Plagam mortiferam infligere.

April 4, 2007 11:04 PM

WordFilter: I'm looking for another word for "post mortem". Ideally something that has less death in it.

In the same vein of my dentist calling it "the gold instrument" rather than "the sharp tooth gouger" I find myself in the unlikely position of needing another term for "post mortem". The usage I'm interested in is the discussion a project after it has been completed, not an autopsy.

Due to sensitive nature of the people and the projects I need something with less mortem and more vita. Short and snappy would be great too since I'm tiring of saying "Post project discussion and evaluation."

posted by Ookseer to writing & language (37 comments total)

I personally like post-mortem, but how about epilogue?
posted by hutta at 11:09 PM on April 4, 2007

You could also use wrapup, but it's pretty bland.
posted by hutta at 11:10 PM on April 4, 2007

Retrospective.
posted by aubilenon at 11:17 PM on April 4, 2007

Post factum? Retrospective?
posted by acoutu at 11:19 PM on April 4, 2007

Summation? Appraisal?
posted by Iosephus at 11:24 PM on April 4, 2007

The last place I worked called them debriefings. I don't know if your project entailed as much stress as that implies, but maybe the connotations aren't common knowledge -- nobody in the office mentioned it.
posted by booksandlibretti at 11:28 PM on April 4, 2007

Ye olde AAR, or After Action Review.
posted by deCadmus at 11:28 PM on April 4, 2007

Debriefing?
posted by BoscosMom at 11:31 PM on April 4, 2007

Afterparty.
posted by toxic at 11:46 PM on April 4, 2007

nth Debriefing.
posted by krisjohn at 11:46 PM on April 4, 2007

What's wrong with "review"?

Otherwise, I'd go with "debriefing", which in my experience is quite common.
posted by robcorr at 11:58 PM on April 4, 2007

Completion review?
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:00 AM on April 5, 2007

Postproject? Postproject review?
posted by kisch mokusch at 12:09 AM on April 5, 2007

Recapitulation. Review. Reflection. Rainbow Butterfly Peace and Love Caucus.
posted by eritain at 12:16 AM on April 5, 2007

Clients of mine have used "project recap" and "lessons learned forum" as well as the more formal "post-project analysis".
posted by judith at 12:39 AM on April 5, 2007

We call them retrospectives, or "retros" if you want to be hip.
posted by dws at 12:52 AM on April 5, 2007

Follow up?
posted by Deathalicious at 1:16 AM on April 5, 2007

"Post-game," "analysis," or "post-game analysis."

You could go with something like "taking stock" or "inventory," though those sound awfully self-helpy. May or may not work, depending on the audience.

If you want to have some fun with it, how about "Siskel and Ebert time" or "Critics' Corner"?

I suppose "critique" would be too negative.
posted by Clay201 at 1:16 AM on April 5, 2007

After Action Review, natch. Though I worked for a company which called them Sunset Reviews.
posted by jeanmari at 1:30 AM on April 5, 2007

Seconding "recap." But then again, I'm always inclined to use words that double as musical terms.
posted by bassjump at 2:02 AM on April 5, 2007

Until I read the "more inside" I was thinking 'autopsy'. At least, here in the UK we call what you call autopsies 'post mortems' :)
posted by wackybrit at 2:07 AM on April 5, 2007

You want pop cult? M.E. awards, or have a Quincy.
You want wordplay? Slice-and-dice.
You want legalese? Summation, or peroration.
You want Hollywood? Wrap party.
You serving caffeine? Coffee talk.
You want accurate? Finger-pointing.
posted by rob511 at 4:05 AM on April 5, 2007

I actually had one at a previous company called a post partum.
posted by true at 5:29 AM on April 5, 2007

We call them debriefs. The suits call them post incident assessments.
posted by bonehead at 5:47 AM on April 5, 2007

Recently excused
posted by bkeene12 at 6:49 AM on April 5, 2007

The Japanese word for this is "hanseikai" (反省会), which means "reflection meeting."
posted by adamrice at 7:18 AM on April 5, 2007

Post Operation Overview.

"Everybody join me in the meeting room for a POO."
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:34 AM on April 5, 2007

I hate post-mortem, too...too much like the project failed ("died").
Of the suggestions above, "appraisal" works best for me.

And bonehead: anyone who can use the phrase "post incident assessment" without an ironic smile or deadly embarrasment is a tool and should be sped along to their own post-mortem. <insert ironic smiley here>
posted by I, Credulous at 7:35 AM on April 5, 2007

Post-partum. The project didn't die; it was born.
posted by browse at 8:03 AM on April 5, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Where I used to work, aside from "post-mortem," some people called them Wrapup Reviews or Closing Reviews. Occasionally with the word "Project" thrown in before either.
posted by chimaera at 8:30 AM on April 5, 2007

We called them "Lessons Learned" in my last job.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:52 AM on April 5, 2007

Closure session?

I hate post-mortem too. Especially because we only tend to hold them when something went wrong with a project.
posted by scarabic at 10:14 AM on April 5, 2007

It's an evaluation. Did we set out to achieve the right things? Did we do what we set out to achieve? Did we do it the right way? What did we learn that we can apply to other things we do?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:39 PM on April 5, 2007

Sorry - by that I meant it's just an evaluation. Why the 'post project discussion and...'? 'Evaluation' covers all of it.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 5:40 PM on April 5, 2007

Mop-up. Wrap-up. After action report. Military: hotwash. (I like that one.) Post-op. (Like that one, too.)
posted by laskagirl at 6:29 PM on April 5, 2007

After Action Review.
posted by SenshiNeko at 6:50 PM on April 5, 2007

project summary?
posted by rmless at 11:02 AM on April 7, 2007