How do you incorporate feedback and lessons learned into your project management templates?

Providing feedback and learning from experiences is crucial for the success of any project. Unfortunately, many organizations neglect this crucial step in their processes. As a consultant, it is imperative to demonstrate best practices by emphasizing the importance of feedback and lessons learned. It's crucial to hold your clients accountable and encourage them to continue this process even after the project is completed. By doing so, you can help ensure that future projects are more successful and efficient.

Feedback is instrumental and educational. All to often we find ourselves working to hard to "close the sale" as recruiters while attempting to make a placement that we miss some of the important messaging. Very rarely have I ever seen a client write the "perfect" job description. It serves as an initial roadmap for the type of candidate that they are looking for but there are cultural fits that are unwritten, as a specific example. If we do not take the time to learn from the feedback, we will miss the mark in most instances. Feedback all to often is considered to be a criticism rather than for what it really is, a key to allow YOU to be more successful.

Typically, organizations think of lessons learned as something that is completed as part of project close down activities. The downside is that information gets lost throughout the project lifecycle. I recommend tracking lessons learned throughout the project, just as you track risks and issues. Review them with the team upon completion of major milestones, sprints, or phases (whatever works best for your project). Identify what can be changed during the project lifecycle versus what requires more organizational engagement and change in preparation for the next project.

To incorporate feedback and lessons learned into project management templates, one should review feedback and lessons learned regularly, document them in a centralized location, analyze them to identify trends and patterns, and update project management templates based on the insights gained. This process helps improve project management practices and increase the chances of project success.

his may involve identifying recurring issues or challenges, as well as noting successes and positive outcomes that can be replicated. It's important to consider the source and credibility of the feedback, as well as the context and circumstances of the project. This analysis can help identify areas where the project management templates can be updated or improved.

I find it beneficial to ask the client for lessons learned from previous projects in their organization. The request is beneficial in multiple ways: 1) if they don't have any from prior projects then you will need to spend more time socializing the importance of performing Lessons Learned and the benefits of doing so. 2) Lessons Learned from previous projects alert you to potential risks. Review these with your Sponsor to gain insight into those where action was taken versus still pending for action. Remember: just because Lessons Learned are tracked and reviewed, it doesn't mean that actual action was taken. 3) Use the information to adjust your Lessons Learned templates to reflect nuances of the project, organization, and culture.

During the testing phase, you may encounter new challenges or opportunities that were not previously considered. You should incorporate any new insights into the templates to ensure that they remain relevant and effective. It is also important to seek feedback from project team members and stakeholders to ensure that the templates are meeting their needs.

By doing this, you can gain insights into how other organizations approach project management, identify potential gaps or areas for improvement in your own templates, and apply relevant ideas and strategies to your own work. It is important to note that while learning from others can be helpful, it is also important to tailor your templates to the specific needs and requirements of your organization and projects.

Several benefits: First, you will have a more efficient and effective project management process, leading to higher-quality project deliverables and greater client satisfaction. Second, you will be able to more easily onboard new team members, as they can quickly learn and adopt your project management templates. Third, you will have a historical record of project management templates that can be leveraged for future projects, allowing you to build on successes and avoid past mistakes.