The lessons learned meeting should contain some or all of the following elements:
1. Discussion of what went well on the project
- Why it went well
- How we can make sure to incorporate those elements next time
2. Discussion of what didn’t go well on the project
- What caused the problems
- How can we make sure not to have those problems next time
3. Discussion of the positive and negative aspects of the project manager’s performance
4. Discussion of the project team’s performance, as a group (individual performance discussions for the team members should be held privately)
5. Discussion of the project sponsor’s performance and that of the key stakeholders
6. Discussion of vendor performance issues
7. Discussion of major variances and major changes and what we can do to avoid these problems in the next project
When Do We Use the Lessons Learned Process
We conduct our lessons learned meeting immediately after the project finishes and the last deliverables are completed. We don’t want to wait too long because we want people to have accurate memories of what happened on the project. It’s also useful for the project manager to have previously started the process of archiving the data on the project plan, changes to it, status reports, etc. With that data in hand, the project manager can focus attention on the most significant aspects of the project team’s performance.
Why Do We Do Lessons Learned
Many people are reluctant to attend lessons learned meetings because they don’t want to rub salt in open wounds or relive unpleasant aspects of the project. Project managers need to take a strong stand on the value of lessons learned meetings and this value is very simply described. Organizations that don’t study the problems on their projects make them again and again on one project after another. The only way for organizations to get better at doing projects is to learn from their mistakes. That’s what the lessons learned review process allows us to do.
