What should be the primary considerations when logging lessons learned for a Project?

Question

I am looking to create an effective lessons learned log or template to capture feedback from successful and non-successful projects. What is the industry-standard for capturing project lessons?

I am agnostic on the tool or file format and looking to focus on the content of a lessons learned log.

Context

The projects we work on are generally small but varied IT related projects lasting around 1-3 weeks and I'm looking to capture lessons learned quickly and simply, but with enough information to ensure it's easy to pull out items relevant to a specific type of project.

Grateful for any advice on the best way to achieve this!

Thanks!

Answer 1

Here is what I am doing. My projects have very variable size and can be software or hardware.

1. Identify topics for discussion (team work, schedule, technical issues, tools ...) to make sure that your team addresses various dimensions of the project.

2. Record all ideas (positive and negative lessons) the way they are presented by the team.

3. Rework all information with a smaller group and identify a limited number of actions.

4. Make sure the actions will be done (maybe you have a quality system where you can record these, or you have another mean to make sure these do not get forgotten).

On a presentation point of view, this can all fit on a Word document, with the list of actions at the end.