to replicate it here. We will, however, set forth a few general notes to bear in mind.
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Use an outside moderator
In an ideal world, this would be the same individual who guided the stakeholders through the goal definition phase at the very outset. As in that case, the role once again is to be neutral and uninflected by the politics and internal dynamics that will have doubtlessly set in over the course of the production.
Involve partners
While this is not always possible, it is almost certainly desirable to get the opinions of those third-parties involved in your project. Their arms-length perspective and subject matter expertise might provide unexpected insights into your work.
Celebrate successes
Even the most Hindenburgian projects have their good moments. Note what worked and why: this will help pull your team towards replicating those outcomes in the future.
Discuss challenges faced and overcome
Even the best planned projects staffed by top teams with a clear understanding of the subtleties of the process contained in this primer (ahem) will encounter unforeseen obstacles. But as all were overcome, sit down and analyze why: the techniques used may well become best practices for your team. Don’t lose that knowledge.
Missed opportunities
Even on those projects that realize the wildest success imaginable, your team will have dropped the ball once or twice. Sometimes this will be due to technology, sometimes it will be related to personnel, sometimes it will be driven by circumstances outside of anyone’s control. Take the time to figure out what happened so that you are less likely to have a repeat performance.
Make recommendations
Distill all of the above into an actual written report. Circulate it to senior executives in your production and do what you can to make them read it. You’re going to be adding further digital extensions to your work: everyone might as well start understanding how and why it works. Again, this document might be best prepared by your digital strategist for consistency’s sake.
Share with other stakeholders
They were bought in to the project at the beginning, they can see the fruits of your teams’ work and they will be curious as to exactly this sort of analysis. For that matter, funding bodies and broadcasters will often make the submission of a post-mortem a requirement for their support… and that all-so-important last drawdown.