cutting the costs of not knowing: lessons learned systems people really use

Cutting the Costs of Not Knowing:Lessons Learned Systems People Really Use

Darcy LemonsSenior Project [email protected]

2©2009 APQC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2 2

Today’s Agenda

Welcome and Stage Setting Findings and Best Practices: A Roadmap to Successful

Lessons Learned Approaches Adjourn


The APQC Project Team

Subject Matter Experts: Dr. Carla O’Dell, president, APQC Jim Lee, PMP, senior KM adviser and KM practice lead

Project Team: Darcy Lemons, senior project manager Angelica Wurth, project manager


Research Sponsors Baker Hughes BP Bush Brothers CEMEX ExxonMobil IBM Inter-American Development Bank Johnson & Johnson NASA Johnson Space Center Petrobras Procter & Gamble Raytheon US Navy


Best-Practice Partners

Credit Suisse

Center for Army Lessons Learned

US Army ARDEC (Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center)

Stage Setting


Common Challenges to Lessons Learned7

“The process is too

complicated & takes too

much time”

People are afraid to admit

they made a mistake

Information shared is too

general & there are no

solutions

Information in the LL

database is outdated, not validated, and disorganized

Management doesn’t

support LLsDocumenting

mistakes could lead to legal

problems

“They are extra work and never help my projects anyway.”

Lessons are captured, but not learned

It’s difficult to assess the

value associated with LLs

Findings and Best Practices:A Roadmap to Successful Lessons Learned Approaches


Seven Elements of a Roadmap to Successful Lessons Learned Approaches1. Determine the strategic objectives for the Lessons Learned process2. Support current project and process teams: adapt and apply 3. Foster reuse in other projects/domains where sources and recipient

are not the same4. Create governance and roles5. Design the Lessons Learned process 6. Ensure participation7. Measure the impact of the Lessons Learned process


1. Determine the Strategic Objectives for the Lessons Learned Process

The two pathsPath A: Support a specific process, project, or

programPath B: Capture and disseminate for future re-use

Lessons Learned Strategic

Objectives

Path A: Adapt/Apply

Path B: Foster Future

Reuse


2. Support Current Project and Process Teams

(Path A) Adapt and apply The primary customer benefits immediately

Use AAR at key milestones along the project Allows the team to adapt and apply lessons

Becomes a natural part of project methodology Enhances ease of reuse

Builds advocates and credibility for reuse


3. Foster Reuse in Other Projects/Domains Where Sources and Recipients Are Not the Same

Why Path B? The biggest long term opportunity Design from the beginning Be very clear on who are the most likely future users. Requires Transfer of Best Practice enablers1. Motivation2. Sufficient detail and context3. Time to access and apply4. Ability to talk to source5. Design and access issues


4. Create Governance and Roles

Governance A single group or office should be accountable for the lessons

learned process itself. Provides a well-defined structure for oversight Facilitates the execution of a common approach to lessons learned Enables the coordination of resources and ability manage lessons

learned activities within/across the organization

Defined roles Roles in the lessons learned process should be well-defined with

clear expectations. 3 common roles:

Lessons Learned Process Manager Facilitators or Moderators Process or Project Representatives


LL Facilitators/Moderators

Skills and Capabilities Neutrality

Not from the business unit, process area, or project team conducting the lessons learned activity

Lessons learned process experts, not business process experts

Need strong facilitation skills and knowledge of/experience with various facilitation tools

The skills and capabilities of this individual are so critical to a successful lessons learned event that the best-practice partners provide training

for them.

The skills and capabilities of this individual are so critical to a successful lessons learned event that the best-practice partners provide training

for them.


5. Design the Lessons Learned Process

Critical requirements Speed is important Lessons learned about lessons learned


Critical Requirement #1: Lessons Learned Are Part of a Quality Framework


Critical Requirement #2: Embed Lessons Learned Process Into the Work

Produced by: Knowledge Management Competence

Center V 1.0 April 2009 Slide 43

Lessons Learned Embedded in a Process

Infrastructure

Knowledge Basis

ProjectManagement

Process

ProjectManagement

Process

Methods

Evolve

KnowledgeProcess

Create

Organize Distribute

Apply

Evolve

LL Capture Session

Write LL Report and Evaluate

Store ReportAssign

AttributesRead ReportsContact PeersApply Learning

Evaluate ReportsAssign TasksDistribute to

"Owners"

Trigger

OrganizationalReuse

IndividualReuse


Critical Requirement #3: Ease of Lessons Learned Access and Education


5. Design the Lessons Learned Process

Critical requirements Speed is important Lessons learned about lessons learned


6. Ensure Participation

Participation Enablers Provide process training. Set expectations. Recognize the opportunity (for reuse). Build lessons learned into performance review

objectives. Make access easy.


7. Measure the Impact of the Lessons Learned Process Measurement Factors:

The measures for the source of the lesson are different than those of the process to transfer lessons to other recipients.

Process measures are important to understand the effectiveness of the process.

Business impact measures are critical to show the value to the organization.

Measuring for individual as well as organizational reuse is critical for measuring reuse as a whole.


Source and Recipient Measures

Sample Source Measures Number of lessons learned

events attended Satisfaction with the event Satisfaction with the process Value of participation Number of lessons captured Value of applying the lessons

Sample Recipient Measures Awareness of availability of

lessons Ability to find relevant lessons

(ease of use of tool) Value of information about

the lesson Number of lessons

reused/adapted Value or impact of reuse


Why Process Measures? Process measures are necessary.

Understand the effectiveness of the process

Recognize progress toward program objectives

Sample process measures include: number of lessons identified, number of lessons submitted, percent of submitted lessons validated

and published, number of lessons downloaded or

accessed, number of active participants, and number of lessons reused/applied.


Measuring for Business Impact Is Also Necessary

Business impact measures provide balance to the process measures.

They should illustrate the benefits gained from the reuse or application of lessons learned.

Sample business impact measures time saved cost savings process improvements reduction of errors/mistakes standardization of best practices treasure


What do you see?Now, what do you see?


Individual and Organizational Reuse

It is important to consider individual as well as organizational reuse in order to have a complete picture of the reuse of lessons learned as a whole. Provide information on how

individuals are reusing lessons learned in their daily work and the resulting perceived benefits

Show how the organization, as a whole, benefits from the reuse of lessons learned

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Applying Benchmarking Skills Building & Sustaining CoPsKM Strategies & Tactics Knowledge Mapping

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APQC Highlights


Who We Are APQC is a member-based, non-profit

organization Founded in 1977 Started with donations from 100

corporations Non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) Serves more than 500 organizations around

the world

32-year reputation founded on integrity and the support of rapid innovation through Process improvement and measurement Best practice research and implementation Knowledge capture, transfer, and reuse

Quick facts: Board of Directors: 45 senior executives

from corporations, education, and government

Staff of 80


2009 North America MAKE Award Winner

Apple APQC ConocoPhillips Fluor Google

Hewlett-Packard IBM IDEO Microsoft MITRE


What We Do:APQC’s Mission

To work with people in organizations around the world to improve productivity and quality by: discovering effective methods of improvement, broadly disseminating our findings, and connecting individuals with one another and

with the knowledge they need to improve.


APQC Provides Three Types of Research

1. Open Standards Benchmarking—global metric research and benchmarking based on Open Standards

2. Consortium Benchmarking—multi-company best-practice collaboration around a common set of issues or processes

3. Custom benchmarking– for unique needs


APQC’s Process Classification FrameworkSM


APQC’s Previous KM Consortium Studies1. Sustaining Effective Communities of Practice (In Progress)2. Cutting the Costs of Not Knowing: Lessons Learned Systems People Really Use (2009)3. Expertise Location and Social Networking (2008)4. The Role of Evolving Technologies: Accelerating Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer (2007)5. Retaining Today’s Knowledge for Tomorrow’s Workforce (2007)6. Leveraging Knowledge Across the Value Chain (2006)7. Using Communities of Practice to Drive Organizational Performance and Innovation (2005)8. Integrating KM and Organizational Learning (2004)9. Transfer of Best Practices (2004)10. Virtual Collaboration (2003-2004)11. Expertise Locator Systems (2003)12. Measuring the Impact of Knowledge Management (2003)13. Using Knowledge Management to Drive Innovation (2002)14. Retaining Valuable Knowledge (2001)15. Managing Content and Knowledge (2001)16. Building and Sustaining Communities of Practice (2000)17. Successfully Implementing KM (1999-2000)18. Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture (1998-99)19. Expanding Knowledge Externally (1998)20. Europe - The Learning Organisation & KM (1997)21. Using Information Technology for KM (1997)22. Emerging Best Practices in KM (1996)

cutting the costs of not knowing: lessons learned systems people really use

Documents

successful lessons

project methodology

project representatives

process managerfacilitators

process area

specific process

process teamspath

processsupport current