Many organizations use the term Lessons learned to characterize the manner where they avoid repeating mistakes or make sure that they build on previous successes. However, a lesson may only be applied if it is successfully identified and captured first. Even in Learning organizations that profess to be proficient at knowledge management and knowledge sharing, the procedure of identifying lessons learned can lack rigor or depth.

More often than not, lessons wind up as Motherhood and apple pie statements and find yourself in reports on shelves gathering dust. The guidelines below are drawn from the book Learning to Fly – Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organizations”, and set out ten key steps to facilitating a Lessons learned review.

Hold a face-to-face meeting as soon as you may after the task ends, within weeks as opposed to months. The task leader needs to attend, as do essential members of the project team. If a comparable project is underway, then there is excellent value in the new task team attending – a Customer for the knowledge. Identify a facilitator who had been not closely involved with the project. The facilitator should be somebody who can ask questions from an unbiased, but the non-endangering point of view. Revisit the goals and deliverables of the project.

Inquire What did we put down to do? and What did we reach? Revisit the job plan and identify any deviations from the plan. Inquire? what went well? Inquire What had been the successful measures towards reaching your goal? and What went extremely well in the project?

Frequently people do not even realize what the underlying cause of success or failure is. Find out why these aspects went well, and convey the learning as advice or guidelines for the future. Try to avoid the lessons learned in a passive, previous tense, such as Project Foxtrot finished in front of schedule since the task team remained intact throughout the design and delivery stages.

On-time essential tasks, ensure that the project team remains constant through the design and execution phases of the project. This will eliminate any learning curve issues due to the take-on of new staff.