Mary Ann MadaraDocument Control Professional| Arup Gulf LtdDubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A certain organization has already an 'established system' with regards to dealing with lessons learned being encountered in every project, may it small or big. But, just wondering why despite of this, the same mistakes are still kept on recurring. There must be a problem somewhere on the system? or on the people involved in it?
Have you experienced the same in your organization? Were you able to determine the root cause and effective & permanent solution(s)?
Your sound thoughts are highly appreciated. Saving Changes...
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Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
1. Has the system's correctness ever been verified? If so, how? Perhaps the creator of the system wrote down a lot of theoretical practices that people are ignoring because they consider them too cumbersome to implement.
2. Can it be verified that people are following the system *exactly* as it is written?
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1 reply by Mary Ann Madara
Aug 25, 2019 2:18 AM
Mary Ann Madara
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Thank you Eric for your input. Good point to start with.
Cheers!
Saving Changes...
Mary Ann MadaraDocument Control Professional| Arup Gulf LtdDubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Aug 24, 2019 3:00 PM
Replying to Eric Simms
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1. Has the system's correctness ever been verified? If so, how? Perhaps the creator of the system wrote down a lot of theoretical practices that people are ignoring because they consider them too cumbersome to implement.
2. Can it be verified that people are following the system *exactly* as it is written?
Thank you Eric for your input. Good point to start with.
Cheers! Saving Changes...
Asif GulConsultant Project Manager| Energoprojekt EntelMuscat, Oman
I guess may be system needs some enhancement, as I encountered in my organisation, that commonly "Lesson Learned" consist of large database, which managers rarely refers to while making decisions. Along with other measures ,i believe following practical steps can help in this : 1. In each Project initiation stage, all relevant lesson learned should be presented over to Project stakeholders in a more dynamic way. 2. The processes & documentation should be frequently revised on the basis of critical /repeated mistakes/errors found in lesson learned. 3. Email circulation for all new lesson learned in organisation. 4. Imposition of fines/ penalties on the repetition of mistakes/errors. ( through process) e.t.c
Regards, Saving Changes...
Alexandre CostaScrum Master| Integer Consulting - Pictet technologiesLoures, Portugal
All the posts here make sense , all system must be evaluated regarding de volume of information, how easy is to access and find and finally the lessons are really effective and well formulated, is the information clear and precise otherwise it means nothing. Saving Changes...
Mary Anne,
I completely agree with my colleagues regarding how the volume of data can make a large lessons learned database unusable. During a 5S audit of my team, I was asked if we use lessons learned, and informed them that as a lean practice, we learned that the lessons learned database should be "swept".
At my employer (Boeing) we have a safety lessons learned process in which we invest far more time and money. It is more useful, but there is a great deal of structure and process behind it. If the data is not well structured in the tool, the sorting and search capability becomes a large problem unless there is a Big Data specialist helping to sort through it all.
We often use interviews with people from prior programs, and non-advocate reviews with SMEs of various domains to help us find relevant lessons learned for our projects.
Keith Saving Changes...
Mary Ann MadaraDocument Control Professional| Arup Gulf LtdDubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Thank you for your comments & inputs. Great help! Saving Changes...
We have the same issue. We have a central repository for all project documentation including lessons learned. The issue is that those docs are buried in project close out reports which nobody ever reads. As such, an initiative was started a couple of years ago to pull these lessons learned and make them more accessible, but that is only part of the solution. At the same time, there has to be a push from senior management for PMs' to seriously look at what lessons can be implemented on their projects. The real leap is taking lessons observed and making the successful ones lessons implemented on future projects. I would suggest that PMS' be forced at various project approval gates to provide evidence that they will reviewed and will they implement them with resulting savings in time and money. The efficiencies and saving to be gained in our organization would be in the multiple tens of millions in my opinion, Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
The problem with putting the learned lessons away in a repository or database is that it is only useful if you use it. You basically leave it up to the consumers to figure out the lessons learned that are applicable to their project.
I prefer to incorporate lessons learned into the organizational project assets. Add or update checklists, templates and samples that will become the new baseline for project managers. Saving Changes...
We are doing that to some extent especially when it comes to Statements of Work (SOW) and other contractual documents, but this is only when we are asked to do so by PMs as part of the services we provide. Even when we advise PMs of potential issues based on our collective experiences, they often ignore that advice, and we have no authority over them which I see as part of our own internal organization issues. Saving Changes...
