Post Mortem Meeting

performance improvement projects Medium Popularity: 3

Benefits:

Improved system reliability.
Reduced incident recurrence.
Better incident management.
Enhanced team learning.

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Topics discussion order:

1. Incident Overview

2. Root Cause Analysis

3. Preventative Measures

4. Lessons Learned

Introduction

Post Mortem Meetings are designed to dissect and analyze incidents or failures to improve system reliability and performance. The meeting covers a detailed overview of the incident, conducts a root cause analysis, discusses preventative measures, and documents lessons learned. The focus is on creating an actionable plan to address issues and avoid repeat occurrences.

Meeting onboarding

When introducing participants to the meeting use something along the following lines:

Brief introduction to the Post Mortem Meeting:

"This meeting focuses on understanding what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future."
For topic Incident Overview:

"Describe the incident in detail, including what happened, when it occurred, and its impact. Ensure everyone has a clear understanding."
For topic Root Cause Analysis:

"Analyze the root cause of the incident. Identify any underlying issues that contributed to the incident occurring."
For topic Preventative Measures:

"Identify and discuss measures that can be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future. Develop an action plan for implementing these measures."
For topic Lessons Learned:

"Reflect on the incident and document lessons learned. Share these lessons with the wider team to improve future incident management."

Tips & Tricks

Hold regular incident review meetings.

Focus on root cause analysis.

Identify preventative measures.

Document lessons learned.

Async or hybrid meeting?

Use Team O'clock Agenda for your next Post Mortem Meeting and:

Add notes and reactions async for each topic
Define the current focus topic and set timers for each topic
Complete a topic, not allowing for further notes
Decide on action items and update your tool of choice

Agenda Meeting

Recap