Make PreMortems required

for every project kickoff

Identify the biggest threats to your project and keys to its success, by spending just 45 mins asking 6 simple questions.

Download the Figma template

Name

PreMortem.

Age

Gary Klein introduced them in 1998.

Appearance

Like a RETRO but before a project starts, and with actions you can actually see the benefit of.

Spicy

Listen, we’ve all been there. Let’s shift left. Why not get ahead of every twist and turn and think about what could happen - good or bad - and plan for it… before it happens. The outcome is a list of actions that will help ensure the success of your project. Just imagine, it’s 6 months from now and your project failed. Why did it fail and what could we have done to stop that from happening?

You’ve got my attention

Everyone - functions at all levels - must attend, as a group spend time thinking about:

  1. What could cause our {project} to delay?

  2. What do we need / what don’t we know?

  3. What are you worried about / what asteroids could hit us?

  4. What will keep our {project} on time?

  5. What do we already have that is working?

  6. What are you excited about?


This will identify things to course correct or double down on. You can then form actions to mitigate risks or ensure successes, improving the efficiency of your project.

We should all stop what we’re doing and do this immediately

Flesh out your brief first so all functions have a good understanding of what is expected, in order to better imagine how it could play out.

This is going to solve all my problems

Well, it definitely helps. Here's some examples of the impact:

  • Fosters shared ownership and accountability: Responsibilities are clearly distributed across teams, encouraging collaboration and breaking down silos.

  • Improves quality and focus: Aligns stakeholders to prioritize collaborative and high-impact activities, while reducing time spent on less critical tasks.

  • Enhances feedback effectiveness: Creates structured opportunities for feedback that drive the team toward shared goals and actionable outcomes.

  • Facilitates conflict resolution: Establishes a clear process to manage disagreements constructively, ensuring progress is not blocked and decisions are well-documented.

  • Drives proactive risk management: Encourages early identification of potential risks and success factors, enabling teams to plan and course-correct before issues arise.

Do say

"New year, new mortem."

Don't say

"Not another process."