Lessons Learned is an important closing activity that is frequently ignored.
Most project managers give lip service to this project closing activity because they are relieved that the current project is completed, and they are anxious to move on to the next project.
Organizations don’t encourage the lessons learned exercise because they don’t see the need to spend the time or resources to document the lessons learned from the project.
The project manager is responsible for documenting the lessons learned in the PMIS (project management information system.)
Here are a few things to include in the report:
- Unique lessons from this project
- Avoidable mistakes or failures
- Quality issues
- Communication problems
- Organizational
- Issues
- Technology information
Lessons learned can become valuable input for the next project and should not be left as a project closing activity. The best project managers routinely collect, and document lessons learned throughout their project’s lifecycle.