The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Learning from projects

Learning from projects
Learning from projects
The 'learning organisation' is frequently emphasised in the literature and in practice, and this is particularly important for project-oriented organisations. However, experience tells us that organisations tend not to learn adequately from project experiences. This paper reviews some of the work seeking to model and explain the behaviour of complex projects, which explains why lessons are difficult to learn from such projects¾not the easy and obvious lessons but the lessons about complex non-intuitive project behaviours. From there it looks at why projects are frequently not reviewed, and seeks to offer practical proposals for carrying out reviews, using small models to enable lessons to be learned that provide understanding (rather than simply data), and distributing that learning around the organisation.
project management, learning, feedback
0160-5682
443-451
Williams, T.M.
fb409365-0027-4db3-b401-58a8c8992639
Williams, T.M.
fb409365-0027-4db3-b401-58a8c8992639

Williams, T.M. (2003) Learning from projects. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 54 (5), 443-451. (doi:10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601549).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The 'learning organisation' is frequently emphasised in the literature and in practice, and this is particularly important for project-oriented organisations. However, experience tells us that organisations tend not to learn adequately from project experiences. This paper reviews some of the work seeking to model and explain the behaviour of complex projects, which explains why lessons are difficult to learn from such projects¾not the easy and obvious lessons but the lessons about complex non-intuitive project behaviours. From there it looks at why projects are frequently not reviewed, and seeks to offer practical proposals for carrying out reviews, using small models to enable lessons to be learned that provide understanding (rather than simply data), and distributing that learning around the organisation.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2003
Keywords: project management, learning, feedback

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 36898
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/36898
ISSN: 0160-5682
PURE UUID: 6ebc0d5a-369a-4cab-8ed2-f33c101be3fe

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 May 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 07:57

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: T.M. Williams

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×