General Rules

• As a general rule meetings and questions should address both PM and non-PM Lessons Learned
• Conduct Lessons Learned meetings
• Depending on the size and type of project there can be one or more LL session.
• Use survey questions (recommended below) to solicit feedback

Before the meeting

• Use online anonymous survey to collect feedback, distill down to areas of discussion and focus actual meeting(s) around identifying specific actions to follow
• Prepare the team in advance of the meeting for what will be discussed
• Take steps to ensure that the meeting will be comfortable and non-confrontational
• Involve a "scribe" or two to ensure that all notes get captured - the PM could be considered for this role
• Project Manager of the project should not be facilitator of the lessons learned - get another PM or strong facilitator
• Who is invited?  Should include team members, customers, other stakeholders
• Try to plan to feed people (when possible), breaks may be needed as well
• Encourage creative thinking - make it a relaxed environment for having the discussion - go to a less familiar, interesting place

During the meeting

Introduction

• Be clear about the agenda, what the goals are for the meeting
• Develop a list of ground rules - have the team develop these (suggested set - be nice, don't blame, be constructive)
• Hand out set of topics and ask team which items they would like to talk about - go around the table to discuss - make sure each person gets a turn
• Start session with an overview of the project - goals, what we accomplished, any particular challenges encountered

During discussion

• Focusing the discussion around actions/solutions rather than rehashing the past
• Identify top items to be worked on

Closing

• Identify clear actions and owners where appropriate
• If you use a meeting to collect the feedback, save a period of time at the end to focus on identifying solutions for the most important issues

After the meeting

• Followup on actions agreed upon

Other considerations

• Start out focusing on the positive lessons learned - what went well
• Be prepared to discuss specific problems (problem, perceived cause, what should have been done differently)
• For large projects, don't do it only at the end of the project - do LL at various key milestones
• Develop standard LL templates for online surveys

You can conduct Surveys or ?????? Handouts etc.

Sample Lessons Learned Questions

Mid-Project Lessons Learned

• What is going well that we want to continue?
• What isn't going well that we want to fix?
• What can we do to improve?

Key End of Project Questions

• General
  • List top significant project successes? (keep to a manageable number)
  • What obstacles or unanticipated circumstances made it difficult to complete the project?
  • Based on what you know now, what should have been done differently in this project?
• Communications
  • Were communications adequate in all activities? (right time, right audience, right information, right type)  If not, in what ways could communications be improved?
  • Was documentation appropriate, timely, and clear?  If not, what should be included for future efforts?
• Project Management
  • What value did project management bring to the project? 
• Project Planning
  • How well was the project staffed to complete the project?
  • How well was the project planned?
  • How well were roles and responsibilities defined?
  • How well was stakeholder input factored into the project planning process?
• Project Execution
  • How well did we execute according to plan?
  • How well were the stakeholders involved in the execution of the project? 
  • How well were issues resolved?
  • How well did the teams/sub-teams work together?
• Testing
  • Was adequate testing performed (if applicable)?  If not, what should be done differently next time?
• Cutover
  • Was cutover planned well?  Executed well?  If not, what should be done differently next time?

Ron Parks

Questions would be selected based on the type and size of the project.
Lessons Learned should not just be concerning with what did not go well.

1. General Processes
   • What would you say were the most critical factors for project success?
   • Which tools or techniques worked well?
   • Were there organizational obstacles that made it difficult to complete the project
   • Were roles and responsibilities clearly defined?
2. Control
   • Were there scope changes that impacted the schedule?
   • Did stakeholders have appropriate input into the project planning process?
   • Was risk controlled adequately?
   • Did the project meet all original scheduled milestones/deadlines?
   • Were all issues resolved in a timely manner?
   • Were there project staffing issues?
3. Communications
   • Were communications adequate in all activities?
   • Were status and issues communicated in a timely manner
   • Was the communications style appropriate for all parties?
4. Requirements
   • Were requirements documented clearly?
   • Were test plans adequate?
5. Overall
   • Was the project a success?
   • Were project objectives met?
   • Be sure to ask for input on "What Went Right"

     Irina Naydich

• What worked well either for this project or for the project team?
• What did not work well either for this project or for the project team?
• What needs to be done over or differently?
• What surprises did the team have to deal with?
• What project circumstances were not anticipated?
• Were the project goals attained? If not, what changes need to be made to meet goals in the future?

• List top three significant project successes.
• Other notable project successes.
• Project shortcomings and Solutions.
  

Greg Bronson

1. Have you participated in this type of technology project before?

2. Would you recommend this technology PM service to a peer?

3. Do you believe the technology PM applied provided a better ulimate outcome for this project?

4. Was the project flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen circumstances?

5. Did the project unduly stray from identified goals and objectives?

Micci Bogard

Space for Micci

Lisa Stensland

Survey Questions from PS 8.9 Upgrade

These questions were used in an on-line survey and folks had to answer on a scale from 1-5 (1=Strongly Disagree, 5=Strongly Agree) except where otherwise noted.
OVERALL PROJECT ASSESSMENT

• Overall, this project was a success.
• I would want to be involved in another project of this nature.
• Project successes were recognized.
• (Open-Ended) What factors most contributed to the success of this project?
• (Open-Ended) What was difficult or frustrating in this project that we could have prevented?
• (Open-Ended) Based on what you know now, what should have been done differently in this project?

LEADERSHIP

• The project manager was involved at the right level of the project.
• The lead for my area was involved at the right level of the project.
• The lead for my area clearly defined assignments.
• The lead for my area kept me well informed of the project status.
• Issues raised to the project leadership were addressed appropriately.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

COMMUNICATION

• For the overall project, I received the right information from the right people at the right time.
• Within my area, I received the right information from the right people at the right time.
• Meetings I attended regarding the project were useful.
• Project status reports were useful.
• I knew where to go to get information on the project.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION

• The users of the PeopleSoft system were adequately involved in this project.
• The PeopleSoft directors were adequately involved in this project.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

PROJECT PLANNING

• I was adequately involved in the planning process.
• Being involved in the project planning was beneficial for me.
• The project planning effort resulted in a realistic plan.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

PROJECT CONTROL

• Management of project scope was effective.
• Management of project budget was effective.
• Management of project schedule was effective.
• Management of project resourcing was effective.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

PROJECT RESOURCING

• Roles and responsibilities were clearly defined.
• Staffing in my area was sufficient for this project.
• The appropriate people were assigned to the tasks in my area.
• My ideas and concerns were fairly addressed.
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

PROJECT SCHEDULE

• The project schedule was clearly defined.
• Adjustments to the schedule were made when needed.
• I knew what I needed to do and by when.
• I received deliverables from my co-workers in a timely manner.
• I was able to do my work at a comfortable pace.

TESTING

• Developing the test strategy was valuable.
• Developing the test plan was valuable.
• The system/parallel testing effort was well-coordinated.
• The system/parallel testing effort throughly covered all areas.
• The system/parallel testing effort prevented major surprises from arising in production.
• Issues uncovered in testing were escalated to CIT effectively.
• Issues uncovered in testing were resolved promptly.
• Issues uncovered in testing were resolved correctly.
• (Open-Ended) In what areas should we have tested more?
• (Open-Ended) In what areas did we spend too much time testing?
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

CUTOVER

• For cutover weekend, planning was done well.
• For cutover weekend, execution was done well.
• For cutover weekend, communication was done well.
• I was prepared to do my job on Day 1.
• I was able to do my job on Day 1 without any major issues.

RELIABILITY AND QUALITY

• We have now been in production with PeopleSoft 8.9 for about 2 months. Compared to what you expected, how is the system quality and reliability? (Possible answers: "Better than I expected", "About what I expected", "Worse than I expected")
• (Open-Ended) What details, if any, would you like to provide regarding the answers you chose?

More generic survey questions

This set of questions was used for a Blackboard Upgrade project. Again, feedback was collected via online survey.

For each topic listed below, 3 questions were asked:

• What went well?
• What didn't go well?
• What would you do differently?

Topics (sub-bullet questions were "considerations" were examples given to the responder to help provide some perspective)

• Project Planning
  • Was the project plan realistic or unrealistic?
  • Did the planning effort include key stakeholders?
  • Were all major activities accounted for?
  • Did the individual team members responsible for the work provide the estimates?
  • Were appropriate staff involved in the planning effort?
• Communications
  • Were communications effective?
  • Were meetings effective?
  • Were expectations clear?
  • Did you know where to go to get information about the project?
  • Did communications go to the right people, at the right time?
  • Were communications with our consultant effective?
  • Did we escalate effectively and at the right time?
  • Were issues dealt with effectively?
• Staffing, Roles, and Responsibilities
  • Were people appropriately assigned to the project?
  • Was staffing sufficient?
  • Were roles and responsibilities clear?
  • Did team members and stakeholder fulfill their roles appropriately?
  • Was leadership and governance effective?
• Project Execution
  • Was the project executed according to plan?
  • Was there an appropriate level of commitment and urgency?
  • Was change management performed appropriately?
  • Was risk management performed appropriately?
  • Was issue management performed appropriately
• Teamwork
  • Did the teams/sub-teams work effectively together?
  • Did the teams share a common goal/mission?
  • All stakeholders were appropriately engaged, involved, and available?
• Cutover
  • Was the cutover successful?
  • Was the cutover well planned?
  • Were cutover communications effective?
• Anything else?