Lessons learned workshops aren’t fun because you always make mistakes in projects. And during a review you often think “We could have done this better”. Show
But taking a critical review of your project is actually a good thing. Because if you take the feedback to heart you become a better project leader. (Talking about mistakes: I recently created a checklist for setting up new projects. It helps you avoid making the same mistake in your next project. Go check it out) In this article you’ll find everything you need to know about lessons learned. What they are good for and how to conduct an actual workshop. Table of contentsWhat are Lessons Learned in Project ManagementLessons learned are an informal conversation where you look at a project in retrospect. It is done after project completion, usually conducted as a meeting involving the project manager and key representatives from customer and contractor side. I have also done lessons learned with the entire project team. This is even more insightful but it requires more organization (How organized are you?). During the lessons learned meeting everyone shares their perspective on what they thought about the project, what they would have changed, what they learned and what could have been done better. Why you should have lessons learned workshopsLessons learned workshops are performed for three reasons: The first is to learn from mistakes and to avoid these mistakes in future projects. The second is to gather best practices — that is smart ways of doing something — and to pass on this knowledge to other project leaders. The third reason is for trust building with your stakeholders and team members. Involving people in the process and giving them the opportunity to share their perspective will make them more supportive towards project management as well as future projects. That being said, it should be clear that lessons learned workshops are not (just) a forum for people to vent their anger. Sometimes you might get this impression when people are being very negative. But a project review should always be about sharing helpful and constructive feedback and ideas to become better. How to conduct a lessons learned meetingLet’s look at the typical process for a lessons learned workshop. The process differs depending on the number of attendees:
The challenge in such workshops is that people will be relatively reserved to give candid feedback. They are afraid of coming across too harsh or to hurt anybody’s feelings, or even to be disadvantaged in the future. What usually breaks the ice is when one person steps up. Then others will follow and share their criticism openly. That’s the kind of atmosphere you should encourage (even if it’s painful). If you believe it will be hard to get the attendees to open up, consider planning some discussion points in advance. Like, putting in a few self jabs to show humility and humor. And to show others that being self-critical of both themselves and their team is accepted. Also, if you have the relationships in place to do it, consider having a few “plants” in the audience who will chime in with pre-rehearsed lessons learned or comments. This will help to get the ball rolling for the shy people. STEP 1: WELCOME THE TEAMStart off by welcoming the team. Then move on to explaining the purpose of a lessons learned workshop. You should have gotten enough ideas from this article. STEP 2: EXPLAIN THE RULESNext, explain the meeting rules. You’ll find them further below. Attendees should understand they are supposed to be constructive, whether they liked the project or not. Everybody is asked to give their feedback on the following questions: Lessons learned key questions:
You have to decide how to record the results. In a small group you would just enter the feedback in an Excel sheet. With a larger audience, you would normally use flip charts or white boards where team members record their thoughts. Irrespective of the tool you always use a 3 column structure: column 1 = what went well, column 2 = what didn’t go well and column 3 = learnings. Something like this: Step 3: Gather feedbackNow that everybody knows the process, they can get to work and write down whatever is on their mind. Of course, you as the project manager are not excluded from the process. You should also take the opportunity to reflect on what went well and what didn’t and document your thoughts. STEP 4: PRESENT FINDINGS (LARGE GROUPS ONLY)If you are doing the lessons learned with the entire project team, have one or two team representatives present the results in a summarized form. They will briefly go through all notes and talk about the most frequently mentioned points: Many team members said they were unhappy with the way the product training was done. The 1-day training apparently was not enough, so people mentioned they didn’t feel well prepared for the project. OK, hopefully you will also get positive feedback. STEP 5: CLOSE the MEETINGAfter everyone was able to share their feedback and you’re done recording it in an Excel sheet, it’s time to close the meeting. Say a few kind words and thank the attendees for their participation. You should also point at how the feedback is going to be used: ‘We will take your feedback into consideration for improving our future projects, especially when it comes to ‘. Rules for a lessons learned meeting
Going into the meeting with the right attitudeI want to help you with your mindset for a project review. Suppose you are the project leader and you are going to have your first lessons learned workshop. Then there are a couple of things you should keep in mind. Don’t dwell on past mistakes: You may be thinking a lot about problems that have happened in your project. A conflict with a stakeholder or a critical step you forgot to take care of. Although this is understandable, it is also not very helpful. I suggest you accept whatever bad things have happened and focus instead on things you have learned (and the things that went well). There will always be people criticizing: Even the best and most respected project managers face criticism. That’s because projects always trigger controversy and resistance from people in the organization. Therefore, it is natural for people to tell you what you should have done differently. Dogs will always be barking 🙂 Be open to learn: Accept you may not now the best approach for everything. There may be better ways to plan or to conduct certain project tasks. If you’re will to learn, you will become better. And that’s the key. Lack of willingness to introspect is a clear signal project failure is ahead. Read about Seven signs why your project might fail because of you. Lessons Learned Examples (and what to do with the results)The whole point of a lessons learned workshop is to learn. To become better. As a project manager and as a team but also as an organization. This learning effect only materializes when action is taken in response to the lessons learned. The type of action depends on whether it concerns only you, your team or the entire company. Lessons learned for you (project manager):
Lessons learned on team level:
Lessons learned on company level:Some of the lessons learned may even require action on company level:
My advice to you: Always ask for feedbackOne important piece of advice I want to give you is to solicit feedback throughout the project, and not just to wait til the end. In project management, you have to respond quickly to issues, and you always want to improve your process so you get optimum results. The way I collect feedback is to continuously talk to my team: How is this thing going? Are there any issues? Anything we should be doing differently next time? This way I instantly know what areas we have to improve upon and I can take immediate action and course-correct. Similar posts you might also likeYou Need A Meeting Structure! Here's How You Define One The Definitive Guide to Running Meetings The Ultimate Guide to Kickoff Meetings Adrian NeumeyerHi! I’m Adrian, former Senior IT Project Manager and founder of Tactical Project Manager. I created the site to help you become an excellent project leader and manage intense projects with success! What is the first step in capturing lessons learned at the end of a project?What is the first step in capturing lessons learned at the end of a project ? The project manager must send an email asking the participants to identify major project issues. What does a typical closeout report include? summary status of the project, lessons learned, review of the projects original justification.
What is the focus of the lessons learned report?A lessons learned report aims to help project managers and their teams identify the root causes of problems or wins of their past projects. This report serves as a historical document as well to learn how to avoid these problems or set themselves up for success again on future projects.
Who is likely to be the person responsible for implementing the project deliverables?The project manager is often involved in implementing the project deliverables.
Which of the following is the correct reason the team is released as the last step in the closing process?Which of the following is the correct reason the team is released as the last step in the closing process? You may need team members to help in the transfer of ownership. In which of the following ways is a team evaluation different than an individual evaluation?
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