Which strategies are the most recommended to make efficient use of lessons learned?
There are companies that have similar projects and make the same mistakes even though they have records of lessons learned. How can this situation be improved? Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Does anyone have a software that will store past lessons learned? These would then be searchable for future projects.
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1 reply by Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
Oct 23, 2017 9:29 AM
Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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If there are programs or applications, however, I believe that it is important to create a culture in the organization for this resource to be used, as it is often because of the hurry or to be sure that things are being done well, the files are not searched history. In any case it is a good option to have a system with these characteristics
Regards
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Oct 20, 2017 10:50 PM
Replying to Dinah Young
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Does anyone have a software that will store past lessons learned? These would then be searchable for future projects.
In large organizations, they can invest into a document management system that includes all of the past project records, including lessons learned. However, no fancy tool is the answer - the practice is what is important.
Any shared folder will do --- and MS Word is good enough. In the properties of the MS Word file, you can include tags for easy search.
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1 reply by Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
Oct 23, 2017 9:30 AM
Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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You are right, the important thing is to take advantage of and make use of the tool, system or application that is available.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Oct 20, 2017 3:36 PM
Replying to Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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I agree, the point maybe to consider is that sometimes the project team is not the same. I think that is where the PMO must act because many times the team of a current project does not know of the existence of similar projects that were done previously by other people.
regards
This is why you need a searchable database accessible to project teams.
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1 reply by Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
Oct 23, 2017 9:33 AM
Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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That is a limitation, and the other is that if you have a database available then use it (it seems easy, but it does not always happen)
regards
Saving Changes...
Brenda PhillipsProject Manager| VerizonSanford, Fl, United States
This is a challenge for me. My organization has an enterprise repository of lessons learned that is organized with categories and other attribution. Yet, it's still difficult to contextualize how they might apply to your project since projects vary widely.
I also think there's an art to writing lessons with a goal to help future projects, not just a complaint box. Some lessons are written with such specificity, there's no way to imagine replicating the problem.
It would be helpful if project charters were also available. You could start there in your search for applicable projects and then dive into their lessons. It's been awhile since I've visited our repository. I think I'll go back and see if I can help make some improvements. Thanks for posting the question! ??
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1 reply by Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
Oct 23, 2017 9:37 AM
Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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Thank you for giving you the time to comment. I think that is precisely why I start the topic of discussion. And it is very good what you say, apart from having a repository it is important that those who use it give their opinions for continuous improvement and that is maximized by the organization.
SharePoint or Wiki tools like Confluence can be used to organize lessons in a structured manner.
The challenge isn't the tool as much as ensuring there is sufficient perceived value for PMs to look for lessons. This usually means that someone has to curate, massage, scrub and enhance the raw nuggets coming out of projects. That is an excellent service for a PMO to provide but in the absence of a PMO it can be difficult as PMs are usually quickly deployed on their next project.
Kiron
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1 reply by Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
Oct 23, 2017 9:39 AM
Carlos Eduardo Escobar Muentes
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Right, that's what I thought. This is where the PMO must support the organization.
Thank you
Does anyone have a software that will store past lessons learned? These would then be searchable for future projects.
If there are programs or applications, however, I believe that it is important to create a culture in the organization for this resource to be used, as it is often because of the hurry or to be sure that things are being done well, the files are not searched history. In any case it is a good option to have a system with these characteristics
This is a challenge for me. My organization has an enterprise repository of lessons learned that is organized with categories and other attribution. Yet, it's still difficult to contextualize how they might apply to your project since projects vary widely.
I also think there's an art to writing lessons with a goal to help future projects, not just a complaint box. Some lessons are written with such specificity, there's no way to imagine replicating the problem.
It would be helpful if project charters were also available. You could start there in your search for applicable projects and then dive into their lessons. It's been awhile since I've visited our repository. I think I'll go back and see if I can help make some improvements. Thanks for posting the question! ??
Thank you for giving you the time to comment. I think that is precisely why I start the topic of discussion. And it is very good what you say, apart from having a repository it is important that those who use it give their opinions for continuous improvement and that is maximized by the organization.
SharePoint or Wiki tools like Confluence can be used to organize lessons in a structured manner.
The challenge isn't the tool as much as ensuring there is sufficient perceived value for PMs to look for lessons. This usually means that someone has to curate, massage, scrub and enhance the raw nuggets coming out of projects. That is an excellent service for a PMO to provide but in the absence of a PMO it can be difficult as PMs are usually quickly deployed on their next project.
Kiron
Right, that's what I thought. This is where the PMO must support the organization.
Thank you Saving Changes...
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