promoting knowledge sharing in projects
DESCRIPTION
Presentation given at PMSA, Cape Town & Project Challenge London.TRANSCRIPT
www.pi3.co.za
Promoting knowledge
sharing in projects
Louise Worsley
Linky van der Merwe
Hand-over
& closure
Project reviews
Concept
Benefits
realisation
Definition
Development
Termination
Project life cycle
Extended life cycle
Operations
Product life cycle
Gate review Post project review
Benefits reviewStage review Output Outcomes and
benefits
Reviews: A critical evaluation of a
deliverable, business case or
project management process
Example lessons learned
Project Name Enter the Project Name Date Enter the Date (mm/dd/yy)
Lessons Learned are
recorded
Project Lifecycle InformationProject Lifecycle
and Phases
(select one Lifecycle and Phase only)
Knowledge Area Lesson Learned
That Worked
What Worked Well
Recommendation
Lesson Learned
That Didn’t Work
What Didn’t Work
Well
RecommendationScope
Time
Cost
Quality
Communication
Risk Management
Human Resources
Procurement
Do we learn from the past?
Adoption rates of lessons identified
are too low
It’s easier to identify a lesson than to
get an organization to act on it and
implement a useful solution – lesson
identified
When you uncover a problem, you
are calling into question the wisdom
of some earlier decisions.
Excuses and creative explanations
will emerge if a lesson learned
threatens some cherished process
"Those who cannot learn from history are
doomed to repeat it."
George Santayana
“The successful man will profit from his
mistakes and try again a different way” –
Dale Carnegie
SSS participants
ABSA
Transnet
Eskom
PnPay
Woolworths
BAT
Others…
Network Rail
Eurostar
Cellnet
Lloyds TSB
Remploy
Thanks for the discussion today.
It was the first time that I got to
debrief about the threats and
issues that I faced on the project
and that was quite nice!
Its amazing what we covered in
1 hour. Listening to FC,
reflecting on the challenges he
faced and integrating this with
what I know about major project
management – this is the best
learning context for me. I came
away excited by my profession
What have we learned
Stories about the past
more naturally focus on
what went well
Listening to project stories is interesting –
much more interesting than reading them!
It’s what we do that matters!
The key learning point is not always clear
(especially on more complex projects)
and…
Story sessions
Share a story (in 2s)
Find a pair
Share your story
Review a story (4s)
Read your story
Amongst the group discuss what you each feel is the
learning to be taken away.
Compare with what the interviewee felt
Communities of Practice
Organisational
knowledge
management
Manage project archives
Conduct post project reviews or
post mortems
Conduct project audits
Implement and manage database
of lessons learned
Implement and manager a risk
database
Sources: Aubry, M., Muller, R., & Gluckler, J. (2011). Exploring PMOs
through community of practice theory. Project Management Journal, 42(5),
42-56.
Communities of
Practice
Articulate need to leverage
knowledge
Practice sources BoK, methods,
stories, cases, tools and
documents
Community: relationships and
sense of belonging
PMO driven Practice driven
Wenger, E. C., & Snyder, W. M. (2000, January-February).
Communities of Practice: The organizational frontier. Harvard Business
Review, 139-145.
Critical factors:
• Community – relationship among
members sense of belonging
• Shared BoK
• Valued – by members and ‘sponsors’
• Right rhythm and mix of activities
• Address details of practice
• Encourage ground roots responsibility
Our recommendations
Formal feedback should be timely (and PMO driven)
Bring learning to front end of project. Ask the question
what did we do last time at the beginning of every
project.
Informal sharing – community driven
For community and personal development. Share
stories and engage groups in learning identification
Stories to get you started – see http://www.pi3.co.za/success-stories-shared
http://www.virtualprojectconsulting.com/success-stories-shared/
References
Aubry, M., Muller, R., & Gluckler, J. (2011). Exploring PMOs through community of
practice theory. Project Management Journal, 42(5), 42-56.
Wenger, E. C., & Snyder, W. M. (2000, January-February). Communities of
Practice: The organizational frontier. Harvard Business Review, 139-145.
Wenger, E. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A start-up guide.
Retrieved July 2014, from Defense Teaching Centre:
http://www.dtc.org.au/Documents/182.pdf
Duffield, S., & Whitty, J. (2012). A systemic lessons learned and captured
knowledge (SLLCK) model for project organizations. Proceedings of the Annual
Project Management Australia Conference Incorporating the PMI Australia
National Conference. Melbourne, Australia.
APM SIG. (2012, August). Assurance assessment toolkit. Retrieved July
2014, from APM: http://www.apm.org.uk/news/assurance-assessment-
toolkit#.U9ZOB_ldUXE
