What I like about this time of year is that it provides an opportunity for reflection on the past year and planning for the new year, given that I thought it was fitting to do a year-end retrospective.

Here is something I’ve considered for myself and would like you to consider:

• What have you done in the past year that is worked well?
• What challenges or barriers have you had?
• What have you done that is not worked well?
• What do you plan to do to improve for the new year?

(For this last item, I like to keep it to three things or less. Just as with an actual retrospective, it is difficult for us to focus on more than a few things and do a good job with those improvements.)

What’s great about a retrospective is that it is not only an opportunity to look for and commit to improvements, but it is also an opportunity to stop and smell the roses… Like myself, most project managers are focused on the negative, not to be negative people, but focused on what could potentially go wrong so we can reduce the likelihood or impact of that threat risk. It is great that a retrospective not only has us look at things that did not go the way we had planned or hoped for, but also has us look at what went well! Don’t forget to use this opportunity to acknowledge your successes and those that supported you with these! A retrospective is a great opportunity to express gratitude to others.

As a person who started project management using the traditional approach, I have done many project post-mortems. Admittedly, it is tough to get attendance at a project post-mortem, as it is often viewed as a project management funeral, and it could even be wrought with blame. Of course, proper facilitation of this meeting can make it a valuable place to capture lessons learned. Even if attendance is poor, I would still do my best to get feedback from team members and lessons learned for the project. Frequently, I capture these in a risk checklist or by updating project management documents accordingly. I then use this information for future projects, to affect improvement, and have a better chance of project success. A retrospective, in some ways, is similar to a project management post mortem. However, most people do not want to make that association since, as noted, post-mortems have not been well-received…

So, consider the following for yourself, for your company, and perhaps even for your family, as you close up the past year…:

• What have you done in the past year that is worked well?
• What challenges or barriers have you had?
• What have you done that is not worked well?
• What do you plan to do to improve for the new year?

(Again, I like to keep this to 3 items or less. Just as with an actual retrospective it is difficult for us to focus on more than a few things and do a good job with those improvements.)

I hope you were able to complete the past year with strength and focus. And, I wish you the very best in your planning for the New Year! May your plans be valuable to yourself, your company, and your clients. And remember that our plans, our vision, and our mission are what drive our future!

If you’re interested in learning more about agile project management, please contact me at: sparente@pmoadvisory.com or use the following link to register for my next PMI-ACP course: https://www.pmoadvisory.com/pmi-certification/agile-acp/

I look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you at a future class!

About Susan Parente:

PMP, PMI-RMP, PMI-ACP, PSM I, CSM, CSPO, CISSP, CRISC, RESILIA, ITIL, GLCP, & MS Eng. Mgmt.

Susan Parente is an instructor at PMO Advisory, an Associate Professor at Post University, Adjunct Professor at Montclair State University, and a Lecturer at University of Virginia. She is an author, mentor and teacher focused on risk management, traditional and Agile project management. Her experience is augmented by her Masters in Engineering Management with a focus in Marketing of Technology from George Washington University, DC, along with a number of professional certifications. Ms. Parente has 18+ years’ experience leading software and business development projects in the private and public sectors, including a decade of experience implementing IT projects for the DoD.