6 practical reasons to complete a review and 7 important things to include

If you’re looking for something that will keep you on track, this is a game-changer.

The idea of doing a project review, situation review, or taking time for reflection is not new. You may have heard of all of these things (or others).

Are you being pulled in a million different directions with so many demands on your time that you can’t imagine fitting in one more thing to do?

When you finish a goal, which one of these sounds like you?  

1. You’re excited and want to celebrate
2. You’re over it and don’t want to do anything
3. You’re excited to finally be starting something new
4. You feel like you’re already behind on the next thing 
5. All of the above

I’ve been there. When our schedules are packed, you may wonder when you get to the tasks you WANT to do. It may not seem possible to take the luxury of time for this kind of review. Let me assure you, the time you will spend on this will give you building blocks to do better things the next time around. Give yourself this gift.

Some folks may not know how to do a good review. Others may not understand the value that comes from doing a review. 

How to do a good review

If you look over the different types of reviews, you’ll find that they have some things in common. When you do a review, you want to learn something, to discover if there is anything you need to change for next time. You need to set aside time for this. You can do this quickly, but be sure not to short-change any good discussion that comes up. Allow at least an hour, more if you review a long project or an entire year. I recommend taking notes. It’s hard to scan thoughts the same way you can visually review your notes. Include other team members or partners if this was a group effort. 

7 things that should be included in every review

• What are you reviewing?
• What did you expect to happen?
• What really happened?
• What went well?
• What went poorly?
• What can you change for next time?
• What do you want to remember for next time?

Depending on the type of review, you can add in other points to consider:

Personal review

• How am I a different person?

Goal review

• Did your objective change as you learned new information? Did you reflect that through the project?

Project review

• On-time? 
• On budget? 

After you complete your review, it doesn’t end there.

Now that you have your notes, you need to review them.

Your review may lead to additional tasks for you. But the items will make a difference. You can make an informed decision based on how things went. You might realize there was something you forgot to do. (this is a blessing, there’s nothing like forgetting something and having someone else remind you!) You could realize that you can change your process to make things better. You might not have any action items other than celebrating a job well done. This is just as important to keep your motivation high and momentum strong.

Take the time to identify your next steps and get them on your to-do list.

Now you can call yourself done with your review. It is time for that celebration!

6 Reasons you should be doing a review

1. For a few minutes, you’ll be able to see with a crystalline clarity as you look over your accomplishments – good or bad. Remember, hindsight has 20-20 vision. This is your chance to see things you may have missed when you were in the thick of the work.
2. While it would be nice to celebrate every accomplishment with a fine dinner, it’s pretty rare when even the big projects take time out for a celebration. By doing the review, you recognize your accomplishment. At the very minimum, you’re giving yourself credit for making it to this point. At the most, maybe you realize it IS time to celebrate, and you schedule something nice to really honor your success.
3. Using the review to look at the things that went well or didn’t will allow you to find areas for improvement. It’s amazing how improvement ideas can be when you look back over something while fresh in your mind. This is especially true when you look it over with other participants.
4. When you review, you might suddenly remember something you forgot to add to your list. It could be something that was part of the original plan, or it could be something that would make it better. If you’ve already moved on, you may not remember… until you get that call from the client who DOES remember. Wouldn’t it be better if you remembered before they did? 
5. If you do the reviews at a regular interval for the same type of events, you may start to see the same thing coming up repeatedly. If that thing is something that went bad and continues to go bad, seeing it repeatedly could be the catalyst for you to finally do something to make it better.
6. You may find something worth thinking about that can lead to discovering new opportunities. If it’s something that just isn’t going well, it’s time to do some research. Read or listen to case studies, blog posts, podcasts, or articles to see how others are dealing with these kinds of issues. This often leads to uncovering a great new opportunity that may be a simple shift. On the other hand, if things are going well, it may inspire you to share your success by writing a case study, blog post, or sharing best practices on a panel in a webinar. This can open up the doors for even more opportunities!

It’s your turn

Take the next step. Put your next review on your calendar right now. Try these steps out. Here are some great times for a review, use whichever is coming up for you first:

• Month-end (quarter, season, or year work too)
• Project milestone reached
• Project end
• After an important event
• When you reach a personal milestone
• When facing a big decision

When you do, I’d love to know how it goes for you. Drop a note in the comments or contact me on Instagram or Facebook.

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