The document discusses knowledge management and lessons learned processes. It begins with introductions of the presenters and an overview of the agenda. It then discusses definitions of knowledge and knowledge management, and different knowledge management models. The document focuses on lessons learned processes, presenting both the traditional process and a proposed improved five-step process of collection, prioritization, documentation, communication and assimilation. For each step, common practices, potential traps, and remedies are discussed. The document concludes with a case study overview of knowledge management in the construction industry.

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Lessons (really) Learned?
How to Retain Project Knowledge
and Avoid Recurring Nightmares
MUSTAFA DÜLGERLER
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
MARCO NEGRI
Anas S.p.A.
1

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Marco Negri Mustafa Dülgerler
2
Who I am
Where I come from
IT Manager, PMP, CBAP, COBIT, ITIL
16+ years IT experience
Anas SpA: Italy’s National Roads
Authority
30.500 km of roads and highways
6.500 employees
Who I am
Where I come from
Project Manager, Trainer,
Enterprise Architect
13+ years of experience
National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Presence in 16 countries
5,000 employees

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Agenda
Knowledge
Management
Lessons
Learned
Case Study:
KM in
practice
Conclusion
1 2 3 4
3

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Session objectives
• Present Knowledge Management as a means
of improving business performance
• Suggest useful tips about Lessons Learned
• Present a Case Study in the construction
industry
4

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Information is NOT Knowledge
Albert Einstein
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The definition of “Knowledge” still remains
elusive.
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Pictures
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Knowledge Fairs
Workshop, Training and
Seminars
Forums and Meetings
Peer Assist, Review
Storytelling
Mentoring Coaching
Communities of Practice
Defining KM becomes more difficult
Data
Data
Data
Information
Capture Process
Knowledge
7

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KM requires continuous effort
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
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Many models attempt to explain KM from
different perspectives

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CEN explains one of the most effective KM
Models
CEN (2004)
10

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What are Lessons Learned?
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What are Lessons Learned?
• “The knowledge gained during a project…
• …which shows how project events were
addressed or should be addressed in the
future…
• …with the purpose of improving future
performance.”
(PMBOK 5th edition)
13

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What are Lessons Learned?
Three Ingredients:
1. An experience to learn from
2. A pattern of doing things in similar situations
3. A goal to improve something
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What are Lessons Learned?
• The traditional form of a lesson learned:
– In this situation…
– you should do this…
– in order to improve/avoid that
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The Lessons Learned Traditional Process
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The Lessons Learned Traditional Process
• Three main steps:
1. Collection: analyze experience and identify
lessons
2. Documentation: document and archive
identified lesson
3. Communication: communicate lessons to the
people that should use them
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Collection Documentation Communication

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The Lessons Learned Traditional Process
• Shortcomings:
− Most companies have institutionalized the
process of collecting, documenting and
communicating lessons learned…
− …but lessons often
get lost in some sort
of “lessons learned
database” - as in a
“black hole” - that
nobody ever looks at
18

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The Lessons Learned Traditional Process
• Why the traditional
process fails?
1. Failure to focus on
what matters most
2. Failure to assimilate
lessons into company
culture & processes
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The proposed process
Collection Prioritization Documentation Communication Assimilation
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The proposed process
• Adding two steps:
1. Collection: analyze experience and identify
lessons
2. Prioritization: filter only the relevant lessons
for further processing
3. Documentation: document and archive
identified lesson
4. Communication: communicate lessons to the
people that should use them
5. Assimilation: where happens the true
“digestion” of the lessons by the organization
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Lessons Learned Tips
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Lessons Learned Tips
• For each of the 5 steps of the proposed process some
typical traps and implementation tips will be
presented…
• …from the real-life experience of the speaker
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Lessons Learned Tips
• Each step will be presented with three points:
–The Common practice
–The Trap
–The Remedy
• Using a cinematographic metaphor from…
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Lessons Learned Tips
The Common Practice The RemedyThe Trap
The Common practice is the
traditional way to do things
The Trap is what often actually
happen
The Remedy is the suggested
approach to prevent the issue
Tradition hard reality Prevention
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Collection Prioritization Documentation Communication Assimilation
The proposed process (recap)
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The Common
practice
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #1 - Collection
• Lessons are usually gathered directly
from project stakeholders, through:
• Post Project Review
• Project Appraisal
• Project Assessment
• Project Audit
• Project Evaluation
• etc…
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The Trap
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #1 - Collection
• People is normally reluctant to admit
failures...
• …so lessons learned workshops are
ineffective to address the real causes of
failures
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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #1 - Collection
• “Delplhi method”:
1. Participants answer questionnaires
(e.g. “what went bad/good?”)
2. After each round a facilitator provides
an anonymous summary
3. Participants are encouraged to revise
their earlier answers in light of the
replies of others
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The Common
practice
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #2 - Prioritization
• All the lessons identified by “Post
Project Review” participants are
documented for future retrieval
• Every participant is given the chance to
add his findings…
• …independently of his role or
contribution to the project
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The Trap
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #2 - Prioritization
• Not every partecipant has the same level
of awareness of project issues and
underlying causes…
• …and everyone has the tendency to
consider his viewpoint the most
important
• The result is a big mess of disarticulated
lessons, that fails to concentrate on the
few main issues that jeopardize projects
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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #2 - Prioritization
• Restrict the prioritization process only to
the key project team members
• Use a scoring system to identify the
most effective lessons
• “Dot-voting”:
− Participants are given a fixed number
of prioritization “units” (usually “dot
stickers”)…
− …which they distribute among the
lessons being prioritized
32

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The Common
practice
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #3 - Documentation
• Describe the lessons in a textual
format…
• …linking each lesson to the problem it
should prevent
33

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The Trap
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #3 - Documentation
• Often lessons are documented in a “not-
actionable” format…
• …with no practical instruction on how to
implement the lesson
• Generic terms are used, like:
• be careful when…
• we will strive more to…
• etc.
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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #3 - Documentation
• Try to identify the practical changes in
the way of doing things
• For example:
− further detail the lesson “be careful
when” into “check this and that
when…”
− …or transform “we will strive more
to…” into “you will need at
minimum two people to…”
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The Common
practice
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #4 - Communication
• Communicate lessons learned by
publishing them in:
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Corporate intranets
• Project sites
• Knowledge Management Systems
• etc.
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The Trap
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #4 - Communication
• When the next project begins, no one
looks into the huge lessons learned
database…
• …because it is very time consuming to
find the right lesson learned for the
specific work you have to do at the
moment
37

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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #4 - Communication
• Link every lesson to a specific type of
“deliverable”…
• …and classify lessons for time plans,
lessons for budget, lessons for risk
response plans, etc.
• Before start working on a specific
deliverable, it’ll be very easy to retrieve
all the lessons related to that deliverable
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The Common
practice
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #5 - Assimilation
• Before starting a new project it should
be a good practice to consult the lessons
learned database…
• …to find any applicable knowledge
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The Trap
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #5 - Assimilation
• When the next project begins, it is hard
to search for any applicable lesson to
the particular situation you have to
face…
• …so often this step is skipped…
• …making useless all the previous efforts
to gather the lessons
40

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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #5 - Assimilation
• Create a Checklist for each type of
deliverable (e.g. Time Plan Checklist,
Budget Checklist, Risk Response Plan
Checklist, etc.)
• Incorporate the lessons learned in these
checklists, in a readily actionable way
• Do the same with Templates,
Procedures, KPIs, etc.
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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #5 - Assimilation
• The only way to assimilate lessons is to
incorporate them into process assets
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The Remedy
© Image copyright of Dreamworks Animation
Step #5 - Assimilation
• If a lesson is not in the right checklist,
you haven’t learnt it!
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Case Study: KM in
construction industry

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We interviewed 4 construction and project
management companies.
4companies
interviews10+ surveys30+ Documents
reviewed
50+
More than 10,000+ employees
C- Level Executives
Program Managers
Professionals at various levels
Managing simultaneous projects
High Value (Prestigious) Projects
Databases
Reports
Plans
45

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Understanding of Their Understanding of KM
If Yes
➢ To which extent KM practices being used and how are
the benefits realized.
➢ What are key success factors of effective KM model?
➢ What resources could facilitate successful
implementation of KM model?
➢ How was it implemented? Is there ongoing adaptation?
➢ Is it successful / how is that measured?
➢ Is there KM model used in your global offices and not
implemented on local level?
➢ What were the major difficulties in KM implementation
in your company?
➢ Who is responsible for managing KM within the
company?
➢ What examples of KM and KM models can you share
with us and how has this been a success to date?
➢ Is KM in the company tacit, explicit or a mixture of
both?
…
If No
➢ Why is KM/KM model not used?
➢ Was it implemented previously?
➢ What are the barriers / challenges to implementing a
KM model? Macro-economic level and company level?
➢ Is there a plan to establish a KM model in the future?
➢ Expand questions to explain existing models and
understand if something worth adopting.
…
Is there a KM strategy or model in place in your company?
What is Knowledge Management?
How important is it for your organizations?
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After a long analysis phase, our findings are …
2. Opportunities exist for
increasing network sharing
of knowledge
6. Right information in the
right place. It needs to be
easily accessible.
3. Culture, leadership and
people drives KM. Systems
and processes facilitate it.
4. An effective KM system
must figure out what
knowledge is critical and
how to transfer it.
8. No one is an expert in all
fields.
7. Different departments /
business functions view
and use knowledge in
different ways.
1. KM in the UAE
construction industry is in
its infancy
5. Business efficiency and
commercial impact are key
measures of any KM
initiative
9. KM useful in training
programs.
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Framework for Managing Knowledge
Throughout Business
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Recommendations to adopt KM practices
Clearly define the
knowledge that generates
value
Clearly define and publish
KM strategy and
objectives
Keep it simple
Retain key staff wherever
possible - protect the core
of your business
Benefit from various IT
solutions to store, archive,
track the knowledge
Promote KM internally across
business functions and
externally to wider network
49

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Selected References
1. Alrawi, K. (2008), Knowledge management and organisations perceptions in the United Arab
Emirates: case study, International Journal of Commerce and Management, Volume 18, No.4,
2008, pp. 382 – 394.
2. Carrilo,P.M et al. (2000). Knowledge Management Strategy for Construction: Key IT and
Contextual Issue, Proceedings of CIT 2000, Reykjavik, Iceland, 28-30 June, Gudnason, G. (ed.),
155-165
3. CEN (2004) CEN CWA 14924 European Guide to good Practice in Knowledge Management - Part
1 to 5, Brussels.
4. Siddique, M., (2012), Knowledge management initiatives in the United Arab Emirates: a baseline
study, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 16, Issue 5, pp. 702-723
5. Wiig, K. M. (1993). Knowledge management foundations: Thinking about thinking : how people
and organizations create, represent, and use knowledge. Arlington, Tex: Schema Press.
6. Wong, K., (2005), Critical Success Factors for implementing knowledge management in small and
medium enterprises, Industrial Management and Data Systems, 105 (3), pp 261 -279
7. Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications
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That’s all folks!

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Questions?
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marco.negri.330marconegri @piv8tweet mnegri
Name | Marco Negri
Web | www.stradeanas.it
Email | m.negri@stradeanas.it
Thank you!
Lessons (really) Learned?
How to Retain Project Knowledge
and Avoid Recurring Nightmares
Lessons (really) Learned?
Mustafa.dulgerler
Name | Mustafa Dülgerler
Web | www.mustafadulgerler.com
Email | mdulgerler@gmail.com
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