Learning from a Project "Post-Mortem"

Lessons learned after a project is complete are often the most valuable. 

Reflecting back I can identify several major lessons that I have learned and grown from after the completion of a project.  During my first year teaching at the high school level, I was asked to serve as a member of a team to redesign curriculum for a newly proposed course.  My supervisor, my mentor teacher, two veteran teachers, and myself worked hand in hand to develop the curriculum.  This process was completely new to me and therefore I experienced many road bumps along the way. 

Now viewing the project "post-mortem" I have recognized many processes, project artifacts, and activities that helped us to find success.  First, the lines of communication were open and used frequently.  We held bi-weekly meetings in which a clear agenda was adhered to.  In addition, resources from other departments and previously developed curriculum were used as resources.  My supervisor delegated tasks and activities which allowed each member of the team to take responsibility and ownership of their own unique aspect of the project.  Each member of the team participated effectively and met all deadlines.  For my first experience writing curriculum, I was very pleased with the experience and happy with our end product.

Although I found this project to be very successful, it could have been even more successful with some slight changes.  The only people to review or give feedback to the curriculum we were developing were individuals already within our team.  If we had branched out or asked for outside feedback from other teachers or even students, we may have been able to identify additional areas in need of improvement or clarification. In addition, since we were each working on our own portions of the curriculum, parts of the finished project felt a bit choppy.  This could have been avoided with some additional collaboration or final editing.

 

Greer, M. (2010). The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects! (Laureate Custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.