#GuildChat for 10/21/16: Post-Project Reflection

Our next #GuildChat takes place Friday, October 21st at 11AM PT/2PM ET. This week we’re discussing post-project reflection.

When you finish a project it’s tempting to immediately move on to the next task on your plate, particularly if you have a lot on the go or the project was difficult. But without reflecting on the successes and challenges of how it went, you can often end up missing key insights from the process and even find yourself making the same mistakes from that project in future work. That said, reflection can be challenging. It’s not always easy to find time for, it can be unproductive when you only focus on what didn’t go right, and may not lead to future improvements if there’s not a strong commitment to change based on what you learned from it.

In this week’s #GuildChat we’ll discuss how to make post-project reflection work for you. We’ll talk about what questions you need to ask yourself to make your reflection productive, who you should involve to see all sides of the work, and what you should do act on what you learn.

Join us this week on #GuildChat to get new ideas on how to use post-project reflection as a tool to constantly improve your work.

Prospective questions:

Q1. Why is reflection after a project is completed important?
Q2. How do you know when post-project reflection has been effective?
Q3. What gets in the way of reflecting on how a project went?
Q4. What processes and/or activities do you find help with this reflection?
Q5. What questions are good to ask when reflecting on how a project went?
Q6. When you’re bringing together a group to reflect on a project, how do you decide who to include?
Q7. How can you keep your reflection positive and productive, rather than simply beating yourself up about past mistakes?
Q8. Reflecting is great, but it needs to be followed by action. How do you ensure this process helps improve future projects?

Missed the chat? Don’t worry – you can still read through what happened on Storify!