# Postmortem

## Line-by-line Instructions

### What are the goals of this postmortem report?

This is a reusable introduction to any postmortem report that helps to set a constructive tone.

### What are the most important points of this postmortem report?

Highlight the most important points for quick reference later. If there is one lesson learned that the team agrees should be acted on and not forgotten, make sure to list it here.

### Team Member Quotes

If any team members want to make a statement "on the record" regarding this project, include that here. It is important to allow all members of the team to be heard.

### Valuable Bi-Products

List reusable code, documentation, intrastructure, or process improvements that were produced as part of this project. These items are offered for reuse on later projects or later releases of this project.

### Lessons Learned and Recommendations

List things that you learned during this release cycle. There are several prompts that ask you to think about lessons learned in different categories. Thinking back on what happened and recording what you have learned is one of the best ways to improve the software development process.

There are several prompts that ask you to think of refinements to the process, the release checklist, the software development methodology, and other document templates. The postmortem meeting is a good time to gather suggestions for improvement ideas. Later, those suggestions should be evaluated and integrated into the overall process to be used in the next release cycle.
