Notes on Lessons Learned

10 Sep 2021

Source: The Basics of Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned, by Willis H. Thomas, CRC Press, 2015

About Project Evaluations

Purpose of a Project Evaluation

  1. Document Results
  2. Determine Accountability
  3. Improve things for the future
  4. Identify new opportunities

Guiding Values for Project Evaluations

Success of Project Evaluations Depend on

Project Evaluation Plan

Is the process used to guide the evaluation.

It has these parts:

  1. Overview of the evaluand
  2. Scope of the evaluation
  3. Purpose of the evaluation
  4. Supportive research
  5. Evaluative criteria
  6. Evaluation methodology
  7. Timeline
  8. Budget
  9. Target population
  10. Stakeholders
  11. Evaluation Team

Project Stakeholders

Anyone with an interest in the Project

  1. Identify who they are
  2. Know their biases
  3. Clarify them in groups (table: Name, Title, Organization, Level, Relationship to Project)
  4. Engage with them during evaluation process

Component & Outcome Evaluation

Component Evaluation: Assessment of the quality of each project component as well as the whole project, against a criteria.

Outcome Evaluation: Assessment of the outcomes of the project, against its goals.

Project Evaluation Outline

  1. Preliminaries (Part A) include the following:
    • Executive Summary: summarizes the results and investigatory process.
    • Preface: defines the client, audience, stakeholders, and other impactees.
    • Methodology: indicates how the evaluation will be handled in terms of tools and techniques.
  2. Foundations (Part B) include:
    • Background and Context: identify historical, recent, concurrent, and projected settings for the program.
    • Descriptions and Definitions: record official descriptions of program and components, context, and environment.
    • Consumers: stakeholders.
    • Resources (SWOT analysis): of people, equipment, facilities, and materials.
    • Values:Ccriteria to be adhered to.
  3. Subevaluations (Part C) include:
    • Process: assessment of the quality, value, or importance of everything that happens or applies before true outcomes emerge.
    • Outcomes: impact on stakeholders.
    • Costs: investments required.
    • Comparisons: may involve benchmarking or best practices.
    • Generalizability: is transferable to other situations.
  4. Conclusions and Implications (Part D):
    • Synthesis: The basics of Part B are combined with the subevaluations of Part C, including synthesis of empirical results and values into the overall evaluation.
    • Recommendations and Explanations: The use of LL emerges during this phase.
    • Responsibility and Justification: Accountability of results is presented.
    • Report and Support: These are used for evalutive conclusions.
    • Metaevaluation: An evaluation of the evaluation should be conducted.


About Projects

Project stages

  1. Plan - Study the problem. Identify causes. Understand context. Define plan of action. Define anticipated/expected results.
  2. Implementation - Carry out activities of the plan of action. Use resources. Produce results.
  3. Review - Reflect on results. Evaluate the project.


About Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned must have

  1. Merit - Quality
  2. Worth - Value
  3. Significance - Importance

Lessons Learned are based on:

  1. What was done right (as planned)

  2. What was done wrong (not as planned)

  3. What was done different

Lessons Learned Process

  1. Identifying the lessons. Using senses. Observing. Reading. Listening.
  2. Selecting the lessons. Based on impact on project, impact on the organization, and expectations of stakeholders.
  3. Capturing the lessons. Collecting lessons. Classifying lessons (done right, wrong, different)
  4. Storing.
  5. Sharing.
  6. Adoption.
  7. Integration

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