Plagam mortiferam infligere.
April 4, 2007 11:04 PM   Subscribe

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 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
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]


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


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