Complex Building Project Assessment

Question :How did you handle the project from your role in the group, what would you change etc.

INTRODUCTION

Capturing lessons learned is an integral part of every project and serves several purposes.  While the finalization of a formal lessons learned document is completed during the project closeout process, capturing lessons learned should occur throughout the project lifecycle to ensure all information is documented in a timely and accurate manner.  The lessons learned document serves as a valuable tool for use by other project managers within an organization who are assigned similar projects.  This document should not only describe what went wrong during a project and suggestions to avoid similar occurrences in the future, but it should also describe what went well and how similar projects may benefit from this information. 

The purpose of the lessons learned document for a construction project is to capture the project’s lessons learned in a formal document for use by other project managers on similar future projects.  This document may be used as part of new project planning for similar projects in order to determine what problems occurred and how those problems were handled and may be avoided in the future.  Additionally, this document details what went well with the project and why, so that other project managers may capitalize on these actions.  Project managers may also use this document to determine who the project team members were in order to solicit feedback for planning their projects in the future.  This document will be formally communicated with the organization and will become a part of the organizational assets and archives. 

Lessons Learned Approach

The lessons learned approach describes how the document will be created, what it will consist of, and how lessons will be categorized.  It is important that the lessons learned approach is covered in the initial stages of project planning.  The reason for this is that a methodology along with an appropriate set of tools should be established to capture these lessons throughout the project’s lifecycle.  A project journal is one example of a tool to capture these lessons.  If no thought is given to lessons learned until project closeout, then it is likely that many lessons and details will be omitted from the document.  The contents of the lessons learned document should also be determined ahead of time.  They should be detailed enough to provide value for future use and the contents should be consistent with other lessons learned documents or organizational standards.  The categorization of lessons learned is another consideration.  Many organizations categorize lessons by project lifecycle phase or by the knowledge area that the lesson applies to.

The lessons learned from a construction project are compiled from project journal entries throughout the project lifecycle.  The lessons learned from this project are to be used as references for future projects and contain an adequate level of detail so that other project managers may have enough information on which to help base their project plans. 

The lessons learned are categorized by project knowledge area.  These knowledge areas may consist of: procurement management, risk management, integration management, quality management, time management, cost management, scope management, human resource management, and communications management.