How Project Managers can document and facilitate organizational continuous learning
International library, archives, information, and knowledge management solutions market leader Soutron Global announces the availability of a NEW “Vertical File” podcast hosted by John Connolly, MLIS, PMP that features a discussion with Megan Johnston, the Lead Consultant at Analyte Projects, Ltd. Megan has extensive experience as a Project Management Office (PMO) manager and project manager, writes a regular newsletter called The Generalist PM on Substack, and is an active contributor on both LinkedIn and with the Project Management Institute.
This most recent podcast previews the Vertical File conversation with Megan, where she discusses promoting learning using a specific organizational approach that involves project learning, a process that involves organizations taking a backwards look at completed projects, identifying what worked and what areas need improvement. The role Project Managers (PMOs) have with coaching and promoting learning by conducting project retrospectives, providing templates and procedures for carrying out project retrospectives so that there is a consistent practice throughout the organization was also discussed.
The big issue discussed during the podcast is that often there aren’t established frameworks to document what is going on in an organization. “Lessons Learned” falls into that category. Per John and Megan, there is not a lot of guidance on how to get that done. Some teams take notes, some teams operate in a scrum manner, and other teams create minutes for a project retrospective and make the notes available in a central place, like a library or organizational information center.
To address this challenge, John discusses the need for creating established frameworks to document what is going on in an organization. PMOs are charged with owning that strategy that actions improvements that facilitate continuous improvement and organizational learning. Per John and Megan, PMOs can do that by keeping records associated with lessons learned, documenting the lessons learned in addition to documenting what has been acted upon, similar to how organizations track risk management activities, documenting risks and what corrective actions that have been taken.
“This latest podcast illustrates how an information resource management system like Soutron can and should be used by PMOs to submit documented lessons learned for inclusion in an organizational library or knowledge base,” states Tony Saadat, President and CEO of Soutron Global.
About our Podcast, Vertical File
Vertical File, a series of podcasts presented by John Connolly MLIS, PMP, where we bring together expert voices to discuss knowledge and information management theories, practical applications, and insightful strategies. Vertical File welcomes a variety of guests from archives, information management, learning, and other roles to discuss how knowledge resources can be leveraged across functions to make organizations thrive.