The lessons learned have to be saved in a central location, so it could be of value in the future.
Lessons learned are usually conducted at completion of the project. A lessons-learned weekly or bi-weekly meeting is another great tool for sharing information on how obstacles were overcome, and what could be done better on the next phase or next project. Another alternative is documenting within a case study, a narrative description of actual events which provides the opportunity to think through the choices faced by the decision maker(s) and enables a paradigm shift or new way of viewing approaches to solving problems. Therefore, although the exact project with all its attributes may not be repeated, the lessons-learned documentation and communication may well save the next project.
Lessons learned should be updated in the lessons-learned documentation. It is critical for the Project Managers to understand in this process, that the knowledge is being catalogued for both immediate and long-term usage. They must understand that as individual leaders themselves, they are charged with leaving a legacy of their knowledge to future leaders. This is of course, in addition to having the work-arounds at their fingertips for both their own future use as well as their current colleagues. Since Project Managers who work on similar projects will run into similar obstacles, it is imperative that they share how they overcame these obstacles. It will ensure the same mistakes are not repeated at the cost of project delay, budget overruns and customer dissatisfaction.
Organizations need to encourage to document specific major operational lessons learned in such a way that the lessons learned can serve as a source to facilitate training for the next generation of workers. The importance of timely preparation and submission of high quality lessons learned and case studies, becomes a source of information for creation, submission, archival, and identification of best practices for broad discovery of the material once made available for use.
References:
Developing and Sharing Case Studies as a Key Component of Knowledge Sharing: Harold M. Bell, PMP, Project management challenge seventh annual NASA PM challenge - February 9, 2010
Learn the Value of Lessons-Learned: Scott Seningen-PMP
