Project Post-Mortem Template for Financial Services

# Project Post-Mortem Template - Financial Services

## Purpose
Complete within two weeks of project closure to capture insights while they are fresh and improve future project delivery.

## When to Use
A post-mortem template covering project objectives vs outcomes, timeline analysis, budget review, lessons learned, and recommendations for future projects.

## Instructions
1. Review the template below and familiarise yourself with the structure
2. Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your financial services business details
3. Customise the tone and formatting to match your brand
4. Save in your preferred tool (Notion or Asana)

---

# Project Post-Mortem

**Project Name:** [Project Name]
**Client:** [Client Name, or "Internal"]
**Project Lead:** [Name]
**Post-Mortem Date:** [Date]
**Attendees:** [List of names]

---

## 1. Project Overview

**Original objective:** [What the project set out to achieve]
**Start date:** [Planned Start Date] | **Actual start:** [Actual Start Date]
**End date:** [Planned End Date] | **Actual end:** [Actual End Date]
**Budget:** $[Planned Budget] | **Actual spend:** $[Actual Spend]

---

## 2. Objectives vs. Outcomes

| Objective | Target | Actual Outcome | Met? |
|-----------|--------|---------------|------|
| [Objective 1, e.g. "Reduce onboarding time"] | [Target, e.g. "From 14 days to 5 days"] | [Result, e.g. "Achieved 6 days"] | [Yes / Partial / No] |
| [Objective 2] | [Target] | [Result] | [Yes / Partial / No] |
| [Objective 3] | [Target] | [Result] | [Yes / Partial / No] |

**Overall assessment:** [One to two sentences. For example: "The project delivered the core functionality on brief, though two of the five objectives were only partially met due to scope changes in Week 4. The client has expressed satisfaction with the outcome and has indicated interest in a Phase 2."]

---

## 3. Timeline Analysis

**Was the project delivered on time?** [Yes / No - X days/weeks late / X days early]

**Timeline breakdown:**

| Phase | Planned Duration | Actual Duration | Variance | Reason for Variance |
|-------|-----------------|-----------------|----------|-------------------|
| [Phase 1, e.g. "Discovery"] | [X weeks] | [X weeks] | [+/- X days] | [Explanation] |
| [Phase 2, e.g. "Design"] | [X weeks] | [X weeks] | [+/- X days] | [Explanation] |
| [Phase 3, e.g. "Build"] | [X weeks] | [X weeks] | [+/- X days] | [Explanation] |
| [Phase 4, e.g. "Test and Launch"] | [X weeks] | [X weeks] | [+/- X days] | [Explanation] |

---

## 4. Budget Review

| Category | Budgeted | Actual | Variance | Notes |
|----------|----------|--------|----------|-------|
| [Category 1, e.g. "Labour"] | $[Amount] | $[Amount] | [+/-$Amount] | [Explanation] |
| [Category 2, e.g. "Software/Tools"] | $[Amount] | $[Amount] | [+/-$Amount] | [Explanation] |
| [Category 3, e.g. "External Contractors"] | $[Amount] | $[Amount] | [+/-$Amount] | [Explanation] |
| **Total** | **$[Amount]** | **$[Amount]** | **[+/-$Amount]** | |

**Profitability:** [e.g. "Project delivered at [X]% margin, which was [above/below/in line with] the target of [X]%"]

---

## 5. What Went Well

- [Item 1, e.g. "Client communication was exceptional. Weekly updates and proactive risk flagging meant there were no surprises at delivery."]
- [Item 2, e.g. "The discovery phase was thorough and saved significant rework later. The requirements document was referenced throughout."]
- [Item 3, e.g. "Cross-team collaboration between design and development was seamless, with daily check-ins keeping both teams aligned."]
- [Item 4]

---

## 6. What Did Not Go Well

- [Item 1, e.g. "Scope creep in Phase 3 added approximately 20 hours of unplanned work. Three change requests were accepted without formal impact assessment."]
- [Item 2, e.g. "Testing was compressed into the final week, which meant two bugs were found post-launch that could have been caught earlier."]
- [Item 3, e.g. "Resource availability was a challenge. The lead developer was split across two projects, which caused delays."]
- [Item 4]

---

## 7. Lessons Learned

| Lesson | Category | Recommendation |
|--------|----------|---------------|
| [Lesson 1, e.g. "Scope changes need formal assessment before acceptance"] | Process | [e.g. "Implement a change request form that includes effort estimate and timeline impact"] |
| [Lesson 2, e.g. "Testing needs dedicated time, not leftover time"] | Planning | [e.g. "Allocate minimum 20% of project timeline to testing, starting at Phase 2"] |
| [Lesson 3, e.g. "Single-resource dependencies create risk"] | Resourcing | [e.g. "Ensure at least two team members are across critical components"] |

---

## 8. Client Feedback

**Client satisfaction score:** [X/10]
**Client comments:** [Direct quotes or paraphrased feedback from the client]

---

## 9. Recommendations for Future Projects

1. [Recommendation 1 with specific, actionable detail]
2. [Recommendation 2]
3. [Recommendation 3]

---

## 10. Action Items

| Action | Owner | Deadline | Status |
|--------|-------|----------|--------|
| [Action from this post-mortem] | [Name] | [Date] | [Open] |
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Open] |
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Open] |

---

**Post-mortem facilitated by:** [Name]
**Document shared with:** [Distribution list]
**Filed in:** [Location/Link]

---

**Complexity:** intermediate | **Setup time:** 20 minutes | **Tools:** Notion, Asana, Slack

Note: This template has been tailored for financial services businesses in Australia. Adjust terminology and compliance references to match your specific context.