What does it mean when we say lessons learned?

Lessons learned refers to the knowledge gained from the process of performing a project. Capturing information in a “lessons learned log” enables project managers to learn from their own projects, as well as projects completed by others. Lessons learned can only be successful, however, if the reports are reviewed and decisions are made on how to use the knowledge gained.

The below information comes from a recent Wellingtone PMO Professional Community event, which had a key focus on lessons learned. And although some feel that this particular subject has been discussed many times, we nonetheless were joined by over 50 people, generating a fascinating discussion.

We wanted to uncover why, as an industry, we still haven’t nailed this particular idea, one that’s widely considered invaluable in modern project and portfolio management methods.

We began the conversation by finding out whether organizations keep a lessons learned report or log, and we looked at it from two perspectives represented in this graph:

Why are lessons learned and knowledge management so difficult?

Perhaps not surprisingly, time is the biggest killer of organizational learning, followed closely by a lack of resources and these activities not being considered a priority. We also noted that many teams have the importance of lessons learned baked into their methodology, but they rarely have an actual process to capture and use lessons learned.

With the entire team wondering who’s supposed to do what when it comes to this kind of work, it’s easy to see why this important task gets pushed to the sidelines.

Years ago, I read a book that discussed the dangers of not fully using the knowledge that exists in an organization. Knowledge exists in all of us, from our experience with the organization to our experience with the subject matter at hand. Either way, when we don’t use this knowledge to improve, we find that organizations remain behind the curve of the industry (and often their competitors).

Tacit knowledge is hard to get to because people keep it in their heads. It isn’t written down, and its intangible nature can make people very protective of their knowledge because they feel it makes them indispensable. I’ve believed for years that this is actually the root cause of many of our issues with lessons learned, and thanks to this event we can see a representation of this in our next community question results:

For the first time in a long time, we see three key points in this word cloud that follows on from our understanding of tacit knowledge:

Fear of Blame: people are inherently afraid that identifying lessons can lead back to themselves having missed something important. This can lower people’s confidence, especially as lessons are typically (although not always) relating to a negative experience. Additionally, there may be an organizational fear of not making mistakes.
Knowledge Sharing: or lack thereof. It turns out that many people don’t want to share their knowledge. I had an interesting conversation with someone recently who said that now they had retired they were comfortable sharing their knowledge because there’s no chance of their role being affected.
Ego: we often forget that all of us have a tiny voice in our head asking if we’re sure that our next action is safe. That voice also likes to remind us that we’re awesome, so there’s no point sharing our knowledge because others simply won’t get it, or they won’t do it right.

So what?

The point here is that even if we manage to fix all the processes and logistics that enable best practice lessons learned and knowledge management, it still might not help. Our own brains will still create barriers to stop true organizational learning.

Tips to do lessons learned more effectively in your organization

With that in mind, we asked the community what has worked for them. We received some interesting ideas that can help guide PMOs to improve how they manage lessons learned and how to strengthen knowledge management capability:

Use some of the techniques showcased in agile projects like retrospectives. Using ways of working that incorporate more agility regularly will ensure that there is an ongoing continuous discussion within the PPM community around knowledge, opportunities, and improvements and start to develop a culture of learning.
Identify some common themes to create a case for change when appropriate. Developing a way to identify trends across projects such as one centralized repository will ensure that when opportunities or challenges are identified, data can support action plans as opposed to opinion or a ’gut feeling.’
Develop a PMO service catalog that includes learning and knowledge management at its heart. Publishing a catalog avoids any confusion around who is supposed to do what and makes clear how the PMO supports organizational learning.
As always, this kind of process needs buy-in from senior stakeholders from across the organization. One of our Wellingtone PMO principles is supporting a lear nin g organization, and to achieve this, we need to choose and commit to the right approach for our PMO.
Many believe that the lessons-learned process (like risk management) is inherently negative in its nature. Achieving a culture of learning means being comfortable with failure, assessing our lessons, creating positive change, and seeing that change as beneficial for the organization.
Share templates or examples of best practices and when the team has been successful. As PMOs, we tend to focus on the negative, so ensure you have a plan in place to shout about the positive changes made from lessons and share with more folks than just those in your immediate PPM community.
Use stats from the State of Project Management Report and other industry research to create a case for change so that the PMO can get engagement and buy-in from senior teams. Our inability to do this well is industry-wide, so plenty of data exists.
Complete a maturity assessment to find out where you can improve and identify tactics you can use to ensure that lessons learned and knowledge management can be planned into the roadmap of organizational PPM maturity.
Enable yourself with technology. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, we have myriad tools available for PMOs to use. Maintaining a central space where lessons can be collated and analyzed is a surefire way to make life a little easier for all involved.
Make it fun. Because of all the reasons we have identified, PMOs have a unique opportunity to make enabling processes such as this one more fun to use. Consider how you categorize your lessons, how you prepare for your workshops, and how you allow people to engage. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box.

But what about the humans?!

Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.
Frances Hesselbein

We know that humans are the most difficult part of organizational change. We also know that culture takes time. To successfully change the culture of a business, PMOs need to put people (and all their flaws and frustrations) at the heart of everything they do.

Many PMOs focus on process and technology first and hope that the people come along. This was evident during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been written about extensively.

Again, PMOs have an opportunity to develop a better way within their organization by putting knowledge management and lessons learned at the heart, making it easy to do, making it valuable, and making it a safe place for people to share opinions and experiences.

Bringing people along on the journey is fundamental to doing this well, and for that PMOs need to be brave, change perceptions by doing things a little differently, and take a #HumanFirst approach.

How can project managers do lessons learned?

First and foremost, understand that documenting, communicating, and reviewing lessons learned provide great benefit if they’re done well.

Consider that activities of this type tend to be carried out in informal conversations whereby people share their perspectives on what they thought about the project and what could have gone better. Discussing these things should help to improve the process in a future project.

1) Collect lessons learned throughout your project’s lifecycle

Dedicate time to capturing lessons after key project milestones, such as at the end of a project phase or stage. You will thank your past self for documenting your lessons while they’re still fresh in everyone’s mind. As the project nears the end of its life, your project team will start to disband, so it’s important to capture your lessons before you run out of time and before memories fade.

Moreover, performing regular lessons learned reviews throughout your project’s life will set your project up for success. The sooner you can identify a negative lesson, the sooner you can plan and implement recommendations to recover your project. Similarly, identifying positive lessons as early as possible will enable you to identify opportunities for repeating them.

2) Include recommendations

Capture practical recommendations for all your lessons, so that you can learn from them in the future. During your reviews, it is important to apply equal focus to what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what could be improved. When capturing your recommendations, identify where you may need support to implement certain actions so that the organization is more likely to learn from past lessons.

If you neglect to discuss and document any recommendations, then all you’ll produce is a list of positive and negative statements about your project. This won’t help you or others to learn, so use your reviews to evaluate how to improve for the next project.

3) Publish your lessons learned

Consider storing your lessons learned in a central location so that you can share your knowledge with the wider organization. If all project teams were to contribute to the consolidated lessons learned log, then you could use this list as a valuable communications tool at project kick-off and throughout your project’s lifecycle.

Furthermore, placing all lessons in one place means that lessons can’t be forgotten about in an archived project closure document. Your PMO and senior management can use this central location to perform and report on analyses.

4) Be collaborative

Involve your project team and key stakeholders in lessons learned exercises so that you can celebrate successes, recognize what could be improved, and hear from other people in a safe environment. To facilitate these conversations, organize lessons learned workshops and one-to-one interviews.

Next Steps

If you’re ready to dig deeper into lessons learned and how to scale your PMO, we invite you to explore our courses. Each course is run live with one of our experienced trainers, covering a range of topics relevant to your unique project management circumstances. So grab your notebook, and sign up for one of our courses to learn even more lessons.