Lessons Learned about Lessons Learned - Part I - The Setup

Setting up a Lessons Learned session

Give your session plenty of time.? I would not schedule a session for less than an hour but not more than two. You can always dismiss everyone early if things wrap up quickly.

Build a list of at least 10 questions that will also operate as the agenda for your session.? Ask tough questions that you think will spark discussion.? At the same time, expect that some questions you think should garner lots of responses may be met with silence while others you didn’t expect to spark much conversation will provoke long debates.??

Have a list of all the participants and call on them by name to help facilitate the session. Try not to have single voices dominate, by asking people who don't speak up if they have anything that they want to add and ask them to describe their experience.??

Be ready to move on.? If people are resistant to talking, don’t dwell on the topic. Move on to the next question.? Don’t make people uncomfortable. Be ready to and move off of topics that no one is responding or if just one person is dominating all the discussion. Remember that what your participants think is important is what is critical, not what you think is important.

If at all possible, record the entire session.? If not, try to get someone else, you cannot be the scribe and the facilitator. Try to find a scribe who will approach taking notes with as little emotional input of their own. If you have to also scribe then build in breaks for you to update your notes. Try to capture direct quotes if possible as these often provide the best information rather than generalities.

Send out the questions in advance with the invitations and encourage everyone to attend.