Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Document Owner:
This checklist is designed to assist the Project Manager in conducting data collection for the
Lessons Learned and Best Practices Report. It offers guidance and a variety of questions that
may be asked to determine which elements of the less optimal project experiences should be
avoided in the future, and what contributors to project success should be repeated in future
projects. The following checklist can be used any time there is a need for lessons learned and
best practices to be identified for a project. This exercise can be initiated at any time, but is most
commonly executed during the Closure phase of PMAP. Other times when it may be useful to
execute this exercise is for large projects, at the completion of each PMAP phase. This will
ensure that participants interviewed still have a fresh memory of what worked well and where
improvement is needed, and the results should be more accurate and useful. Please refer to the
PMAP Guidebook for further guidance on this activity.
This checklist is intended to assist the project manager in gathering the data needed to produce
the “Lessons Learned and Best Practices Report.”
Practice
Effectiveness
Communication and
Client Partnership
Guidance
This practice includes the following
PMAP activities:
1) Document Work Request
2) Communicate Project status,
3) Develop and Execute
Communications Plan
4) Capture Lessons Learned
and Best Practices.
Questions
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The purpose of this Practice is to
build a partnership with the
project’s clients and to meet the
project information needs of all the
parties affected by the project in an
accurate, comprehensive and timely
manner.
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Throughout the project
there were various
communications vehicles
used, i.e. Almanac,
brochures, Direct Emails,
The Bottom Line, BEN Repswhich vehicle did you feel
was the most effective?
How effectively were the
project status meetings
conducted?
How effectively were
stakeholders involved in the
project?
Was communication with
stakeholders adequate?
How well were your
expectations met regarding
the frequency and content
of information conveyed to
you by the Project Manager?
How well was project status
communicated throughout
your involvement in the
project?
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
Questions
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Scope Definition &
Management
This practice includes the following
PMAP activities:
1) Develop Project Proposal
2) Determine Project Scope
3) Manage Project Scope.
Document Owner:
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The purpose of this practice is to get
an agreement and buy-in from all
parties on what exactly the project
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will produce, and maintaining that
agreement throughout the project
life cycle.
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How well did the Project
Manager respond to your
questions or comments
related to the project?
How well was project status
communicated throughout
your involvement in the
project?
How useful was the format
and content of the Project
status Report to you?
Were there resource
constraints that prevented
appropriate responsiveness
to the development of a
Project Proposal?
What were the challenges in
development of a Project
Proposal?
How effective was the
Project Proposal in providing
sufficient information to
initiate the Planning Phase?
Was there sufficient
participation from key
stakeholders or subject
matter experts in the
development of the Project
Proposal?
Did the scope deliverables
provide sufficient and
accurate definition of the
scope?
Were the scope documents
managed and controlled?
Were the scope deliverable
documents baselined?
How well did the final scope
of the project match what
was defined in the Project
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
Questions
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Schedule and Budget Definition &
Management
This practice includes the following
PMAP activities:
1) Develop and Manage Project
Schedule
2) Develop and Manage Project
Budget
3) Release Resources
Document Owner:
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The purpose of this practice is to
build a comprehensive and realistic 
schedule and budget for the project,
and to manage schedule and budget
projections accurately throughout
the project life cycle.
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Proposal?
How effectively were the
changes to scope managed?
How satisfied were you with
your involvement in the
agreement on Project Scope
during Project Definition and
Planning?
Were the objectives and
scope of this project clear?
As project performance beat
or challenged estimates,
were the estimates
effectively revised and the
current and future tasks rescheduled?
How closely does the initial
Project Schedule compare
with the final schedule?
Were Project Team
members available to
perform their tasks
according to the schedule?
Were Phases, Activities and
Tasks clearly laid out?
How did the estimated
Project Budget compare
with the total actual
expenditure?
Were resources released in a
timely manner?
Overall, how effective was
budget and schedule
management on this
project?
Was the Team structure
clear (i.e., who was
responsible for what?)
Did the project team have a
clear knowledge of the
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
Questions
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Commitment
Management
This practice includes the following
PMAP activities:
1) Establish and Manage Project
Commitments.
Document Owner:
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The purpose of this practice is to
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track the commitments made to the
project, whether in terms of agreedupon baseline scope, schedule and
budget, or in terms of previously
accepted deliverables, and to
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project goals and objectives?
Were the right people part
of the team, and were they
brought on the team at the
right time?
How well did the Project
Team understand the
expectations of their specific
roles and responsibilities?
How well were your
expectations met regarding
the extent of your
involvement in the project
(effort time commitments
etc.)?
How effective was each
Project Team member in
fulfilling his/her role?
How effective was team
member training?
Did you have adequate tools
to support the development
of this product?
If there was a vendor
involved, were the
communications Plans, roles
& responsibilities, schedules
and deliverables clearly
defined?
Were Scope, Schedule and
Budget baselined, and was
that done at an appropriate
time during the Planning
phase?
Was the Commitment
Change process properly
invoked to manage changes
to Scope, Schedule, or
Budget?
Were changes to Scope,
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
Questions
manage commitment variances.
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Project Issue
Management
This practice includes the following 
PMAP activities:
1) Manage Project Issues.
The purpose of this practice is to
document, track and quickly
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resolved all project issues, especially
the ones that threaten to impact
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the project baseline.
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Project Information
Management
Project Governance
and Acceptance
Management
This practice includes the following
activities:
1) Set up and Manage Project
Repository
2) Perform Administrative Closeout
Document Owner:
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The purpose of this practice is to
collect, store and manage data
generated by and about the project,
and to capture historical data in the
repository for future use or analysis.
This practice includes the following 
activities:
1) Develop Phase Gate
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Recommendations (for each phase),
2) Develop, Manage, and Complete
Deliverable Approval Plan.
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Schedule, or Budget
effectively managed?
When changes to Scope,
Schedule or Budget were
accepted, were these project
parameters re-baselined?
How well were project issues
communicated throughout
your involvement in the
project?
How effectively were issues
tracked on the project?
How effectively were issues
resolved before escalation
was necessary?
If issue escalation was
required, how effectively
were issues resolved?
How effectively were issues
able to be resolved without
impacting the Project
Schedule or Budget?
How useful and complete
was the project repository?
How effectively was version
control managed?
Has time tracking against the
project been stopped?
How effective were the
Phase Gate reviews?
Were the required Phase
Gate participants available
to participate?
Was the project schedule
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
The purpose of this practice is to
apply project governance to phased
approval of the project and to the
deliverable approval process.
Questions
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Product Effectiveness
Product Effectiveness is not a
project management practice, but a
place to capture lessons learned
and best practices associated with
the development of the project’s
ultimate deliverable: its product,
whether a new computer system or
a new infrastructure installation.
Document Owner:
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jeopardized by Phase Gate
bottlenecks or delays?
Was the phase gate review
process appropriately
focused on the needs of
each phase?
Which phase gate reviews
were more/less effective?
How effective was the
acceptance management
process?
Was the approval process
for each deliverable clearly
defined?
How well prepared were you
to receive project
deliverables?
How well defined was the
acceptance criteria for
project deliverables?
Was sufficient time allocated
to review project
deliverables?
How complete / effective
were the materials you were
provided in order to make a
decision to proceed from
one project life cycle phase
to the next? If materials
were lacking, please
elaborate.
When initially implemented,
how well did the product of
the project meet the stated
needs of the client
organization?
After turnover to
Operations, how well does
the product of the project
meet the stated needs of the
Lessons Learned and Best Practice Checklist
Practice
Effectiveness
Guidance
Document Owner:
Questions
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client organization?
How well does the product
of the project deliver the
benefits outlined in Project
Proposal?
What is your overall
assessment of the outcome
of this project?