Getting risk management and lessons learned right is more important for organizations than many think. Project failure and major incidents (i.e. safety, security, cost & schedule overruns) are often the result of uncertainty. Knowing what happened on similar projects or operations, what the learnings were, and what could happen on current projects, is critical for avoiding preventable mistakes and making better estimates.
Why most risk management and lessons learned programs fail
Garbage Input, Garbage Output
A typical risk register is filled with generic or outdated risks that serve little use in estimates or incident avoidance. Identifying specific risks relevant to all facets of your project is the main factor separating success from failure.
Limiting Your Data
Most project teams identify the source of their risks from past projects with similar deliverables. But there are so many more projects to consider. Projects done in the same location, by the same contractor, at the same time of year, in similar environments, to name a few parameters, provide invaluable and overlooked risk data. But sifting through all that data can be exhausting, and most companies aren't resourced to do so.
What to do with Lessons Learned?
Lessons learned are often captured poorly, at the end of a project when everyone has moved on. They're stored in hard to navigate databases where they're forgotten. And if lessons learned are captured, most organizations don’t know how to use the information to drive business improvement.
