| PSI CORPORATE - An Exercise in Project Forensics |
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Pan the cubicles, cue up the mystery theme music, close in on the arrival of the Project Scene Investigators, the PSI. Let the assignment post-mortem begin before the witnesses are gone and no one remembers the significance of the evidence. No matter how well a project has gone, it could have been done better. No matter how poorly it turned out, it has something positive to teach. Which is why the final chapter of any major effort should be an exercise in project forensics, a mining of what might be the most valuable element for the company's long term success: the project team's collective memory of the experience. The post-project debriefing is a search, rescue and recover mission, a sifting of clues to success and a culling of useful evidence from failure. And until the various elements of the project are put under the light of examination, looked at through a microscope, and tested for process DNA, the best practices of the project will not be captured and the ineffective ones will not be eliminated."What is past is prologue" is how Antonio put it in Shakespeare's The Tempest. Yesterday's project is a guide for tomorrow's. And not identifying successful techniques is as inexcusable as repeating mistakes. No Fingerpointing. Blame Throwers Should Be Checked At The Door The goal of PSI forensics is to find out what worked and what didn't -- of separating the wheat from the chaff -- and to figure out why. The process requires four steps. Determine What Worked. Investigators identify, tag and list what was done right during the project. Each PSI is responsible for presenting one piece of evidence in a round-robin format until the group believes it has listed all of the best practices. Identify Miscues. This step is rife with potential for inter-departmental and inter-personal attacks, intended or not. The lead PSI needs to emphasize that their purpose is to gather and analyze evidence so that ineffective practices can be modified in the future or eliminated. Present Solutions. This is where future leaders step up to the plate. The lead PSI opens the floor to suggestions for solving each of the problem areas listed in the previous step. Follow Up. The lead PSI issues a report of the team's findings, detailing the best practices for going forward, problems that future projects might encounter as well as solutions for overcoming them. The report is copied to the PSIs and their teams, plus other key management members for whom the insights should prove valuable. The value of the exercise is evident when participants bring insights learned to their next assignments. The bottom line: The project is history. Learn from it or repeat it. 2006 (c) Mary Tomlinson & John Dreyer About the Authors:
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Mary Tomlinson is president of On-Purpose Partners in Orlando, Fla., a strategic business consulting and communications firm. She spent 18 years as an executive with The Walt Disney Company before joining On-Purpose Partners. She specializes in business and business and marketing consulting; meeting, workshop and retreat facilitation; and speaking engagements. She can be reached at
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John Dreyer is the former head of corporate communications for The Walt Disney Company and is now a communications consultant and writer. He spent 26 years as a senior marketing and communications executive in the entertainment and travel industries. He can be reached at
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