Most would agree that a Post Implementation Review (PIR) is an important step during the closure of any project. Not to lay blame for anything that may have gone wrong but to take some lessons forward into future projects.
However, in many cases, this important step is skipped, rushed or otherwise doesn’t provide the maximum value it could or should to the organisation. In this blog we explore the reasons why this may be occurring and offer some insights to make your PIR process more robust.
Some of the most common issues arising during the PIR process – and some possible causes of these issues – are as follows:
| Issue | Possible causes |
| PIR skipped entirely | They are not seen as important within the organisation, there is no PMO championing PIRs, or team members are too busy or have moved on to new project(s). |
| PIR performed too late | A desire to wait until hypercare or other closure activities expire before the PIR is performed means it is not as fresh in people’s minds as it could be. |
| PIR takes too long | An effort-intensive process for compiling feedback and lessons learned puts people off taking part. |
| Guarded responses | There may be a perceived lack of impartiality or confidentiality with the responses, which puts people off being involved. |
| Blame game | The PIR is not framed correctly and is too backward-focussed and not looking to future project success. |
| Reinventing the wheel | The PIR process seems to change at the end of every project and puts people off. |
| Too long, didn’t read | The PIR write-up is overly wordy and lacking genuine insight, people put it in the too hard basket. |
Our Top 5 Tips to increase the efficiency and usefulness of PIRs:
1. Don’t wait too long after go-liveEven if you’re in a hypercare period or there’s a ‘Phase 2’ coming, start your PIR close on the heels of your actual go-live. Memories will be freshest this way and people will be less likely to have dispersed onto other projects.
2. Simple, repeatable processesMake your PIR process as streamlined as possible. Look into using online surveys. Spend some time getting the areas and survey questions right and then try to stick with them so you get a history of responses for different projects over time.
3. Confidentiality is keyIf people feel feedback will be traced back to them and there will be negative repercussions if they’re totally honest, many will either not respond or provide very guarded answers. If you have a PMO or Project Assurance function that can be a trusted impartial middle-man for possibly confronting feedback, use them.
4. Stay positiveIt’s great to hear about what went well and celebrate but you often learn more from mistakes than successes and so these need to be drawn out as well. However, when pointing out what didn’t work or didn’t work too well, it’s important to provide a solution rather than just state the problem.
5. Be succinctA good PIR report isn’t just a data dump of all the feedback received. The best PIR reports present information in a visual format that is easy to digest at a glance and highlights problem areas without the need for lengthy written passages. |
Using an ‘external’ organisation to conduct your PIR can be an easy way to achieve all of the above objectives and avoid the issues described earlier in this blog. If you would like to learn more about PIRs or talk to us about how we could assist, contact us via contact@glisk.com.au.
