Learning from the project

17
Learning from the project
An organization can benefit from each project by trying to learn how future
projects can be more efficient and effective. It is also possible to learn how
people in the organization can share what is learnt more widely so that good
practice can be identified and adopted in appropriate other areas of work.
The nature of a project as separate from day-to-day work makes it possible
for the skills, experience and understanding necessary to be successful in a
particular project role to be identified. It is also possible for people to take
roles in projects that are different from their normal roles at work. Projects
can often provide a training ground for teamworking and leadership.
Different types of learning for individuals and for organizations can be
gained from a project. For this learning to be useful it needs to be recognized
and captured so that it can inform future development.
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING ABOUT
MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS
Organizational learning is a difficult concept because organizations vary
considerably and learning is an intangible process. If the word ‘learning’ is
used in its widest sense, it is essential to development and maturity. If an
organization is not able to learn it is unable to develop, and may soon fail to
succeed in a fast-changing world.
Learning can be identified and noted at any stage of a project if people are
aware of the potential to learn and willing to share that learning more widely.
It is often convenient to hold a review of each stage of a project. The stage
might not have completed any project deliverables, but progress can be
reviewed alongside consideration of what could have been done better and
what barriers to progress were encountered.
It can be helpful to hold a final structured debriefing process, to include
stakeholders as well as all the members of the project team. This may take
the form of a series of meetings to draw conclusions about overall project
performance. Any constraints encountered would be considered and pro-

posals for overcoming them in future projects noted. It is important to
identify and review any new ways of working that were developed, and to
consider what was effective and what could have been done differently.
A formal system can also be used to ensure that individuals with key
responsibilities are debriefed when their tasks or activities are completed.
Individual interviews can be held with key members of the project team, for
example the managers of key stages or leaders of specialist tasks. Interviewers
can encourage people to evaluate their performance and identify what they
have learnt from the experience personally, but also to identify what lessons
could be learnt by the organization.
Learning areas for organizations are often about the ways in which projects
fit into the normal structures and procedures, and the extent to which these
help or hinder the use of project working to achieve focused outcomes. There
is often tension in running a project in an organization that is not structured
to carry out most or all of its work through project working, because staff are
often expected to be managed and to behave in two different ways.
One area of learning to consider is how to structure project working within
the organizational environment in a way that enables the project to benefit
from the full potential of the project team. This may involve releasing staff
ments, or it may be by partially replacing staff for the duration of the project
but lengthening the timescale of the project to enable it to be completed by a
part-time project team. Another solution might be to employ staff purely for
the duration of the project on fixed-term contracts. This may solve the staffing
problem but may make it difficult to incorporate outcomes from the project
to change or develop the organization, because the permanent staff may feel
that the project and its aims have nothing to do with them and that their ideas
have not been wanted.
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from their day-to-day work entirely, may be by funding temporary replace-

Example 17.1
Lessons for the organization from a project
The project manager of a project that had required considerable staff
training identified a number of lessons learnt from the project. She
listed these in the final project report:
࿖
Ensure that the project leader’s role and accountabilities are clearly
understood at an early stage.
࿖
Make a detailed estimate of the staff resources to show how the
normal work of staff transferred to the project will be covered.
࿖
Replacement costs for staff sent on training courses should be in-
cluded in the budget.
࿖
Project planning and implementation are not sequential – plans
have to be flexible.
࿖
The objectives of the project need to be clear.
࿖
Plan communications and do not assume networks already exist.
࿖
Make involvement of key individuals in development activities
mandatory – we must be open to change and influential people can
block it if they are not supportive.
࿖
Manage the tension between operational work and project devel-
opment work.
The report was received with interest and the project manager was
asked to run a workshop for senior staff to help them to decide how

to make use of the lessons she had identified. In the workshop they
considered the conditions from which the lessons had been drawn,
and spent time in agreeing how to avoid these and similar pitfalls in
future project working.
One of the problems with identifying learning from a project is that learning
is often derived from experience of things going wrong. People often do not
want to say much about what has gone wrong, particularly in an organization
that tends to focus on blaming and punishing. Senior staff can help to encour-
age a climate in which learning is shared by ensuring that people are treated
fairly when mistakes are made and that responsibility is shared for repairing
any damage and for making sure that lessons are learnt.
Organizations that use projects frequently develop formal procedures to
guide those leading and managing their projects. Some also create resources
in the form of guidelines and examples to help their staff to write project
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proposals and to prepare the documentation that is needed throughout
the project.
SHARING LEARNING FROM A PROJECT
One of the questions that concerns many of those responsible for developing
staff in organizations is how the good practice of one team can be shared to
improve others. There are a number of ways of trying to do this.
Creating a database
Written information provides a way of storing the ideas, but it is only going
to be useful if people seek it out and read it. It may not be easy to understand
unless those reading the information already know a lot about the issues and
the normal practice in that area of work.
Giving a demonstration
This can be a much more engaging and direct way of showing how something
can be done differently than simply offering a written description. Many of

the details shown in a demonstration can be illuminating and the ideas may
be conveyed immediately to people who already carry out similar work. A
demonstration is unlikely to be enough to equip people to carry out a new
procedure unless they already have considerable knowledge and skill.
Visit and inquire
Where there is one successful team, other teams can visit them to watch them
in action and to question them as their visitors for a short time. This can be
more helpful that a demonstration because people can check out their under-
standing and ask questions. It is also often very helpful to see a skilled
performance in the setting in which it works well.
Coach and supervise
These are more long-term approaches that involve working closely with each
other so that the one who is learning can try out the new way of working with
the help and support of the more experienced person. If one team is teaching
another these roles can still be effective, sometimes with people in each team
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pairing up and also with the whole team working with the learning
whole team.
When projects have been successful because of the ways in which the team
worked, or when a project is about changing working practices, these
approaches to transferring learning can be considered as possible ways of
disseminating the learning that has been gained.
Example 17.2
A community of practice
When people have worked closely together on a project they often
share an understanding that has been developed through practice, a
knowledge base emerging as a new way of doing things. The pro-
cesses that have enabled achievement of valued outcomes are in
themselves valuable, but the knowledge of these processes may be

lost if it is only retained in the memories of individuals who con-
tributed to the project team. Often it is the individuals who have
developed and committed their energy to making process improve-
ments who are anxious to find mechanisms that will enable their
knowledge to be more widely shared. Organizations that recognize
the value of this type of knowledge will also be interested in finding
ways to support dissemination of good ideas.
The term ‘community of practice’ is increasingly used to describe a
group of people who share an interest in an area of practice and who
are willing to discuss their ideas and share their expertise with others
whose practice is similar, or who share similar values and purposes
in a field where new approaches to practice are emerging. These are
often informal networks in which individuals share expertise and in-
troductions to colleagues. Many communities of practice communi-
cate through electronic networks, sometimes insisting that all
members respect particular protocols to respect people’s time and to
avoid overloading individual e-mail contacts.
A community of practice was formed by librarians who had taken
the lead in their locality for developing e-learning networks. This
community developed an electronic newsletter, interest groups in
several specialist areas and an annual conference to enable face-to-
face contact. It became a forum for development of national standards
and benchmarks.
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INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT FROM A PROJECT
For some staff the invitation to take part in a project is welcomed as an
opportunity for self-development. The development possible in a project
includes gaining experience of contributing expertise in a different context,
learning to do something different and gaining experience of acting in a role

that is different. All of these are potentially valuable experiences as they can
enhance a person’s potential to be employed in a different capacity or to be
promoted. A project manager can often support individuals who are seeking
development through the project, but must always also consider the cost of
doing that.
In some organizations project working is seen as an opportunity for staff
development, and projects are planned to include an appropriate mix of
experienced and inexperienced staff, and the resources to train and support
where necessary. In others, inexperienced people in project teams can find
themselves lost and unsupported, potentially becoming a burden on the
project. In some ways, projects are like a small organization, and can plan for
staff development in a similar way. Ideally, staff are appointed to the project
team because they have the appropriate mix of skills, knowledge and
experience. In practice, this is often not possible because of timescales and
staff availability.
If staff are willing but need some training and support, a project manager
can often arrange for coaching and supervision within the resources of the
project. If a member of staff can be helped to become productive quickly, this
is often a pragmatic approach if more experienced staff are willing to take on
a training role. These staff can also gain from taking on a new role, as they
can be supported as coaches and supervisors and gain experience and credit
for that aspect of their work. Similarly, more experienced staff may agree to
mentor staff taking leadership, management or expert roles for the first time.
The mentors may not be on the project team but would need to understand
the demands of the roles involved.
Sometimes more formal training is needed. If this can be provided quickly,
for example, training to use a new computer package, it may be appropriate
to provide it. There is a problem, however, when training is unlikely to lead
to an effective performance within the timescales needed to complete the
activities of the project. If this is the case it may be better to accept that the

appointment was a mistake and take steps to make a new appointment.
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MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
LEADING A PROJECT
For many managers, taking responsibility for a project provides a time-
bounded task with clear objectives and a fixed budget. A project usually
involves managing across a wide range of areas that are normally managed
in separate departments. It usually includes management of staff, finance,
operations and information. It often involves managing complicated inter-
actions and difficult situations. There is usually a strategic dimension in
ensuring that the project continues to align with organizational objectives
and directions. Because of this variety a project can provide a boundaried
world within an organization that is similar to the view that a senior manager
or director must take of a whole organization. There is an opportunity to use
the experience of managing a project to develop yourself for a more senior
role and to demonstrate from the successful outcomes and evaluation of the
project that you are prepared for such a role.
Example 17.3
Personal learning in a project
A staff developer who was managing a project for the first time made
this list of personal learning objectives:
࿖
To improve planning, controlling and negotiating skills. I’ll know
if I’ve done this by keeping a record of all occasions when I use
these skills and each outcome.
࿖
To practise and improve skills in developing a team. I’ll keep a note
of the things I do to help the team to develop and of things that go
particularly well or not very well. I’ll try to note the impact I have

each time I intervene.
࿖
To develop skills in resource management (human and financial).
This is the first time that I’ll have held a budget and I want to do it
well and make good use of it. I’ve arranged to have regular meet-
ings with our finance officer.
࿖
To improve skills in collection and interpretation of data. I have
some experience with figures and with statistics, but I’m not very
sure that I understand qualitative data. I know that I’m much more
comfortable dealing with people than with figures. I’m planning
to discuss this with my mentor.
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