How to capture lessons learned that get used
Run a short lessons learned workshop, turn findings into owned actions, and store them where the next team will find them. A practical NGO method.
Short answer
Capture lessons by asking what you set out to do, what happened, what worked, what did not and what you would change. Run a short facilitated session with staff, partners and, where safe, community members. Turn each lesson into an action with an owner and a date, and store it where the next project team will look.
Key points
- A lesson is only useful if it changes an action, a tool or a decision.
- Learn during the project, not only at the end.
- Use a facilitator and a note taker, and invite more than senior staff.
- Write each lesson as: what happened, why, and what to do next time.
- Store lessons in one place and check them when planning the next project.
Why do lessons learned often go unused?
Most NGO teams can list lessons at the end of a project. Few can say where those lessons went. The list goes into a final report, the project closes, the team moves on and the next proposal repeats the same mistakes.
ALNAP, the humanitarian learning network, notes that frontline staff produce valuable knowledge every day, but that knowledge is often not shared regularly with peers or senior colleagues, so experience from one project does not improve the next. The fix is not a longer report. It is a simple habit: ask the same few questions at set times, assign actions and keep the answers somewhere findable.
What questions should you ask?
The IFRC lessons learnt workshop guide, adapted from the Good Enough Guide, gives a clear set. Start by revisiting the project objectives and deliverables: "What did we set out to do?" and "What did we achieve?" Then ask:
| Question | What it reveals |
|---|---|
| What went well? | Practices to repeat and write down as tried and tested |
| What did not go well, or had unintended consequences? | Blockers and side effects |
| What could have improved impact? | Gaps in design or delivery |
| If you did it again, what would you do differently? | Pitfalls others can avoid |
| What would you advise others doing similar work? | Recommendations for future teams |
The IFRC guide also asks whose needs the project served and whether those needs changed over time. Keep that question: it stops a lessons session becoming only a talk about internal processes.
How do you run a lessons learned session?
- Choose the moment. After a major activity, at a quarterly review or before closure. Avoid the last week of the project, when people are exhausted.
- Pick two roles. One person facilitates. A second records findings, comments and decisions. The IFRC guide uses exactly this split.
- Invite a mix of people. Include programme, finance, logistics, MEAL, partner staff and, where it is safe and appropriate, community representatives. Do not let the most senior person set the story.
- Revisit the plan. Put the objectives and results on the wall. Ask what happened against each.
- Ask the five questions above. Give people a few minutes to write answers alone before discussing, so quieter staff speak.
- Dig into causes. For each point ask "why?" until you reach something the team can change.
- Agree actions. Write each lesson as three lines: what happened, why, and what we will do next time. Give every action an owner and a date.
- Share and store. Circulate within a week and save in the shared project folder.
In many Myanmar teams, staff work across locations or speak different languages. Hold the session in the language the team thinks in, and record the actions in the language your next project will use. Remote teams can run a shorter session by video call, using a shared document to collect answers.
How do you make lessons change practice?
Lessons change practice only when they are attached to something people use. Practical ways to do this:
- Link each lesson to a tool. Update a template, checklist, budget line, training plan or partner criteria.
- Review the action list at every team meeting. Our guide to issue logs and action trackers shows a simple way to track them.
- Read old lessons before planning. Add "check lessons from the last project" as a step in your project inception checklist.
- Learn in small loops. ALNAP's action learning approach uses groups of five or six colleagues and a minimum of 45 minutes. One person brings an issue, the others ask questions, and that person chooses an action to try before the next meeting.
What mistakes should you avoid?
- Blame sessions. If people fear punishment, they hide problems. Focus on systems, not individuals.
- Vague lessons. "Improve communication" cannot be acted on. "Send partner reports checklist two weeks before each deadline" can.
- No follow-up. Check progress at the next session.
- Ignoring community views. Their experience of the project is evidence too. Use safe ways to gather it, such as your feedback mechanism.
When you close a project, link this review to your project closure checklist so that learning is a required step, not an optional one.
How EMPO can help
EMPO is a reliable, trusted training and consultancy provider and one of Myanmar's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We are Yangon-based and work in English and Burmese, online and in person across Myanmar. Our MEAL and project management training includes practical methods for learning reviews. See our training services or contact us.
Sources
- Lessons Learnt Workshop Guide (Tool 18) — IFRC, adapted from the Good Enough Guide
- Action Learning for Frontline Humanitarians: a resource pack — ALNAP, 2022
Questions people ask
When should a team capture lessons?
At regular points during the project, for example after each quarter or major activity, and again at closure. Lessons captured only at the end are often forgotten or arrive too late to help the current project.
How is a lesson different from a complaint or an observation?
An observation says what happened. A lesson says why it happened and what to do differently. If it has no next action, it is still only an observation.
How long should a lessons learned session take?
Between one and three hours is usually enough for one project team. Longer sessions tire people and weaken the discussion.