Template

Premortem template

Before a project starts: imagine it has failed badly, write down every reason why, and change the plan to stop the likeliest ones.

45 minutesFor Project leads and teams about to commit to something largeAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. The plan, in two minutes4 min
    • What are we about to commit to, and by when?
  2. It is a year from now, and it failed2 min
    • Imagine the worst realistic outcome. Picture it.
  3. Everybody writes why, alone8 min
    • What went wrong that nobody wanted to say out loud?
  4. Read them out, one each in turn12 min
    • Which reasons came up more than once?
  5. Which are likely, and which would hurt most9 min
    • Which three would sink us, and how likely is each?
  6. What changes in the plan10 min
    • What do we do now so this does not happen?
    • Who owns each change?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

The plan. Move every customer to the new billing system by the end of March.

Reasons it failed. Old invoices did not convert (said by four people); support was not trained; the old system was switched off too early.

Changes. Convert a sample of 500 invoices in January (Noah). Keep the old system read-only until June (Maya).

Running it well

Ways to change it

Fifteen minutesOne question — “it failed: why?” — each person names one reason, and the top three get an owner.
For an eventThe same steps for a launch, a conference or an office move. The reasons are different; the method is not.

When to skip it. For small things that can be undone in a day. Save it for decisions that are expensive to reverse.

Questions

What is a premortem?

A meeting held before a project starts, where the team imagines it has already failed and works out why, so the plan can be changed in time.

Who invented the premortem?

The psychologist Gary Klein described it in the Harvard Business Review in 2007.

How is a premortem different from a risk assessment?

A risk list asks what might go wrong. A premortem tells people it already has and asks them to explain it, which makes it easier to say uncomfortable things.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

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