CenSus Help Desk Project Debrief

1Project perceptions

1.1What characteristics did the project seem to have when it was started?

1.2What characteristics did it have when it was completed?

1.3What

.. changed during the project?

.. turned out different than expected?

.. was accurately foreseen?

.. was unforeseen?

1.4What extra information would have been helpful at the start of the project?

2Knowledge and expertise gained in the project

2.1From who?

2.2By whom?

2.3How was it developed?

2.4How was it used in the project?

2.5Was this identified as needed when the project began?

If not, why not?

2.6How can it be used again?

2.7Where could it be used again?

3Results of project estimates

3.1What things were estimated before the project began?

3.2How accurate did these estimates prove to be?

3.3What was well estimated?

3.4What was over-estimated?

3.5What was under-estimated?

3.6What were the warning signs that estimations were under or over?

3.7What information was used to make the estimates?

3.8With hindsight, could these estimates have been improved?

3.9What extra information would have improved the estimates?

4Project failures

4.1What went wrong?

4.2Why did it go wrong?

Poor preparation and skills

Flawed methods

Poor judgement

Bad luck

Inexperience

What were the real root causes?

4.3Why was this a "failure"?

How measured?

Measured by who?

Is it a question of opinion?

4.4Was this anticipated when the project began?

4.5If it was anticipated beforehand, how did the contingencies and plans mitigate against it?

4.6What early warning signs were there that something was going wrong?

4.7How was it corrected or recovered?

4.8Could this failure have been worse than it was?

4.9Could correction or recovery be improved next time?

4.10Could the problems be avoided next time?

4.11What opportunity does this failure present?

5Neutral activities

5.1What activities or information made no real difference to the outcome?

5.2Would their removal have created extra risks?

5.3What were the warning signs that these were low priority activities?

5.4How could these be identified in the future?

5.5Why did they make no difference?

6Project successes

6.1What was successful?

6.2How was it successful?

6.3Why was it successful?

6.4What signs of success were evident during development?

6.5How this can be repeated the next time?

6.6Could it be improved yet again?