Lessons Learned
When learning and executing effective Project Management, all PMs (current and future) are taught to understand the need to perform a unique exercise before closing out any project. It is commonly referred to as “Lessons Learned”. The goal is to gather all of the project team members and solicit feedback on “What went well” as well as “Areas for Improvement” on the recent project. This is an excellent exercise if performed properly.
There should be ground rules established: 1) No judgement will be given on anything brought up; 2) Criticism should be openly accepted and encouraged; 3) Recommendations for the future should also be encouraged; 4) Shameless complements should also be encouraged for any positive results.
Everything brought up should be documented in the Project Close document and circulated for review and approval. The approved document should be filed away with the other documentation associated with the project.
Unfortunately that is where it often ends. Most PMO groups go through this exercise and perform the necessary documentation, however the true purpose of performing the “Lessons Learned” exercise is to truly learn and understand what should be done and what should not be done on future projects. We want to be sure to replicate “What went well” and take corrective action on the “Areas for Improvement”. Too often, once the Project Close document is filed away, no one ever goes back and looks at that document again. It should be the responsibility of the person leading the PMO to also review the Project Close documents and notice any trends (both good and bad) and encourage the PMs to replicate the good and avoid the bad!
A perfect analogy of this exercise being performed correctly is the halftime during a football game. Coaches (the equivalent of a PM) typically meet with the players (i.e. Project members) and discuss what is working and what is not working and subsequently make adjustments for the second half of the game. Let’s use Super Bowl 51 from 2017 as an example. During the first half, the Atlanta Falcons were executing perfectly while the New England Patriots were not. The first half score was 21 -3 with the Falcons winning. During halftime, we can only assume that Coach Bill Belichick (Patriots Coach) performed a “Lessons Learned” session from the first half (i.e. completed project) and made the necessary adjustments for the second half (i.e. new project). The score at the end of the second half was 28 – 28 forcing the game into Over Time where the Patriots ultimately won with a final score of 34 – 28.
Whenever a new project is launched, it should be incumbent on the PM to go back through the various closed projects for any historical projects that even slightly resemble the new project and review the “Lessons Learned” to take advantage of the feedback provided by the project members at that time when defining Scope and outlining Risks.
If this is not performed, then the “Lessons Learned” exercise simply becomes just a task to flag as completed on any project and is a waste of time!
