The level of governance and controls applied to a project is significant in determining project review type, level, and frequency. Projects typically have defined start, gate, and endpoints, and the extent of oversight and scrutiny at each stage varies based on the organisation's project management approach and governance framework.

Here are some common types of project reviews:

Milestone Reviews

A milestone review is an evaluation or assessment conducted at specific milestones or significant points in the project timeline. It aims to assess the project's progress, performance, and alignment with predefined goals and objectives. Milestone reviews help stakeholders understand project status and make informed decisions regarding project continuation, modifications, or corrective actions.

Here are the key aspects and characteristics of a milestone review:

Defined Milestones: Predetermined points in the project timeline representing significant achievements, key deliverable completion, or critical decision points. These milestones are typically aligned with project phases or important project events.

Evaluation Criteria: Each milestone has predefined criteria serving as a benchmark to evaluate the project's progress and performance against the established goals and objectives.

Review Process: Project documentation, reports, status updates, and other relevant information are reviewed to assess adherence to plans, quality of deliverables, resource utilisation, and risk management.

Stakeholder Involvement: Milestone reviews typically involve relevant stakeholders, including project team members, project sponsors, and key decision-makers. The involvement of stakeholders allows for a comprehensive understanding of the project's status, challenges, and opportunities.

Decision Making: Based on the milestone review, decisions are made regarding the project's continuation, modification, or corrective actions. The review provides insights and recommendations to support decision-making, such as adjusting project plans, allocating additional resources, revising timelines, or addressing identified risks or issues.

Documentation and Reporting: Results are documented in a report or summary that outlines the project's achievements, challenges, areas for improvement, and recommendations. The information is a reference for project stakeholders and contributes to organisational knowledge management.

Milestone reviews provide a structured approach to monitor and assess project progress, ensuring that the project remains on track and aligned with desired outcomes. By conducting milestone reviews, project stakeholders can proactively identify and address issues, make informed decisions, and take necessary actions to optimise project performance and increase the likelihood of successful project delivery.

Phase (Stage) Gate Reviews

A phase gate review, or stage gate review, is a structured evaluation process that occurs at key points or gates between different stages or phases of a project. It involves a comprehensive assessment of the work completed, project documentation, and adherence to predefined criteria. Phase gate reviews help determine if the project should proceed to the next phase and if any changes or corrective actions are required.

These are the key characteristics and components of a stage gate review:

Defined Gates: The project is divided into distinct phases or stages, with predetermined gates between them. These gates serve as decision points where project progress is evaluated before proceeding to the next phase. The number and timing of the gates depend on the project's complexity, risk, and organisation's methodology.

Evaluation Criteria: Each gate has predefined criteria and expectations that the project must meet to pass the review. These criteria typically include deliverables, milestones, budget, resources, quality standards, and risk assessment. The evaluation criteria ensure that the project is on track and aligned with the project objectives and overall organisational strategy.

Review Panel: A review panel or governance body is responsible for conducting the stage gate review. The panel comprises relevant stakeholders, project sponsors, subject matter experts, and decision-makers who assess the project's performance against the defined criteria. The panel ensures objectivity and provides diverse perspectives in evaluating the project's readiness.

Evaluation Process: The stage gate review involves a comprehensive assessment of the project's progress, risks, issues, and opportunities. Project documentation, such as project plans, status reports, financials, and other relevant artifacts, is reviewed. The review panel may also conduct interviews, discussions, or presentations to gather additional information and clarify project details.

Decision Making: Based on the evaluation, the review panel decides whether the project can proceed to the next phase, require modifications or corrections, or terminate the project. The decisions are based on the project's alignment with the predefined criteria, risk assessment, resource availability, and stakeholder expectations.

Outputs: The phase gate review provides valuable outputs that influence project management decisions. These outputs may include recommendations for corrective actions, project plan adjustments, resource allocation changes, risk mitigation strategies, and opportunities for improvement.

The phase gate review process ensures effective project governance, minimises risks, and enables informed decision-making at critical junctures in the project lifecycle. It helps to maintain project alignment with organisational objectives, manage resources efficiently, and improve project outcomes by addressing issues early and optimising project execution.

Post-Implementation Reviews

A Post-Implementation Review (PIR) occurs after the project has been completed and the deliverables have been implemented. These reviews focus on evaluating the outcomes and benefits realised from the project. They assess whether the project achieved its objectives, delivered the expected value, and identify any areas for improvement or lessons learned.

Here are key aspects and components of a Post-Implementation Review:

Evaluation of Objectives: The PIR assesses the extent to which the project or initiative has achieved its intended objectives and outcomes. It examines whether the anticipated benefits have been realised and identifies gaps or deviations from the original expectations.

Stakeholder Feedback: Input from various stakeholders, including end-users, project team members, customers, and other relevant parties, is gathered through surveys, interviews, or workshops. Their perspectives and experiences provide valuable insights into the implementation process, user satisfaction, and areas for improvement.

Performance Evaluation: The PIR evaluates the performance of the implemented system, process, or initiative against predefined performance metrics, such as efficiency, reliability, user adoption, cost-effectiveness, and customer satisfaction. It identifies strengths and weaknesses in the implementation and highlights areas where improvements can be made.

Lessons Learned: The PIR captures and documents lessons learned from the implementation experience. It identifies best practices, success factors, challenges, and recommendations for future similar initiatives. These lessons help in refining future implementation plans and avoiding potential pitfalls.

Documentation Review: The PIR examines the documentation and artifacts related to the implementation, including project plans, reports, technical specifications, user guides, and training materials. This review ensures that the implemented solution aligns with the documented requirements and validates the accuracy and completeness of the documentation.

Improvement Recommendations: Based on the findings of the PIR, recommendations for process enhancements, system upgrades, training improvements, or any necessary corrective actions are provided. These recommendations aim to address identified issues, maximise the benefits of the implementation, and guide future implementations.

Reporting and Communication: The PIR results are compiled into a report or presentation that communicates the findings, lessons learned, and recommendations to key stakeholders. The report is a reference for project sponsors, management, and other relevant parties to make informed decisions regarding future projects or initiatives.

Post-Implementation Reviews contribute to organisational learning, continuous improvement, and the effective utilisation of resources. By conducting PIRs, organisations can identify successes, areas for improvement, and potential risks associated with implementations, ensuring that valuable insights are captured and applied to future initiatives.

Lessons-Learned Reviews

A lessons-learned review systematically evaluates a project or a specific project phase to identify and document insights, best practices, and lessons that can be applied to future projects. It captures knowledge and experiences gained throughout the project lifecycle, highlighting successes and improvement areas. Lessons learned are valuable for enhancing future project performance, avoiding mistakes, and promoting knowledge sharing across the organisation.

Here are key aspects typically covered in a lessons-learned review:

Documentation and Analysis: The review involves gathering project documentation, such as project plans, reports, meeting minutes, and other relevant records. These materials are analysed to identify the project's key events, decisions, challenges, and outcomes.

Stakeholder Feedback: Input from project team members, stakeholders, and other relevant parties is gathered through interviews, surveys, or workshops. This feedback provides diverse perspectives and insights into different aspects of the project.

Identification of Lessons: Lessons learned are identified based on the analysis of project documentation and stakeholder input. These lessons can include positive experiences (best practices) contributing to project success and negative experiences (challenges, mistakes) that could have been handled differently.

Categorisation and Prioritisation: The identified lessons are categorised and prioritised to provide a structured view of the insights gained. Common categories may include project planning, risk management, communication, resource allocation, and stakeholder engagement. Prioritisation helps focus on the most impactful lessons that can be applied to future projects.

Documentation and Sharing: Lessons learned are documented in a comprehensive report or knowledge repository, which may include summaries, recommendations, and supporting evidence. The information is shared with relevant stakeholders and made accessible to the organisation to facilitate learning and improvement.

Action Planning: The lessons learned review concludes with developing action plans to apply the identified lessons to future projects. These action plans outline specific steps, strategies, or changes that can be implemented to integrate the lessons learned into project management practices.

A lessons-learned review aims to promote an organisation's continuous improvement culture. By capturing and sharing knowledge and experiences, organisations can avoid repeating mistakes, replicate successful approaches, and enhance project performance in future endeavours. Lessons learned reviews contribute to ongoing organisational learning and support the evolution of project management practices.

Performance Reviews

In project management, a performance review methodically evaluates a project's performance and progress. It involves assessing how effectively the project team has executed the project tasks, achieved objectives, and delivered the desired outcomes.
Based on the performance review findings, project managers can identify areas of improvement, take corrective actions, and make informed decisions to enhance project performance. This may involve refining project plans, adjusting resource allocation, implementing process improvements, or providing additional training and support to the project team.

To break it down further, it involves:

Evaluate Project Progress: Assess the actual progress of the project compared to the planned schedule, milestones, and deliverables. This includes analysing the completion status of tasks, adherence to timelines, and any deviations from the original project plan.

Measure Performance: Evaluate the performance of the project team, individual team members, and stakeholders involved. This assessment may include factors such as quality of work, productivity, collaboration, communication, and adherence to project management processes and best practices.

Assess Budget and Resource Management: Review the project's financial performance, including the utilisation of resources and adherence to budgetary constraints. This involves analysing actual costs, resource allocation and identifying budget overruns or resource bottlenecks.

Identify Risks and Issues: Evaluate the project's risk management effectiveness by identifying potential risks, assessing their impact, and determining if appropriate mitigation strategies are in place. As well as reviewing any issues or challenges encountered during the project and evaluating how well they were addressed and resolved.

Review Stakeholder Satisfaction: Assess the satisfaction levels of project stakeholders, including clients, sponsors, and end-users. This evaluation focuses on meeting stakeholder expectations, addressing their requirements, and ensuring their engagement and involvement throughout the project lifecycle.

Closure Reviews

Closure reviews, also known as project closeout reviews or project post-mortems, are assessments conducted at the end of a project to evaluate its overall performance, outcomes, and lessons learned. These reviews provide an opportunity to reflect on the project's successes, challenges, and areas for improvement, ultimately aiming to enhance future project management practices.

Broken down, the main objective of a closure review in a project is:

Assess Project Performance: When assessing project performance, closure reviews purposefully evaluate how well the project met its objectives, delivered its intended outcomes, and adhered to the defined scope, schedule, and budget. It will see the team analyse project documentation, compare actual results against planned targets, and identify any gaps or deviations.

Identify Lessons Learned: A closure review will capture the lessons learned from the project experience. For instance, the insights gathered throughout the project lifecycle, including best practices, challenges faced, and successful strategies employed. It will then use those lessons to avoid repeating mistakes, enhance future project planning, and improve overall project management maturity.

Evaluate Project Management Processes: Closure reviews will also assess the effectiveness of project management processes utilised during the project, from evaluating project planning, communication, risk management, and stakeholder engagement to various other project management practices. Again, it helps identify areas of improvement in project execution and refine processes for future projects.

Document Successes and Challenges: Closure reviews document the project's successes, achievements, and notable milestones. Not only does this document serve as a reference for future projects. It celebrates successes and acknowledges the efforts of the project team.

Closure and Transition: The formal closure of a project is facilitated by this document by ensuring that all project deliverables have been completed, contracts are closed, and resources are appropriately released. It also addresses outstanding project-related tasks, such as final documentation, archiving, and knowledge transfer to relevant stakeholders.

Methodology Reviews

A methodology review evaluates or assesses a specific methodology or approach used within a project or organisation. It examines the methodology's effectiveness, efficiency, and suitability in achieving desired outcomes and delivering successful results. A methodology review aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement in the methodology and provide recommendations for enhancing its effectiveness.

Here are the key aspects and components of a methodology review:

Evaluation Criteria: The methodology review uses predefined criteria to assess the methodology's performance and effectiveness. These criteria may include alignment with project objectives, clarity of processes and procedures, scalability, adaptability to different project types, ease of implementation, stakeholder satisfaction, and overall impact on project success.

Methodology Analysis: The methodology is thoroughly analysed to understand its components, processes, tools, and techniques. This analysis examines how the methodology is applied, the level of adherence to the methodology, and any challenges or issues encountered during its implementation.

Stakeholder Feedback: Input from project team members, project managers, stakeholders, and other relevant parties is gathered to gain insights into their experiences and perceptions of the methodology. This feedback helps in understanding the practical application of the methodology, identifying areas of success, and uncovering opportunities for improvement.

Best Practices and Benchmarks: The methodology review may include comparing the existing methodology with industry best practices, standards, or benchmarks. This comparison helps assess the methodology's effectiveness, identify gaps, and draw upon proven approaches to enhance the methodology.

Process Streamlining and Optimisation: The methodology review examines the efficiency and effectiveness of the methodology's processes and procedures. It looks for opportunities to streamline and optimise these processes, remove bottlenecks, reduce unnecessary complexity, and improve efficiency and productivity.

Recommendations: Based on the findings of the methodology review, recommendations are provided for improving the methodology. These recommendations include refining existing processes, introducing new tools or techniques, enhancing training and education on the methodology, or adapting the methodology to better align with project needs and organisational goals.

Implementation Plan: If changes or improvements are identified, an implementation plan is developed to guide the adoption of the recommended changes. This plan outlines the steps, resources, and timeline required to implement the proposed enhancements to the methodology.

Documentation and Communication: The outcomes of the methodology review, including the analysis, recommendations, and implementation plan, are documented in a report or summary. This documentation is a stakeholder reference and facilitates communication regarding the methodology review findings and proposed improvements.

A methodology review helps organisations continuously improve their project management practices and optimise their approach to project delivery. By conducting methodology reviews, organisations can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their methodologies, leading to improved project outcomes, increased stakeholder satisfaction, and better overall project success rates.

Benefits Reviews

A benefit review in project management is a systematic evaluation of a project's anticipated and achieved benefits. The intended outcomes and benefits determined during the project initiation or planning phase are reviewed to establish whether or not they have come to fruition.

The benefit review will measure the project's impact on the organisation's strategic goals, financial performance, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and other relevant areas. This is done by comparing the expected benefits outlined in the project business case or charter with the outcomes observed after project completion or during specific project milestones.

The process may involve gathering data, conducting surveys or interviews, analysing financial statements, and assessing performance indicators to determine the extent to which the expected benefits have been achieved.

The advantages of conducting a benefit review include:

Performance Evaluation: Benefit reviews objectively assess how well a project has delivered its intended outcomes and benefits. They enable organisations to measure success and identify areas for improvement.

Decision-Making: Benefit reviews provide valuable insights to support decision-making processes regarding future projects, resource allocation, and strategic planning. They help organisations understand which projects deliver the most significant benefits and guide investment decisions.

Lessons Learned: Benefit reviews contribute to the organisation's knowledge base by capturing lessons from past projects. They provide valuable information on what worked well and could be improved, helping refine project management practices and enhance future project success.

Accountability and Transparency: Benefit reviews foster accountability by holding project teams responsible for delivering the expected benefits. They also promote transparency by giving stakeholders clear visibility into the project's performance and outcomes.

Continuous Improvement: Benefit reviews contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by identifying opportunities for optimisation and identifying potential challenges or risks. They support ongoing learning and development within the organisation.