Lessons Learned Workshop

Template

Importance to Knowledge Management

One practice of considerable value to a project is the lessons learned workshop. Most individuals and

organizations may already have some approach to lessons learned, but do not exploit the knowledge

found in these endeavors to their limits.

Even the project which is run perfectly is a learning experience; people within the project have learned the

right things to do in a project. More often though, projects do not run smoothly and there are lessons to

what not to do.

From a knowledge management perspective, lessons learned workshops serve two purposes: identify the best ways to conduct projects and ensure that all the

project knowledge is available for later use.

Importance of Project Management

Lessons learned workshops are performed at the end of every project and discusses:– What went wrong?– What went right?– What could have been better?– Were the right people working?– Etc.

However, lessons learned play a significant role at the beginning of a project. Planning can be influenced by the results of lessons learned workshops from previous projects.

Intention of this Template

The purpose of this workshop template is to provide a formal approach for organizing and facilitating a lessons learned workshop.

The template will provide a format, structure, and guidelines related to a general workshop to discuss lessons learned. Organizations using the template will want to fill in project specifics.

Planning for the Workshop

Planning the lessons learned workshop must define: How long will the workshop be? Who will participate? And how? What are the relevant issues?

Length of Workshop

The length of Workshop will be proportional to: Size of the project Number of issues, incidents, and problems Project performance (budget, schedule, resources) Customer satisfaction

Participants

The most effective lessons learned workshops will restrict participation to around 30 people.

The primary participants are project team members.

Stakeholders, customers, and suppliers may have input or feedback about the project which should be considered.

All project team members should have a voice in the workshop.

Potential Discussion Points

Some key points for discussion: Cooperation with external parties (internal groups,

customers, and suppliers) Cooperation between project team members:

– Communication– Collaboration– Project phase transitions– Conflict Management

Project planning and organization:– Structure and management– Allocation of roles– Budget and schedule management– Documentation/Technology use

Communicate the Intent of the Workshop

The intent of a lessons learned workshop is to facilitate discussion about a project for

the purpose of learning and adapting in the future.

A lessons learned workshop is about completing the project mentally and

emotionally—providing an opportunity to communicate all that needs to be said.

Workshop Agenda (One Day)

A typical agenda will include: Background (60-90 minutes) Identifying Issues (30 minutes) Categorizing Issues (30 minutes) Discussion of Issues (60-90 minutes) Review of Issues/Actions (90 - 120 minutes) End of Workshop (60-90 minutes)

Establishing Background (60 minutes)

The first agenda item – Establishing project background: Presenting workshop agenda and rules Establishing goals and objectives of workshop Revisiting Project Charter Project achievements and disappointments

Identifying Issues (30 minutes)

Workshop is divided into groups of 8-12 people.

Each participant will have an opportunity to write down his/her project experiences. Each experience should be described in short sentence.

Experiences should cover negative and positive perspectives.

Categorizing Issues (30 minutes)

Like experiences are grouped into subject areas.

Each grouping must be labeled.

Group Discussion of Issues (60-90 mins)

The following questions should be asked of each issue grouping:– What went well?– What could have been improved?– What would have been the ideal situation?– What can I have done to personally impact this issue?– What should be done by the organization on the next project?

Workshop Review of Issues (90-120 m)

Each group will review the issues and workshop question/answers created by their peers.

End of Workshop (60-90m minutes)

Each issue and suggested actions will be presented to the entire workshop and will be agreed upon.

Workshop Follow-up

Action Plans

Documentation

Workshop Success

Summary