Emma-Ruth Arnaz-Pemberton, Director of Consulting Services at Wellingtone presented at Project Management Days 2018 and IPMA Awards. The event took place in Helsinki, Finland in October 2018.
5. 38%
• PMOs facilitate
Lessons Learned
33%
• Organisations
believe Lessons
Learned is the
second hardest
process to embed
25%
• Organisations
believe that
Lessons Learned is
in the top six most
valuable processes
Research on Lessons Learned
6. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) UK best practice guidelines advise that PRINCE2 project
teams learn from previous experience: lessons are sought, recorded and acted upon throughout the life of
the project
Lessons Learned: What are they?
When
starting a
project
As the project
progresses
As the
project
closes
7. Lessons Learned: Why Bother?
Bad decisions are made over and over
Duplication of work and effort
Increased waste
Forced to re-live the hard parts
Reduced chance of success
Unengaged Stakeholders
Loss of team members
‘Thinking smart’
Right first time (is always cheaper)
Information to consider for new work
Stop inappropriate projects
Change the approach
Develop effective teams
Cross functional working
8. Project Management lays down a structured approach to detail all the lessons that have been
learned throughout the project life
Lessons Learned: Challenge areas
Risks & Issues
Planning &
Estimating
Methods &
Tools
Lifecycle
Other
Information
10. A key aspect of gathering lessons learned is holding a Lessons Learned workshop at the end of the project.
In order for this meeting to be effective make sure you follow the top 10 Lessons Learned rules.
Lessons Learned: Workshops
Lessons
Learned
Worksh
op
Decide who
should facilitate
Don’t talk about
PjMgr capability
Talk through
each project
stage
Discuss
communication
Open the risk &
issue register
Identify areas
for praise
Rank your
finding in
importance
Get all key
people in the
same room
Propose next
steps (case
studies)
Use meeting
minutes
Lessons learned is the concept of improving performance by identifying, sharing and using knowledge within and between projects, programmes, portfolios and their stakeholders. It covers different domains of knowledge; processes, tools and techniques; and enablers such as a supporting culture, values and behaviours.
KM as a discipline focused on ways that organisations create and use knowledge