School of Built Environment
Construction in Practice 3
Individual Report
The Project
Now that you have completed the first and second presentation plus the group report you are now required to complete an individual assessment of lessons learnt by reflecting on your progress during this semester.
Important Criteria
Weighting: 30%
Length: 2000 words
Due Date: Week 14 Date Sunday 24th October 2021 11.59pm
Submission: Turnitin as a Word document
Marking Criteria
Final Report
The final individual report for Construction in Practice 3 is to be submitted to Turnitin. This involves “lessons learned” (lessons learnt in some references) and reflective comments on the project from the perspective of your role in the group. In other words, how did you handle the project from your role in the group, what would you change etc.
Introduction
Capturing lessons learned is an integral part of every project and serves several purposes. While the finalization of a formal lessons learned document is completed during the project closeout process, capturing lessons learned should occur throughout the project lifecycle to ensure all information is documented in a timely and accurate manner. The lessons learned document serves as a valuable tool for use by other project managers within an organization who are assigned similar projects. This document should not only describe what went wrong during a project and suggestions to avoid similar occurrences in the future, but it should also describe what went well and how similar projects may benefit from this information.
The purpose of the lessons learned document for a construction project is to capture the project’s lessons learned in a formal document for use by other project managers on similar future projects. This document may be used as part of new project planning for similar projects in order to determine what problems occurred and how those problems were handled and may be avoided in the future. Additionally, this document details what went well with the project and why, so that other project managers may capitalize on these actions. Project managers may also use this document to determine who the project team members were in order to solicit feedback for planning their projects in the future. This document will be formally communicated with the organization and will become a part of the organizational assets and archives.
Lessons Learned Approach
The lessons learned approach describes how the document will be created, what it will consist of, and how lessons will be categorized. It is important that the lessons learned approach is covered in the initial stages of project planning. The reason for this is that a methodology along with an appropriate set of tools should be established to capture these lessons throughout the project’s lifecycle. A project journal is one example of a tool to capture these lessons. If no thought is given to lessons learned until project closeout, then it is likely that many lessons and details will be omitted from the document. The contents of the lessons learned document should also be determined ahead of time. They should be detailed enough to provide value for future use and the contents should be consistent with other lessons learned documents or organizational standards. The categorization of lessons learned is another consideration. Many organizations categorize lessons by project lifecycle phase or by the knowledge area that the lesson applies to.
The lessons learned from a construction project are compiled from project journal entries throughout the project lifecycle. The lessons learned from this project are to be used as references for future projects and contain an adequate level of detail so that other project managers may have enough information on which to help base their project plans.
The lessons learned are categorized by project knowledge area. These knowledge areas may consist of: procurement management, risk management, integration management, quality management, time management, cost management, scope management, human resource management, and communications management.
Lessons Learned from a Project
The lessons learned must be communicated in a consistent manner. In addition to the categorization and description of the lesson, it is important to state what the impact was and provide a recommendation for project managers to consider on future projects.
Table 1 lists an example of lessons learned for a construction project. These lessons are categorized by project knowledge area and descriptions, impacts, and recommendations are provided for consideration on similar future new construction projects. It is important to note that not only failures or shortcomings are included but successes as well.
Table 1: Example Lessons Learned Document
Category Issue Name Problem/Success Impact Recommendation
Procurement Management Contract Requirements The PM was not fully engaged in the contract process. All requirements were not included in the initial contract award. A contract modification was required which added a week to the project. PM must be fully engaged in all contract processes. This must be communicated to both PM and contract personnel.
Human Resources Management Award Plan There was no plan for providing awards and recognition to team members. Toward the end of the project morale was low among the project team. There was increased conflict and team members were asking to leave the project. The PM should institute and communicate an awards/recognition program for every project.
Scope Management Scope Creep Stakeholders continuously tried adding to the project scope throughout the project lifecycle. The PM did not have a plan for addressing scope creep and allowed some requirements to be added until the sponsor stopped it. Overall project delay of 3 weeks was the result. The PM must have an approval process for any proposed scope changes and communicate this process to all stakeholders.
Quality Management Building Material A process for determining acceptable building material quality was planned into the project. This allowed the project team to work with the contractors to smoothly ensure all materials were of acceptable quality and avoided any re-work and delays associated with substandard material. Always plan quality standards and allowances into the project plan. This helps avoid delays and cost overruns.
Risk Management Zoning Approval A risk was identified that there may be delays in receiving approval from the county zoning board. This was a success because it was identified early and planned for. Impact was minimal because the PM included potential zoning delays into the project schedule. Always consider external impacts on the project cost and schedule. This must be continuous throughout the project lifecycle.
Process Improvement Recommendations
It is important that once lessons learned are collected and documented that the organization approves and implement any process improvements identified. It is important for organizations to strive for continuous improvement and this portion of the lessons learned process is an integral step.
Individual Lessons Learned Report for CIP3
The individual assignment is intended to assess your understanding of your groups project. The report should be between 1500 to 2000 words and this does not include words prepopulated in the table (182 words). Originally this was called a reflective diary, however “Lessons Learned” is more appropriate to Construction Management. Note some references call it Lessons Learnt.
The format of the report is to include the following:
Title Page:
• Your name, group number, company name, and your role
• Date
Page 1
• Table of Contents
Page 2
• Introduction
o Your role in the group.
o Interaction with group members.
Page….
• Key points of decisions made
Page….
• Insert the table from the next 3 pages and fill out details from your perspective of the project. Add or delete topics to be relevant to your project
Page….
• Lessons Learned
• Summary
Category (add or modify these categories to fit your project) Issue Name Problem/Success Impact Recommendation
Company background and team biography, include example projects
Identifying existing and emerging markets as potential tenants/owners either buy or lease
Proposal for the development of the site and description of the building including a physical or virtual model
Timeline
Information presented has been justified in terms of Council constraints, building regulations and company capabilities
Impact on local infrastructure
Recommendations for tendering and contract arrangements
Applications of value management to optimize quality and cost
Assessing the likely price to pay for the site chosen
Financial planning strategy methods used by the company
Financial analysis of the project considering cost analysis and projected income from sale and/or lease of building including:
1. Net Present Value
2. Preliminary return on investment projections
3. Other financial matters considered
Exit strategy after 15 years
Other matters considered important by your group (add additional rows as required.
A critical evaluation of the company’s ability to handle the development from the above criteria
Presentation Skills
Comment on areas that worked or could be improved.
Assessment criteria for your report
Section Action Value
Introduction Summary of your role and interaction with group members. /10
Key points of decisions made How your overall contribution impacted the assessment throughout semester. /10
Identify Problems/Successes You need to consider major problems or successes that you encountered that influenced decisions for the group. /10
Impact What happened /15
Recommendations How was this dealt with. /15
Lesson learned What were the lessons learned throughout the project? If you started this project again what would you do differently. /20
Academic standard and logical structure Note that your written expression must be PROFESSIONAL.
Need to structure your report logically with a concluding statement. /20
