1. How to Perform A Lessons Learned Session With Your Project Team
April 17

2. Overview What is a lessons learned Session Why Capture Lessons Learned
Who Should be Invited
Lessons Learned Formats
How to Perform the Lessons Learned
Listen and Praise
Out of our Control List
How to prevent Lessons Learned from Becoming a Finger Pointing Session
Debriefing Project Sponsors

3. What is a Lessons Learned Session?
A lessons learned session is a post-project meeting with the entire project team to review various aspects of the recently completed project.
Capturing lessons learned is the process of gathering, documenting and analyzing feedback on events that happened during a project for the benefit of other project teams in the future.

4. Why Capture Lessons Learned
Purpose of Lessons Learned
The purpose of this meeting is to document lessons so that subsequent projects can benefit from that knowledge.
It brings closure to the project
Provides an opportunity for team members, sponsors and stakeholders to discuss successes that happened during or because of the project
Assists with identifying other things that, in retrospect, might have been better handled if done differently
Provides recommendations to others who might be involved in future projects of a similar type

5. Why is Lessons Learned Left Out
Moving on to the next project
Fear of finger pointing
Misunderstanding the value of Lessons Learned

6. Preventing Lessons Learned from being Skipped
Put it on the project plan
Allocate sufficient time and resources on the project plan
Be vigilant about avoiding finger-pointing

7. Who should be invited to take part?
The entire project team
This also includes contractors and team members who work off-site
The client
The project sponsor
Advantage: The sponsor can sign any closing documentation
Disadvantage: Project team might be reluctant to discuss things that didn’t go well in front of this person

8. Lessons Learned Formats
A popular format for discussing and documenting project lessons learned is to create a matrix of characteristics.
What was good
What was bad or needs to be improved
What was beyond your control

9. Lessons Learned Formats Cont’
Create a Checklist
A checklist may contain the following categories :
- Project Planning - Project Execution and Delivery - Human Factors - Overall Project Management
Lessons Learned Log
Assists with tracking the Lessons Learned
Assists with tracking throughout the project

10. How to perform Lessons Learned
Gather
Compile
Present
Distribute

11. Gathering
Gather
Distribute the document for each team member to fill out
Organize meeting to discuss teams responses
Perform the actual debrief like this:
Get someone to act as scribe to write comments on a white board, overhead or flipchart so everyone can see.
If you have a computer and projector available, record comments directly into the computer for easy transcription and file sharing later.
Each team member is asked to name something that went well in the project, and these items are recorded

12. Praise and Listen
Give everyone a pat on the back after all the good stuff has been posted
Now give everyone a chance to say what they thought needed to be improved
Confirm each person statement
Continue to list the things that can be improved until everyone is satisfied
Next, list all problems that were out of your control.

13. Prevent Finger Pointing
How can we prevent this lessons learned session from becoming a finger-pointing session?
If you suspect this could happen, ask your team members to create individual lists of items in each category and forward them to you ahead of the meeting
You then take these lists and compile them into a master list that is presented at the meeting
Depersonalize all comments and discuss all issues rationally

14. Out of our Control
What about items that appear on the “out of our control” list?
Any items in this list should be added to the risk management plan for subsequent projects.
Consider these items in future contingency plans

15. Compile
Compile
Most organizations require a final status report that summarizes the entire project.
In some companies, conducting the lessons learned session and writing the project summary report are considered part of the project.

16. Compile Continued
Even if your company doesn’t require a summary report, you should write one because:
It provides you and other project managers with a convenient overview of the project
It forces you to perform a final project analysis
It can be a terrific sales tool for future projects
It can serve as good review for you and your team
Short window of opportunity to do something positive for yourself and your organization
Writing clarifies thinking; putting the group’s thoughts into writing helps you dig down into root causes and document solutions

17. Present
Upper management needs to be aware of both the successes and failures of each project and the lessons learned from both.
This step also allows upper management to provide their own feedback to the information provided and to "sign off" that the right information has been captured and is being utilized to help with future projects.

18. Distribute Distribute Lessons Learn Summary
All project managers are greatly encouraged to read each document and to consider how each of the lessons learned could be applied to their own projects. Any questions regarding the information provided can be addressed either verbally or via to the PM in charge of the project being discussed.

19. Lessons Learned Process Flow

20. Implementing Lessons Learned
Appling Lessons Learned to Future Projects
Project Planning
Project Execution and Delivery
Human Factors
Overall Project Management

21. Tips and Tricks
Lessons learned can provide the current and future project with a wealth of information. Consider the following:
Continually recording & documenting learning lessons
Host some lessons learned meetings
Set your scope
Share the results 
Sensitivity

22. A TUSC PMO Presentation
Lessons Learn
A TUSC PMO Presentation
References:
Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide). 3rd Edition, Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania, USA, Nov 2004

23. Thank You