Instructions for Lessons Learned

Field Description
# Lesson Learned Number. They should be in numerical order 1, 2 and so on, even if the
Phase or Process is different.
Date Use the format mm/dd/yy for the date the lesson learned is being recorded.
Name List the name of the person with the lesson learned. This name is the person to follow up
with if further information is needed.
Role State the role of the person whose name is listed with the lesson learned. (i.e., project
manager, project lead, GUI developer, DBA, Business Analyst etc.).
Lesson Description 1- Describe the lesson in language that a novice, not from your business unit, could
understand, (i.e., Requirements were not well defined and caused rework.) 2 - List the
type of lifecycle if applicable: Waterfall, Spiral. {If more information is required about
types of lifecycles, refer to the Software Development Project Handbook}.
Recommendation Describe the lesson learned and the corrective action taken or not taken. This is a
suggested improvement area to prevent and/or avoid this issue next time. Be specific and
watch using jargon/acronyms. If acronyms are used, document the entire word and/or
meaning. (Example: Since the requirements were not fully defined, the project manager
will conduct a meeting with the team after Requirements are set before Design begins, so
clarity and consensus is reached. This would reduce the amount of rework by the
developers. Be sure to include the system business analysts, who will list the business
and technical requirements).

Recommended Items to add to For this area, define what items, knowledge assets, plans, and practices, materials that
the Process could be added to benefit the process. Be sure to indicate the team member and/ or
organization that provided the component for reusability. (i.e., Roles Matrix, Project
Management Guide and SDPH -Software Development Project Handbook).

Recommended Items to List the items, tools, materials that should be removed during this process. Be sure to
remove from the Process indicate the name of the item and a description. This information will be beneficial to
future projects, so redundancy and poor tools are not reused.

Importance (1 - 5) State in your opinion the importance of this lesson learned, using the 1-5 numerical
scale, 1= low 5= high. (i.e., Requirements are not clear, importance is 5 to a developer).
{Caution: This cell has a restriction so a whole number between 1- 5 must be entered}

PM Process:
If this is a non-software project, select from the list the Project Management Process that
applies: Opportunity Assessment, Initiating, Planning, Executing/Controlling and Closing.

Software Development Phase If this is a software development project, list the lifecycle phase the lesson applies to.
There must be at least one lesson learned documented per project phase. For Software
Development the phases are: Opportunity Assessment, Concept, Requirements, Design,
Development, Testing, Documentation and Training, Deployment, Post Deployment.

Knowledge Area Select from the list the Knowledge Area if applicable: Project Integration; (Issues and
Change Control), Scope, Time, Cost, Quality, Human Resources, Communication, Risk
Management, Procurement. {If more information is needed about the Knowledge Areas,
please refer to the Knowledge Area Overview in the Project Management Guide.}

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