For many people the terms "project post mortem" often conjure up images of people sitting around at the end of a failed project asking, "What went wrong?" However, effective post mortems are a crucial aspect of closing both successful and unsuccessful projects. A project post mortem should be about improving assumptions and procedures so that future projects are more efficient and effective.
The Project Post Mortem Report is an important element of the project post mortem as it documents the particular success and failures of a project. It provides an historical record of the planned and actual project budget and schedules, other selected metrics and it contains important lessons learned and recommendations for future projects.