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690.
WRAP-UP: DETERMINING LESSONS LEARNED
The
2001 Annual: Volume 2, Consulting/© 2001 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer
(view
pdf for download)
Goals
| • |
To
identify lessons learned from a specific completed project
or from a discrete phase of a large, complex project. |
| • |
To
develop an action plan to put learnings into practice. |
| • |
To
provide a model for participants to learn how to use their
experience to improve future work. |
Group
Size
At
least four and up to thirty participants who are working on
the same long-term project.
Time
Required
One-and-one-half
to three hours, depending on the number of participants reporting
back.
Materials
•
One flip-chart with extra paper.
• Felt-tipped markers.
• 3" x 5" Post-it® Notes, one pad per participant.
• Masking tape.
Physical
Setting
A
large room with round tables at which groups can work without
disturbing one another. Ample wall space is needed for displaying
flip-chart sheets.
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Process
1.
As a wrap-up to a completed project or a particular phase
of a project, bring participants together at a meeting and
ask: "What's the most pleasant/worthwhile event that
happened during the project?" Record their answers on
a flip-chart. (Ten minutes.)
2.
Have participants brainstorm the major components of the project
thus far (for example, interaction, teamwork, work processes,
etc.) and post those major headings on the wall, each on its
own large piece of flip-chart paper. Have individuals decide
on at least six components. (Fifteen minutes.)
3.
Ask participants to think of various experiences that (a)
went well and (b) didn't go well during the project. For each
experience, have participants identify the lesson learned
from that experience and write it on a Post-it® Note using
a fine-point marker.
Example:
"We had pizza together one day a week and as we got together
issues emerged. We learned that we needed to get together
informally."
Example:
"A lot of team members traveled home for the weekends;
they spent most of Monday asking questions. We learned we
needed to spend thirty minutes each Monday doing catch-up
in a scheduled meeting.
Remind
people to write legibly. (Ten minutes.)
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4.
Have participants post their lessons learned on the appropriate
flip-chart sheet on the wall. Have participants roam around
the room and read all the notes, silently, before moving on
to the next step. (Five to ten minutes.)
5.
Divide participants into random small groups of four to six
members each. Assign each group to one of the categories on
the wall. Depending on the numbers of topics and people, some
groups may have to be responsible for more than one subject.
Have each group summarize the comments that have been posted
and prepare to report back to the large group. (Note: Consider
having each group prioritize the lessons learned and report
on the top three or four, again depending on the amount of
data collected.) (Fifteen to twenty-five minutes.)
6.
As groups read back the summary of comments, elicit the positive
results of the lesson, as well as the negative consequences
of not acting on the lesson learned. (Ten to twenty minutes.)
7.
Have the total group identify the most important themes and
messages they heard from the small-group reports. Record these
on the flip-chart. (Ten to twenty minutes.)
8.
Develop an action list of next steps based on the previous
discussion, with the focus on how to retain, access, and use
the most important lessons surfaced by the groups. Assign
responsibilities and time lines for each action item. (Fifteen
to twenty-five minutes.)
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9.
If necessary, check and affirm that there is formal authority
from management to enact the recommended action items. Senior
management may want time to deliberate and offer the following
choices: act now, act later (when?), defer or modify (explain
logic, provide feedback), reject (explain logic, provide feedback).
10.
Schedule a follow-up meeting to revisit the action plan and
check on implementation and progress.
11.
Summarize by asking:
• How can lessons learned be a tool for progress?
• How can you continue to benefit from what you learned
today?
• Can you think of a way to archive the lessons learned?
• How will you review progress on the action items?
• What will this team do differently to improve future
work?
(Twenty minutes.)
Variation
•
Create specific major headings for lessons learned, which
could be done after individuals have posted lessons and rearranged
them into clusters of "similar" items. Then ask
participants to come up with a descriptive label or title
for each cluster.
Submitted
by Carole Veronesi.
Carole Veronesi, M.S., a principal in the SGC Consulting
Group, Inc., specializes in custom-designed experiential learning
sessions for strategic planning, team development, and leading
organizations through change. She has implemented strategies
for enterprise-wide technology systems such as SAP. For more
than twenty years, her organization development skills have
focused on helping clients grow and change based on market
demands and organizational vision. She is an adjunct faculty
member at Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Organization
Development.
The
2001 Annual: Volume 2, Consulting/© 2001 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer
(view
pdf for download)
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