Lessons learned
Contents
Definition
Concise descriptions of knowledge derived from experiences that can be communicated through mechanisms such as storytelling, debriefing etc., or summarized in databases.
Purpose and benefit
Lessons learned from a project or from a certain process show in a concise form what was done right, what should be done differently and how to improve the process and product to be more effective in the future. They are often considered a key component of, and ongoing precursor to, effective risk management.
Description
Lessons learned often reflect on ‘what was done right’, ‘what should be done differently’, and ‘how to improve the process and product to be more effective in the future’. In the nuclear industry, operating experience feedback is an example of an applied lessons learned programme.
Variations
Lorem ipsum
Implementation guidelines
- Organize a lessons learned meeting after a completed larger process or project or incident.
- Plan the lessons learned meeting carefully, and assign enough time for the meeting to discuss all aspects - positive and negative - of the process.
- Invite all involved members of the team, and listen openly their views.
- Get it in writing, and record all successes and failures together with all important parameters and circumstances.
- Create an action plan. The idea is to learn from the successes and failures not only to document them.
Sucess factors
- The date of the lessons learned meeting should be quite close to the termination of the process, so that all information be still live and available.
- Avoid that the team feels that the meeting is about punishment or assigning blame. The management has to develop a reputation for listening openly to input and not punishing people for being honest.
- Create an action plan. The idea is to learn from the successes and failures not only to document them.
- Make it available to those who might profit from the lessons learned. This is especially important in the nuclear industry, where the operators of NPPs should learn from each-others operating experiences.
