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LESSONS LEARNED TEMPLATE

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LESSONS LEARNED
<PROJECT NAME>

COMPANY NAME
STREET ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP CODE

DATE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 3
LESSONS LEARNED APPROACH ................................................................................................................ 3
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT .................................................................................................... 4
LESSONS LEARNED KNOWLEDGE BASE / DATABASE ..................................................................................... 6
LESSONS LEARNED APPLIED FROM PREVIOUS PROJECTS ............................................................................... 6
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 6

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INTRODUCTION
Capturing lessons learned is an integral part of every project and serves several purposes.
While the finalization of a formal lessons learned document is completed during the project
closeout process, capturing lessons learned should occur throughout the project lifecycle to
ensure all information is documented in a timely and accurate manner. The lessons learned
document serves as a valuable tool for use by other project managers within an organization
who are assigned similar projects. This document should not only describe what went wrong
during a project and suggestions to avoid similar occurrences in the future, but it should also
describe what went well and how similar projects may benefit from this information. This
document should be communicated to the project sponsor and Project Management Office
(PMO) for inclusion in the organizational assets and archives as part of the lessons learned
database. If the organization does not have a PMO then other, formal means of
communicating the lessons learned should be utilized to ensure all project managers are
included.

The purpose of the lessons learned document for the New Building Construction (NBC) Project
is to capture the project’s lessons learned in a formal document for use by other project
managers on similar future projects. This document may be used as part of new project
planning for similar projects in order to determine what problems occurred and how those
problems were handled and may be avoided in the future. Additionally, this document details
what went well with the project and why, so that other project managers may capitalize on
these actions. Project managers may also use this document to determine who the project
team members were in order to solicit feedback for planning their projects in the future. This
document will be formally communicated with the organization and will become a part of the
organizational assets and archives.

LESSONS LEARNED APPROACH

The lessons learned approach describes how the document will be created, what it will consist
of, and how lessons will be categorized. It is important that the lessons learned approach is
covered in the initial stages of project planning. The reason for this is that a methodology along
with an appropriate set of tools should be established to capture these lessons throughout the
project’s lifecycle. A project journal is one example of a tool to capture these lessons. If no
thought is given to lessons learned until project closeout then it is likely that many lessons and
details will be omitted from the document. The contents of the lessons learned document
should also be determined ahead of time. They should be detailed enough to provide value for
future use and the contents should be consistent with other lessons learned documents or
organizational standards. The categorization of lessons learned is another consideration. Many

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organizations categorize lessons by project lifecycle phase or by the knowledge area that the
lesson applies to.

The lessons learned from the NBC Project are compiled from project journal entries throughout
the project lifecycle. Lessons learned were also be gathered from both realized and unrealized
risks in the project risk register as well as through interviews with project team members and
other stakeholder as necessary. The lessons learned from this project are to be used as
references for future projects and contain an adequate level of detail so that other project
managers may have enough information on which to help base their project plans. The lessons
learned in this document are categorized by project knowledge area. These knowledge areas
consist of: procurement management, risk management, integration management, quality
management, time management, cost management, scope management, human resource
management, and communications management. NOTE: some knowledge areas may not
contain lessons learned if none were documented throughout the project lifecycle.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT

The lessons learned must be communicated in a consistent manner. In addition to the
categorization and description of the lesson, it is important to state what the impact was and
provide a recommendation for project managers to consider on future projects.

The following chart lists the lessons learned for the NBC project. These lessons are categorized
by project knowledge area and descriptions, impacts, and recommendations are provided for
consideration on similar future new construction projects. It is important to note that not only
failures or shortcomings are included but successes as well.

Category Issue Name Problem/Success Impact Recommendation

Procurement Contract The PM was not fully All requirements were PM must be fully
Management Requirements engaged in the not included in the engaged in all
contract process. initial contract award. contract processes.
A contract This must be
modification was communicated to
required which added both PM and
a week to the project. contract personnel.

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Human Award Plan There was no plan for Toward the end of the The PM should
Resources providing awards and project morale was institute and
Management recognition to team low among the project communicate an
members. team. There was awards/recognition
increased conflict and program for every
team members were project.
asking to leave the
project.
Scope Scope Creep Stakeholders The PM did not have a The PM must have
Management continuously tried plan for addressing an approval process
adding to the project scope creep and for any proposed
scope throughout the allowed some scope changes and
project lifecycle. requirements to be communicate this
added until the process to all
sponsor stopped it. stakeholders.
Overall project delay
of 3 weeks was the
result.
Quality Building A process for This allowed the Always plan quality
Management Material determining project team to work standards and
acceptable building with the contractors allowances into the
material quality was to smoothly ensure all project plan. This
planned into the materials were of helps avoid delays
project. acceptable quality and and cost overruns.
avoided any re-work
and delays associated
with substandard
material.
Risk Zoning A risk was identified Impact was minimal Always consider
Management Approval that there may be because the PM external impacts on
delays in receiving included potential the project cost and
approval from the zoning delays into the schedule. This must
county zoning board. project schedule. be continuous
This was a success throughout the
because it was project lifecycle.
identified early and
planned for.

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LESSONS LEARNED KNOWLEDGE BASE / DATABASE

The Lesson Learned Knowledge Base contains historical information from previous projects. It
is part of the organizational project assets and provides a valuable source of information to be
used by similar projects in the future. All project lessons learned and other historical
information need to be transferred to this knowledge/database in order to provide one
centralized repository for ease of use. This should also include information on issues and risks
as well as techniques that worked well which can be applied to future projects. Most lessons
learned knowledge/databases contain large amounts of information, so it is important that
there is a system for cataloging this information.

The lessons learned for the NBC Project will be contained in the organizational lessons learned
knowledge base maintained by the project management office (PMO). This information will be
cataloged under the project’s year (20xx) and the type of project (New Construction) for future
reference. This information will be valuable for any project manager assigned to a new
construction project in the future.

LESSONS LEARNED APPLIED FROM PREVIOUS PROJECTS

The lessons learned document might also state which historical lessons learned were used on
this project. This information not only shows the value of the documentation of such lessons,
but it also shows which lessons are consistently applied by other similar projects. It is
important to reference not only what the lesson was but from which project it was associated
with.

The NBC Project utilized several lessons learned from past projects:

1. The addition of a risk associated with planning cost and schedule based on external
dependencies (i.e. zoning approvals) was determined during the planning process by
consulting the lessons learned from the Building #3 expansion project from 20xx.
2. The planning of acceptable quality standards was based on lessons learned from the
Startup Site Construction Project of 20xx. By planning for quality standards the project
team was able to avoid schedule and cost overruns by clearly communicating acceptable
quality standards to all contractors involved with the project.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

It is important that once lessons learned are collected and documented that the organization
approves and implement any process improvements identified. It is important for
organizations to strive for continuous improvement and this portion of the lessons learned
process is an integral step.

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As indicated in the lessons learned chart above, the NBC Project did not have a process for
reviewing and approving requested changes in requirements or project scope. Not only is this a
lesson learned for similar future projects; but the organization must ensure that all project
managers are aware of the need for this process to be included in the planning of all future
projects. Therefore, it is recommended that prior to work beginning on any new project, the
project manager must brief the project sponsor on the process for requesting and approving
changes to project scope.

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