November - December 2001

Engineering Trends

Post-Mortem Project Analysis: On the Road to Continuous Improvement

by Todd Yuzuriha

Executing projects well is critical to the success of any engineering organization. As engineers and technical professionals, we have access to many analytical tools that can help us find the most efficient and effective ways of doing things. We need to use these tools and take an active role in analyzing our projects as soon as they're completed, so we can determine areas of improvement. By conducting a "post-mortem project analysis" every time you finish a project, you can make a significant contribution to your company's — and your own — well-being.

Post-mortem project reviews should include, at a minimum, three areas:

• Roles and responsibilities
• Communication channels
• Tools for the job

Roles and Responsibilities

One of the potential snags on any engineering project is not knowing who is doing what. When team members don't know their responsibilities — or those of their colleagues — some tasks inevitably will go unfinished. Others may be duplicated. Incomplete tasks delay the project, and some team members may develop hard feelings. Then, it's even more difficult to get back on track.

My team has completed more than 40 product development projects during the past year. Overall, I think we do extremely well at executing projects. But having said that, we know we can always improve the process.

One of our gray areas involves the electrical design handoff to the PCB layout designer. We need to spell out responsibilities carefully, so that engineers and designers don't get development tasks and timelines confused. When responsibilities are not clearly defined, we see inconsistencies in our product designs. A post-mortem project review lets us apply what we've learned to our next project. Ultimately, we have clearer role definitions and generally see improvements in subsequent efforts.

Clear Communication Channels

Invariably, many different people and groups coordinate projects. The art comes in establishing clear communication channels. We walk a fine line between e-mail proliferation and keeping every project member informed.

Many post-mortem project reviews indicate that a communication breakdown occurred somewhere in the project cycle. The answer may simply be to identify project leaders at project start-up. All communications can then flow through these leaders. Two of their key responsibilities will be to determine what vital pieces of information each project team member needs, and then making sure they get that information.

The Right Tools for the Job

One of the great things about being engineers is that we often have access to the latest and greatest technology tools. These tools frequently help us do our jobs better. For example, modeling and simulation packages are becoming more and more sophisticated, and tools to integrate the design process continue to improve.

Keep on the lookout for tools that will speed up and improve your work. Bring these ideas to a post-mortem review. Make sure you have a clear grasp of how they can benefit your next project. Try to quantify a tool's benefit and estimate when it will pay for itself.

Using your analytical skills to study how projects could have gone better is a key step toward continuous improvement. The payback from these critical reviews is that your job becomes more fun — and you become more productive.

Todd Yuzuriha is the author of How to Succeed as an Engineer: A Practical Guide to Enhance Your Career. For more information, go to www.engineeringsuccess.com.