What is Lesson Learned Card?

In growing companies, dozens, if not hundreds, of different types of improvement projects are being carried out. Employees rotate, the composition of project teams changes, and the problems often remain the same for years. Why is this happening?

In many organizations, project teams try to solve the same problems time after time, often without success. Employees don’t realize that solutions to problems have been implemented before. Therefore, the patterns of behavior remain the same and the results are poor. This is where the Lesson Learned Card comes to the rescue!

The Lesson Learned Card is a tool for sharing knowledge and experience gained from various projects within the organization. Lesson Learned Card is a form in which we save conclusions from conducted improvement projects. We share our insights, suggest what can be done differently, in a better way. All this is done so that subsequent projects bring greater results.

Lesson Learned Card is a fantastic knowledge carrier that we should take into account when conducting any similar project. Well-conducted and documented experiences can be useful to us in analyzing subsequent problems. We can use previously applied solutions so that we don’t waste time later looking for others or, even more to the contrary, don’t choose solutions that didn’t bring the expected results.

What should be included in a Lesson Learned Card?

The form should include following information:

• Date of document creation,
• Name of plant,
• Department to which the form applies,
• Name of the author(s) of the form,
• Optional – production line or the name of the position to which the form applies,
• Type of Lesson Learned Card (example: management, supplier, internal logistics, quality),
• Analysis of the problem (we recommend using the 5W2H method to describe the problem),
• Symptoms of the problem (example: description of a bad part and a good part, and pointing out the differences between them),
• Identified causes of the problem (identifying the root cause of the problem using the 5Why method, for example),
• Documented the before and after state of the improvement activities (preferably with a photo or chart),
• “What we have learned” – i.e., identifying the controlled factor we are monitoring to confirm that the problem has not recurred; describing the working methods we have developed; describing the state in which we consider the product or service to be compliant with the standard.
• Opportunities for potential application of the developed solution in other areas of the company.

Example of Lesson Learned Card form

Would you like to download a free Lesson Learned Card form? Click here.

Why is it worth using forms?

The use of forms, after completed projects, primarily serves to develop – both employees and the entire organization. Well-designed documents can be very useful in implementing changes, both in the methodology of conducting projects and in other areas of the company.

It is worth emphasizing that a well-functioning Lesson Learned Card management system is one that is part of the organizational culture. Then, the mechanism for spreading knowledge and good practices developed in projects is simply an integral part of improvement activities.

Want to learn more about standardized knowledge sharing tools and other methods to improve communication in your organization? Be sure to watch the certified Lean Daily Management course!