learning lessons from a completed communications project
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DESCRIPTION
Given at the Technical Communications Summit, 4-5 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 by Teresa Stover of Stover Writing Services.TRANSCRIPT
LEARNING LESSONS
Teresa S. Stover
from a Completed Communications Project
OVERVIEW
How Lessons Learned Help
Obtaining Lessons Learned
Documenting Lessons Learned
Using Past Lessons Learned
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ROOM TO TALK
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20+ years as a consultant
•Technical writing
•Project management
•Author of 15 books
STC Senior Member
•Consulting and Independent Contracting SIG
•Willamette (Oregon) chapter
BY ANY OTHER WORD
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“Lessons Learned”
“Post Mortem”
“Debrief”
“Project Implementation Review”
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?
What worked well
What didn’t work
What can be improved
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WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?
Collect input
Record feedback
Share knowledge
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WHO’S INVOLVED IN LESSONS LEARNED?
•Department head
•Project manager
•Team leader Leaders:
•Team member
•Writer
•Designer
•Developer
Practitioners:
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WHAT KINDS OF PROJECTS BENEFIT?
User interface/user experience design
Instructional design
Training development and delivery
Website design and launch
Single source project
Online help
Web content development
Publication project 8
HOW LESSONS LEARNED HELP
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HOW LESSONS LEARNED HELP
Build on success of
earlier projects
Mitigate known risks
Adjust the approach or
process
Improve tools
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HOW LESSONS LEARNED HELP
Foster continuous
improvement
Advance professional
development
Cultivate organizational
maturity
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HOW LESSONS LEARNED HELP
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Schedule
Scope
People
Budget
Risk
Quality
Process
Tools
OBTAINING LESSONS LEARNED
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OBTAINING LESSONS LEARNED - OVERVIEW
Collecting data throughout
the project
Preparing for the lessons
learned meeting
Conducting the lessons
learned meeting
Reducing post mortem
anxiety
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COLLECTING DATA THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT
Periodic team meetings
Status reports
Issues tracking
Your observation
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PREPARING FOR THE LESSONS LEARNED MEETING
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Location
Date(s) and time(s)
Clear agenda
Participants
Invitation
Facilitator
Scribe
PREPARING FOR THE LESSONS LEARNED MEETING
What was the most fulfilling aspect?
What was the most difficult problem?
How did you solve it?
What process or tool can we improve, and how?
Should we enter the STC competition? Explain.
How did it go with our SMEs?
Do you have a technique that improved results?
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CONDUCTING THE LESSONS LEARNED MEETING
Set and follow your clear agenda
Meeting goal
Expected outcome
Topics
Time limits
Start and end on time
Emphasize the meeting goal and outcome
Outline the meeting structure
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CONDUCTING THE LESSONS LEARNED MEETING
Review ground rules
One speaker at a time
Staying on topic
Allow everyone to contribute
Maintain time limit
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
Consider additional ground rules
Keep it positive
Be respectful
Be constructive
Use “I” statements
Practice active listening
Let the speaker finish
Offer solutions and recommendations
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
Intention is not to place blame
Intention is to discover and remember
Keep the focus on solutions for the future
Continuous improvement
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
Professional development
Organizational growth
Preventing a reinvention
of the wheel
Instead, improving on the wheel
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
Make the final question positive
Summarize great results
Speak to successful teaming
Celebrate at meeting’s end
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REDUCING POST MORTEM ANXIETY
Alternatives for difficult situations
Meet one on one
Meet in smaller groups where there’s more trust
Submit questionnaires in writing
Submit questionnaires anonymously
Have only peers present in the meeting
Don’t include names, titles, or other identifiers in
resulting report or knowledge base
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DOCUMENTING LESSONS LEARNED: OVERVIEW
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DOCUMENTING LESSONS LEARNED: OVERVIEW
Processing the mass of information
Recording the key take-aways
Distributing lessons learned
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PROCESSING THE MASS OF INFORMATION
The Simpler Report
Project Overview
The Lessons Learned
Process
Successes and Strengths of
the Project
Challenges and
Weaknesses of the Project
Recommendations and
Solutions
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PROCESSING THE MASS OF INFORMATION
More Detailed Report
By phase
By module
By disciplines
By constraint
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PROCESSING THE MASS OF INFORMATION
Knowledge Base
Spreadsheet or database
Links to documents
Collecting throughout the
project
Collecting across multiple
projects
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RECORDING KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Strengths
Weaknesses
•What can and should be repeated in the future
•Recommendations on improving strengths
•Specifics of what didn’t work well
•Avoid blame
•Focus on solutions and risk avoidance
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RECORDING KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Emphasize continuous
process improvement
Recommend
root cause analysis
Use keywords and
informational contact
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DISTRIBUTING LESSONS LEARNED
Inclusion in the project
archives
Team members
Management
Others in the organization
Different versions for
different audiences
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USING PAST LESSONS LEARNED
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USING PAST LESSONS LEARNED
Prevent the “filed and
forgotten” syndrome
Lessons learned are a
gold mine
Solutions are a leg up
for new projects
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USING PAST LESSONS LEARNED
Make research of past
lessons learned a part
of every new project
startup
Share with colleagues
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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
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TELL ME MORE
Have you had a particularly bad experience with a lessons learned process?
Have you had a particularly good experience?
What do you like the best? The least?
What do you find most valuable about the lessons learned process?
What elements of a lessons learned process do you prefer?
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REFERENCES
Your Project Management
Coach
Microsoft Project 2010
Inside Out
Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
Projects In Practice blog:
www.projectsinpractice.com
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THANK YOU!
www.stoverwriting.com
www.projectsinpractice.com
Teresa Stover on LinkedIn
@stoverts on Twitter
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