Learning from past project performances is an integral part of any good continuous improvement business model. Lessons learned can save time and money and produce higher-quality technical results on subsequent projects. Unfortunately, many companies fail to prioritize lessons learned or effectively communicate their advantages, enabling an attitude that they aren't worth the time investment.
Organizations such as the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI) cite lessons learned as best practices. However, many companies still struggle with the cultural challenges and actual implementation of effective lessons-learned programs.
How do organizations create lessons- learned processes that engage employees without requiring large investments of time and resources? Six keys to successful lessons-learned programs are below:
- Simple, clear process
- Good meeting facilitators
- Keeping discussions high level
- Developing lessons-learned knowledge base and sharing findings
- Establishing methods for making recommended changes
- Communicate improvement actions
One of the quickest ways to fail at lessons learned is to over-engineer the process. Time-consuming or complicated processes feed the notion that lessons learned require too much effort. It's also important to recognize that lessons learned aren't just meetings at the end of the project but involve ongoing activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Some organizations hold lessons-learned meetings and have good discussions about improvement opportunities, only to file away the meeting minutes with project documentation. Failing to capture findings in a central knowledge base, share them with the broader organization and prioritize them minimizes their value.
There are common cultural reasons lessons learned aren't practiced. The first is a prevailing mentality of "we don't have time" as employees rush to the next project. The second is concerns of cost, especially when projects are at or near budget limits. Both of these cultural avoidances will be the death knell of any lessons-learned process. Ultimately, they are excuses that undermine accountability for performing a lessons-learned process.
A major key to successful lessons- learned meetings is having a good facilitator. Effective leaders prepare in advance by leveraging tools such as pre-meeting surveys and incorporating feedback into the agenda for a lessons- learned meeting. Defensiveness and finger pointing can sour a lessons-learned meeting, so ground rules should clearly establish the need to listen and be respectful of all perceptions, even those with which we might not agree.
It is easy for lessons learned - particularly on projects that didn't go well - to focus only on the negative. Good facilitators encourage inclusion of the "what went right" aspects of the project. These are just as valuable as the trouble spots because we can examine those things we do well and try to mimic aspects of them in areas where we need to improve.
Another vital part of the lessons-learned program is collecting, documenting and sharing findings. A central knowledge base is valuable because it allows us to evaluate findings on a more comprehensive scale, identifying repeat problems over multiple projects and helping with prioritization.
Capturing and documenting lessons learned is essential, but equally important is the need to convert them into improvement actions. Without this step, organizational growth doesn't occur. This entails new or altered policies, processes, procedures and guidelines, as well as modified behaviors and changes to supporting resources such as templates, checklists, etc. Identifying and implementing necessary changes delivers the tangible benefits expected from the lessons- learned process.
Once improvement actions are implemented, we should ensure the changes are communicated to the broad audience involved in lessons-learned activities where findings originated. This step validates for participants the organization's commitment to improvement and reinforces the value of the lessons-learned program.
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