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.

Phases of a Construction Project Life Cycle – Part 4

In Part 4 we will examine the final two construction project phases as described by F. Lawrence Bennett in his book “The Management of Construction – A Project Lifecycle Approach.” In this final installment, we review the project operations and project closeout and termination phases.

Project operations phase

In presenting the contractor’s activities on the construction site, we will suggest, perhaps too simply, that the responsibilities involve three basic areas: monitoring and control, resource management and documentation and communication. Five aspects of monitoring and controlling the work are important. Actual schedule progress must be compared against the project program to determine whether the project is on schedule; if it is not, actions must be undertaken to try to bring the program back into conformance. Likewise, the cost status must be checked to establish how actual performance compares with the budget. An equally important part of monitoring and control is quality management, to assure that the work complies with the technical requirements set forth in the contract documents. In addition, the contractor has an important role to play in managing the work safely and in a way that minimizes adverse environmental impacts.

In managing the project’s resources, the contractor will, first, be concerned with assigning and supervising personnel and assuring that the labor effort is sufficiently productive to meet schedule, cost and quality goals. In addition, materials and plant must be managed so that these same goals are met. Because construction projects require large amounts of paperwork, a special effort is required to manage this documentation effectively. Examples include the various special drawings and samples that must be submitted to the owner or design professional for approval prior to installation, the frequent need to respond to requests for changes in the project after the on-site work has begun and the all-important process for periodically assessing the value of work completed and requesting payment for this work. Various on-line and other electronic means are available to assist contractors with document management and project communications.

Project closeout and termination phase

Finally, as the project nears completion, a number of special activities must take place before the contractor’s responsibilities can be considered complete. There are the various testing and startup tasks, the final cleanup, various inspections and remedial work that may result from them and the process of closing the construction office and terminating the staff’s employment. In addition, a myriad of special paperwork is required, including approvals and certifications that allow the contractor to receive final payment, a set of as-built drawings that include all changes made to the original design, operating manuals, warranties and a final report. The contractor will also be responsible for transferring and archiving project records and will conduct some sort of project critique and evaluation; operator training may also be part of the contractor’s contractual responsibilities.

Nakisa Inc. Selects Tenrox Project Management Software

(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Glendale, California — Tenrox, the leading provider of on-demand project management software solutions, today announced that Enterprise Talent and Organization Management Solutions provider, Nakisa Inc. has chosen Tenrox as its supplier of choice in its mission to streamline its resource management, project cost and revenue accounting, time tracking and billing processes.

Initially, Nakisa was using manual processes and several disparate applications such as Excel, MS Project and Dynamics GP to track project time and expenses and to invoice its clients. It was therefore a requirement to find a tool that would allow them to have one system of record to manage all of these processes as well as having access to real-time project cost and revenue reporting and analytics.

After an in-depth review of several project management software vendors, Nakisa chose to the Tenrox solution not only for its professional services team but also for company-wide use due its comprehensive product offering and on-demand capabilities. During the evaluation of Tenrox project management software, Nakisa realized that users across the enterprise would benefit from taking advantage of the solution’s advanced project management features ranging from resource and project forecasting, resource scheduling, project accounting and project process management.

Tenrox on-demand project management software solution is being rolled out in three phases: Phase one includes the implementation of the Tenrox Time, Expense and Billing modules throughout Nakisa’s locations in Canada, United States and Germany. The software will initially be used by the professional services staff to report project time and expenses from the office or while travelling. Phases two and three include implementing the solution throughout the entire company and rolling out the Workforce Planning, Project Planning and Project Process Management modules “We identified Tenrox as the preferred project management software solution due to its capability to support our international business requirements and the appeal of their On Demand offering, among other things. We are convinced this solution will improve our resource utilization, streamline our project management, cost accounting, and billing processes and enhance our ability to effectively manage all of our human resources. We are aggressively pursuing the rapid integration of the entire Tenrox solution,” explained Babak Varjavandi, CEO, Nasika Inc.

Read the entire story here..