Project Debriefs Are Too Little and Too Late

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Written By Brian Kessman
Close-up of a professional’s desk with hands reviewing colorful post-it notes beside a laptop, papers, and eyeglasses.

The Pattern

“We only debrief on a project if something went wrong on the project or with a client.”

The Pivot

Wouldn’t it be better to prevent this?

If you run a debrief at the end of a project, it’s already too late to change the outcome. And any learning is often forgotten by the time the next project begins or may not apply.

Instead, run a brief retrospective discussion after every milestone, or better yet, every two weeks.

Reflect and discuss:

  • What is going well?

  • What can we improve?

  • What will we change starting today?

With this approach, you’re making incremental adjustments to how you work. 

Since not much can go wrong in two weeks, these discussions can be short, and adjustments tend to be small. 

And it’s easier to keep teams aligned with the creative strategy and client priorities. 

This lightweight, low-effort change will have a significant impact on your business.

Give it a try and start improving your agency’s profitability, work quality, employee morale, and client satisfaction.

Brian Kessman

As Lodestar's founder and principal consultant, Brian helps agencies move beyond billable hours and commoditized services to scalable outcome-driven commercial models and value-aligned pricing.

Brian is an inaugural member of the 4As Expert Network, and his transformative approach has been shared across the industry through presentations for Mirren, the 4A’s, AMIN, Magnet, Worldcom, and other top industry organizations. Combining hands-on and advisory expertise, he is a trusted partner to agency leadership teams looking to break free from outdated models and thrive in an era of disruption.

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