Understanding Post‑Mortem Review (复盘): Methods and Tools for Effective Analysis

What is a post‑mortem (复盘)? A post‑mortem is a systematic, scientific approach to reviewing past work of an organization or individual, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and preparing for future tasks and plans.

Why conduct a post‑mortem? For individuals, it promotes self‑knowledge and prevents repeating the same mistakes; for teams, it clarifies strengths and weaknesses to enable rational task allocation; for organizations, it clarifies goals, optimizes resource use, and accelerates growth.

How to conduct a post‑mortem? Various formats can be combined to suit specific business needs, such as the 5M1E model, 5 Why, 5W2H, fishbone diagram, team co‑creation, and the Person‑Event‑Time‑Place‑Thing method.

1. 5M1E (Human‑Machine‑Material‑Method‑Environment) The six elements—people, machines, materials, methods, measurements, and environment—form a widely used problem‑analysis model.

2. 5 Why Method This technique repeatedly asks “Why?” up to five times (or as many as needed) to uncover the root cause of a problem.

3. 5W2H Analysis Also known as the “seven‑question” method, it uses five “W” words (Who, What, When, Where, Why) and two “H” words (How, How much) to discover problem clues and design solutions.

4. Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa Diagram) Developed by Japanese quality guru Kaoru Ishikawa, this cause‑and‑effect diagram breaks down a problem into discrete branches to trace root causes.

5. Team Co‑Creation Method A six‑step collaborative process: pose the problem, generate ideas, cluster ideas, name groups, supplement and refine, and reach a decision.

6. Person‑Event‑Time‑Place‑Thing (5 Elements) This framework treats "Person" as the stakeholders, "Event" as the issue, "Time" as the duration, "Place" as the environment, and "Thing" as the resources involved.

Post‑mortem Templates The article provides several ready‑to‑use tables, such as Goal Review, Result Evaluation, Problem Analysis, Verification Analysis, and Personal Action Plan, each illustrated with images.

Overall, the article offers a comprehensive guide to conducting effective post‑mortems using a variety of analytical tools and ready‑made templates to support continuous improvement in R&D and operational contexts.