A Post-Implementation Review (PIR) is an assessment and review of the completed working solution. It is performed after a period of live running, typically from 6 weeks to 6 months after the project has been completed depending on the organisation and the type of solution.
There are three purposes for a Post-Implementation Review:
- To determine the extent to which the project met its objectives, delivered planned levels of benefit, and addressed the specific requirements as originally defined.
- To examine the working of the business solutions to see if further improvements can be made to optimise the benefit delivered.
- To learn lessons from this project that can be used by the team members and by the organisation to improve future project work and solutions.
In some cases, the first of these objectives can be a contractual issue. Where that is the case, it may be safer to run separate reviews - one focused on contractual compliance and the other seeking to derive further benefit from a no-blame review.
The PIR is intended to be an assessment and review of the final working solution. There should have been at least one full processing and reporting cycle completed.
The PIR may be undertaken during a trial or pilot phase of the project.A PIR should not be performed while the initial bugs are still being dealt with or while users are still being trained, coached and generally getting used to its operation.
Time the PIR to allow final improvements to be made in order to gain maximum benefit from the solution. PIR results are intended to help generate those final benefits for Stakeholders.
Who should perform a Post-Implementation Review?
- Usually the project team members of the project team want to complete the review; they understand what was required and how the problem transpired.
- Some organisations feel that the PIR should be an independent review to reduce the risk that project team errors or omissions may be overlooked.
- Other organisations use an independent audit team working in consultation with the business users and project team. The project team can then consider the input and also to examine how to generate further value from the solution.
Project / Program Evaluation
Most projects require a post-implementation review (PIR) and final evaluation we looked earlier at the PIR. The project evaluation may be conducted at any time after the project has closed, but preferably one to six months after the close. The evaluation may be conducted by a member (or members) of the project team or by people who were not associated with the project.
The evaluation will identify and document what:
- worked
- didn’t work
- improvements that can be made (in relation to the conduct of future projects)
The evaluation will assess the:
- effectiveness of the project outputs (i.e. products) and outcomes (effectiveness indicators)
- efficiency of the techniques and processes used to conduct the project (efficiency indicators).
Like all project management activities, careful planning of the review will ensure a quality outcome consistent with the original project purpose. The planning you have already conducted in Part D of this Workbook will address the:
- scope and objectives of the review
- approach, process and agenda
- participants involved
- schedule of work for the conduct of the review.
In specific terms, your review should cover:
- effectiveness indicators, such as:
- assess and report project outcomes against objectives
- assess the quality of the new projects or services delivered
- efficiency indicators, such as:
- identify deficiencies in the project planning, execution and management, including the management of:
- project outputs
- changes/variations to the project plan
- risk
- reporting and communication to stakeholders
- assess the suitability and value of methodologies, templates, standards and procedures used by the project
- assess the accuracy and appropriateness of how workloads were estimated
- identify deficiencies in the project planning, execution and management, including the management of:
The evaluation will also identify and recommend project and project management improvements which can be applied on future projects.
In a nutshell, evaluation is about making judgements about the “worth” of the project. That is, how well the project’s objectives have been achieved (in terms of outputs and outcomes), and how well the project has run as an enterprise.