Lessons Learned
Document insights, successes, and areas for improvement
What is Lessons Learned?
A Lessons Learned document captures the team's reflections on what went well, what did not go well, and what they would do differently in the next improvement cycle. It is the mechanism by which organizations learn from experience rather than repeating the same mistakes. In PIPS, lessons learned feed directly back into Step 1 of the next cycle — this is how "Close The Loop" works in practice.
When to Use It
- •At the end of every PIPS cycle, regardless of whether the project succeeded or failed
- •During the retrospective session in Step 6
- •When onboarding new team members who will inherit the improved process
How to Use It: Step by Step
- 1
Run a structured retrospective
Each team member writes responses to three prompts: What went well? What could be improved? What action should we take?
- 2
Cluster and discuss
Share responses, group similar themes, and discuss the most impactful insights as a team.
- 3
Document actionable lessons
For each lesson, write: the situation, what happened, what was learned, and the recommended action for next time.
- 4
Share broadly
Publish lessons learned to the broader organization. Other teams facing similar problems benefit from your experience.
Example
After a 3-month claims processing improvement project
What went well: The fishbone diagram surfaced a cause that no one had considered (a batch query with no date filter). The brainwriting session produced the winning idea from a junior team member. What could improve: The pilot phase was too short (1 week instead of 3), which missed an edge case that affected 8% of transactions. What we would do differently: Extend pilot phases and include edge-case testing as a checklist item.
Pro Tips
- ✓Capture lessons from both successes and failures — successes teach what to replicate
- ✓Include specific, actionable recommendations, not vague sentiments like "communicate better"
- ✓Review previous lessons learned at the start of every new PIPS project — this is how organizations avoid repeating mistakes
- ✓Assign an owner to each lesson's recommended action to ensure follow-through
Facilitation Guide
Hold a 90-minute evaluation workshop. Present before/after data and let the team review silently (10 min). Discuss results as a group — were targets met? Why or why not? (20 min). Run a structured retrospective: each person writes what went well, what to improve, and action items on separate sticky notes (15 min). Share and cluster the notes (20 min). Draft the evaluation summary together — key findings, recommendations, and next steps (15 min). Decide as a team: standardize the solution, iterate with another cycle, or close the project (10 min).
Other Tools in Step 6
Before & After Comparison
Compare baseline metrics with post-implementation results
Evaluation Summary
Overall assessment of the improvement project
Balance Sheet
Weigh gains vs. losses and decide the path forward
Results Metrics
Record post-improvement values and auto-calculate annual savings, ROI %, and payback period using the baseline captured in the Step 1 Impact Metrics form
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