A Lessons Learned Template

Lessons Learned – often talked about, a discussion that is usually planned…but often forgotten.  You’re at the end of the project and the plan is to pull both teams together to go over lessons learned in great detail and for the benefit of all – but it often doesn’t happen.  Team members move on to other projects or post-deployment issues are taking up everyone’s time.

Lessons Learned sessions can be very helpful – and if you’re luck enough to keep yours on the project schedule, then this template may help you.  It looks a little rough pasted into this post and one of the tables turned into a bullet list, but I think you’ll get the idea.

As always, if you want the Word doc template, let me know…and please feel free to share your version as well.

PROJECT LESSONS-LEARNED DOCUMENT

The purpose of this template is to help the project team share knowledge gained from experience so that the entire organization may benefit. A successful Lessons-Learned program will help project teams:

• Repeat desirable outcomes
• Avoid undesirable outcomes.

A. Your project team should begin to use this document at its first project meeting. Continually recording Lessons-Learned throughout the project is the best way to ensure that they are accurately recorded. Topics to consider include all of the following (feel free to change the list). The Lessons Learned Checklist is also available as a guide to discussion.

B. At the end of your project, use this document to summarize your experience.

During your discussions:

• Be positive
• Do not place blame!
• Focus on successes as well as failures
• Indicate which strategies contributed to success
• Indicate which improvement strategies would have the greatest impact

The signatures above indicate an understanding of the purpose and content of this document by those signing it. By signing this document, they agree to this as the formal Project Lessons-Learned Document.

The Project Charter Document

As I discussed previously, I want to bring the readers of PM Tips as many useful…or at least semi-useful…project related documents, samples and templates as possible.  This is a place for new and experienced project managers to gather and share ideas, so I’m sharing.  If any of you have samples that you’d like to share – send them to me and I’ll summarize and post them on here.I have to admit, I’ve not had much occasion to create a project charter document.  Eric Verzuh’s book “The Portable MBA in Project Management” describes the project charter document in this way…

“A project charter announces that a new project has begun. The purpose of the charter is to demonstrate management support for the project and the project manager. It is a simple, powerful tool, but it is not necessarily complex. As an announcement, it can take the form of a memo, a letter, or an e-mail. It contains the name and purpose of the project, the project manager’s name, and a statement of support from the issuer. The charter is sent to everyone who may be associated with the project, reaching as wide an audience as practical because its intent is to give notice of the new project and the new project manager.”

A few years ago I created several templates that I’d like to share with you here over several upcoming articles, including this Project Charter document.  They are merely a basis to get started – I’ve modified them all when I use them in order to fit the specific project or needs of the customer, but they at least provide a starting point.  Again, if you have templates or samples you’d like to share here, let me know and I’ll do my best to get them posted for our readers.

PROJECT CHARTER

[Save file name as: client name PROJECT CHARTER yyyymmdd]

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Provide a brief description of the situation that has initiated the project.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

Describe the objectives of the project – “SMART”: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based.

ASSUMPTIONS

Describe the initial assumptions under which the project will be to perform.

CONTRAINTS

Describe the scope/cost/ time/resource constraints under which the project will be to perform.

IDENTIFIED RISKS

Describe any known risks which will need to be addressed with the project statement of work.

APPROVAL

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have agreed to the Project Charter on the date or dates indicated below.

CLIENT APPROVAL

________________________________

VENDOR APPROVAL

________________________________