Lisa A' Grant, MBA, PMP, ACBronze, CL

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LESSONS LEARNED BEST PRACTICES

• Lisa A. Grant, MBA, PMP, AC-Bronze, CL
• May 19, 2007
• http//www.enterprisePMsolutions.com

Presented to Atlanta SPIN July 16th 2008
Lisa A. Grant, MBA, PMP Lisa.grant_at_EnterprisePMSol
utions.com
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Lesson 1
Lesson 1 LESSONS LEARNED ARE KNOWLEDGE
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Prelude

• For any consulting firm to be successful, its
  critical that they do a great job of collecting
  learning. We do not cookie-cutter projects, but
  they do draw from common topics and common
  learning.

• 20/20 Foresight, PM Network, September 2004
  Article about knowledge management systems

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Complexity

• Learning within a project does not happen
  naturally it is a complex process that needs to
  be managed. It requires deliberate attention,
  commitment, and continuous investment of
  resources.

• Ayas 1998 Projects as arenas for renewal and
  learning processes

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Cost of Knowledge

• It is estimated that Fortune 500 Companies
  lose 31.5 billion each year because they dont
  share knowledge.

• 20/20 Foresight, PM Network, September 2004
  Article about knowledge management systems

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Lessons Learned are Knowledge

• Knowledge is a product of process, interaction
  and synthesis
• Explicit spelled out, formalized
• Tacit skills or know-how
• Knowledge Management (KM) refers to a range of
  practices used by organizations to identify,
  create, represent, and distribute knowledge for
• reuse, awareness and learning across
• the organization.- Wikipedia

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Why Lessons Learned?

• Reasons we need to capture project lessons and
  turn them into knowledge
• To improve project management processes
• To improve management decision-making (develop
  new strategies)?
• To assess personnel performance
• To increase organizational knowledge

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Best Practices

• Where are the standards for Lessons Learned?
• PMBOK Little guidance
• OPM3 mentioned
• Prince 2 Capture Lessons Learned in a log,
  collate into a report
• Post-Project Reviews to Gain Effective Lessons
  Learned (PMI)?

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Commonly Accepted Standard

• Generally, Lessons Learned guidelines are to
• Establish a process to capture and disseminate
  Lessons Learned
• Store Lessons Learned in an accessible location
• Maintain evidence of the capture and
  dissemination and the reuse of information in
  subsequent projects

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The Post Syndrome

• The common practice is to perform Lessons Learned
  at the end of a project phase, i.e.
• Post Project Review
• Post Implementation Review
• Post Mortem
• All after the fact

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Lessons Learned Timing

• Do it early and do it often
• Dont wait for the phase or project to be over
• It should not be an afterthought, but a key
  component of all project management processes

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Summary

• Lesson 2
• KEY PRINCIPLES

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Key Principles

• For Lessons Learned to be effective the PM must
  ensure two actions are consistently performed

• Gather
• Implement

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Mapping to the Processes

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Knowledge Area Mapping
Gather
Implement
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Lessons Learned Tools
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Lesson 3 LESSONS LEARNED AND INITIATING AND
PLANNING
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Initiating and Planning

• Identify similar projects
• Gather useful information
• Determine mitigation strategies, if applicable
• Incorporate Lessons Learned into new project plan

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Identify Projects

• Identify projects from which to gather data
• Look for common threads to projects similar in
  nature
• Common Topics
• Common Learning

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Gather Useful Information

• Interview People
• Review Historical Project Data

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Review Historical Data

• Data can be found in
• Knowledge Management Systems/Network
• Folders
• Project Documentation, i.e. Charters, Scope
  Statements, Status Reports, Change Requests
• Internet
• Notebooks
• PMIS
• Industry Journals

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Web Based Historical Data

• Useful historical data can be found in
• Wikis
• Blogs
• Collaboration Tools (MS Project
  Server-Sharepoint)?

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PM Wiki Advantage
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PM Blogs
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Communities of Practice

• The concept of a community of practice (often
  abbreviated as CoP) refers to the process of
  social learning that occurs when people who have
  a common interest in some subject or problem
  collaborate over an extended period to share
  ideas, find solutions, and build innovations.
  Wikipedia
• CoPs are a type of social network, these networks
  can be
• virtual or physical.

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Determine Mitigation Strategy

• Define a strategy for avoiding pitfalls
  identified as Lessons Learned such as
• Do not engage in a fixed fee contract
• Conduct formal business requirements gathering
  sessions
• Develop and implement a change management process
• Obtain executive sign off on project charter
• Procure appropriately skilled resources

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Lesson 4 EXECUTING AND CONTROLLING
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Tips for Best Results

• Capture Lessons Learned as close as possible to
  the learning opportunity (e.g. after an issue has
  been resolved, change in scope has occurred, or a
  risk has been mitigated)?
• Identify PM processes that can be improved as a
  result of Lessons Learned and make the
  improvements
• Maintain a Lessons Learned Log throughout the
  life of the project

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Performance Reporting

• Status Reporting
• Progress Measurement
• Forecasting
• Is the project on track? If not, what is taking
  it off track?

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Performance Reporting and Lessons Learned

• Gather Lessons Learned as performance issues are
  identified
• Implement the Lesson Learned into the project for
  future activities
• Re-plan project activities as necessary
• Redefine control processes as necessary

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Lessons Learned Log

• The Lessons Learned Log should include
• Change or Performance Consequence (symptom)?
• Cause
• Lesson Learned
• Action
• Process Change

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Lessons Learned Log Example

•  

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Capture Stories

• Stories are the Web 2.0 way to capture lessons
  learned.
• They are less formal than the log, but sometimes
  more effective because the storyteller includes
  the emotion along with the learning. Whenever
  emotion is involved the topic is easier to
  remember
• Stories can be captured as blog entries, podcasts
  (or audio files), and videos which can then be
  posted on the company intranet or the world wide
  web.

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Lesson 5 CLOSING
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How Organizations Learn

• Learning in organizations happens in two ways
• Learning by individuals (all learning occurs at
  this level)?
• Ingesting team members who have knowledge the
  organization did not have
• Simon (1991) Organization Science

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Post Implementation Review

• Important and informative activity of every
  project and project phase
• Identify Key Lessons Learned
• Include Lessons Learned in a permanent project
  database
• Leverage Lessons Learned in future project
  planning

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Key Learnings

• You must gather and implement valuable knowledge
  to be reused for the betterment of future project
  success
• Lessons Learned are gathered and implemented in 4
  lifecycle phases not just at the end of the
  project
• Timing is crucial in gathering Lessons Learned
• You must build Lessons Learned documents that can
  be effectively utilized for future projects
• Plan for lessons learned