Say it like this
- We need to schedule a post-mortem on this outage.
- Let's do a post-mortem to see what we can improve.
- The post-mortem revealed several underlying issues.
Use it at work
After an incident
- I'll write the post-mortem by Friday.
- Let's schedule a blameless post-mortem.
Running it
- What was the root cause?
- What would have caught this earlier?
Sharing
- The post-mortem is in the wiki.
- The post-mortem lists five action items.
Don't say this
Post-mortem is typically used as a noun (held, conducted, scheduled), not as a verb with -ed ending in standard tech English.
Don't mix it up
| Term | What it is | Who writes or uses it | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| post-mortem | Review of what went wrong | Engineers | After incidents |
| retrospective | Regular team review | Agile team | Every sprint |
| root cause analysis | Finding the deepest cause | Engineers | Part of a post-mortem |
Practice
Try it
4 quick exercises
1. Your team experienced a production outage. How do you naturally say you will review it?
2. After the deployment failure, the team _______ a _______ to identify root causes and prevent future issues.
3. Which sentence uses post-mortem incorrectly?
4. Rewrite this in natural tech English using post-mortem: We need to have a meeting to figure out why the API broke and how to stop it from breaking again.
Say it out loud
Phrase 1 of 3
"We need to schedule a post-mortem on this outage."
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More about post-mortem
Real examples(3)
- in a standup
"After last week's incident, we held a post-mortem and identified three action items to prevent it from happening again."
- in a team meeting
"The post-mortem showed that we needed better monitoring and alerting on the payment service."
- in a code review
"We should do a post-mortem on this feature rollout to understand why performance degraded."
More mistakes(1)
Handle with care. Do not use post-mortem to refer to a literal autopsy in medical contexts when discussing software issues. In tech, it is always about analyzing what went wrong after an incident.
- ✕The post-mortem was very negative and blamed John for the failure.✓The post-mortem focused on process improvements rather than assigning blame to individuals.
Effective post-mortems are blameless and focus on systems and processes, not individuals.
Other forms(2)
- post-mortem noun
"We scheduled a post-mortem meeting for Thursday afternoon."
- post-mortem noun (attributive)
"The post-mortem analysis revealed several critical gaps in our monitoring."
Often used with(4)
- conduct / hold / schedule a post-mortem · These are the most common verbs used with post-mortem.
- post-mortem meeting · The meeting where the post-mortem discussion takes place.
- post-mortem report · The documented findings and action items from the post-mortem.
- blameless post-mortem · A post-mortem focused on processes and systems rather than individual fault.
Similar words(3)
- incident review · More formal term; often used interchangeably but slightly broader in scope.
- retrospective · Common in Agile teams; usually refers to project review rather than incident response.
- root cause analysis (RCA) · Emphasizes finding the underlying cause; post-mortem includes broader discussion and action items.
Opposites(2)
- planning meeting
- prospective review
Questions(5)
- What does post-mortem mean in software engineering?
- In software engineering, a post-mortem is a structured review meeting held after a significant incident, outage, or failed deployment. The goal is to understand what happened, identify root causes, and implement improvements to prevent similar issues in the future. It is a key practice in incident management and DevOps.
- How do you use post-mortem in a sentence at work?
- You typically use it with verbs like conduct, hold, schedule, or attend: We held a post-mortem on the payment system outage. You can also use it as an adjective: The post-mortem report identified three critical action items.
- Is post-mortem formal or informal?
- Post-mortem is neutral in formality. It is used in both casual standup discussions and formal documentation. The actual post-mortem meeting can range from casual to quite formal depending on the severity of the incident and company culture.
- What is the difference between a post-mortem and a retrospective?
- A post-mortem is specifically about analyzing a failure or incident that has already occurred, while a retrospective in Agile is a broader review of a project or sprint. Post-mortems focus on problems and how to prevent them; retrospectives can include positive learnings as well.
- Why are post-mortems called blameless?
- A blameless post-mortem is one that focuses on systems, processes, and root causes rather than blaming individuals. This approach encourages honest discussion and learning, creating a safer environment where people admit mistakes without fear of punishment.
