Title of driver: End of Year Learning Guidance

Source: NHS Improving Quality

Link to main document http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/capacity-capability/knowledge-and-intelligence/iq-handbooks/learning-handbook/end-of-year-learning-guidance.aspx

Publication format: Interactive Prezi slideshow with hyperlinks to supporting documentation. Also available as a PDF.

Date of publication: 2014

Supporting documentation: NHS Improving Quality, (2014), Learning Handbook http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/capacity-capability/knowledge-and-intelligence/iq-handbooks/learning-handbook.aspx

Summary of driver:

Outlines the need for teams to conduct end of year, or end of project, lessons learned reviews.

Provides information on the recommended style of learning activity – retrospect review.

The guidance highlights the benefits of conducting lessons learned reviews and capturing the knowledge acquired during the team’s work.

Key features of driver:

• This guidance focuses on documenting tacit knowledge, through learning activities and the production of a lessons learned report.
• Capturing and sharing this knowledge is seen as key to ensuring that NHS organisations are resilient, and positive outcomes can be repeated.
• The benefits of end of year, or end of project, learning activities include: sharing knowledge throughout the organisation; and identifying positive and negative actions so that they can be repeated or avoided in the future for similar projects.
• Recommends using the retrospective review method.
• The guidance acknowledges there are other possible learning activity methods. The guidance includes hyperlinks to the appropriate pages of the NHS Improving Quality’s Learning Handbook for further details of the methods.
• Stresses that learning activities should focus on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ projects progressed in the way they did; and why they were successful or not successful compared to the team’s expectations prior to the work.
• Learning activities should include all members of the team involved in a project – NHS staff and any external members, to ensure that everyone’s learning points and knowledge are included.
• The lessons learned reports should be produced in an appropriate format, and stored and distributed in a way that makes them accessible to all staff within the organisation.
• Includes links to a suggested lessons learned report template in the Learning Handbook.
• Document also includes a link to a YouTube video explaining the concept of tacit knowledge.

Primary audience: Anyone working in the NHS

Impact on library policy/practice:

• Although the guidance focuses on end of the financial year learning activities, the method could be used at the end of any project.
• Library or information service staff could use learning activities to review their own work and projects.
• Library staff may be able to facilitate lessons learned activities for other teams, or provide training on the use of various lessons learned activity methods.
• As a contribution towards knowledge management, libraries may take on the task of storing and making available the lessons learned reports from departments throughout the organisation – using the library’s cataloguing system, other document storage system or Trust intranet.

Date last updated: March 2015

Due for review: March 2016

Group member responsible: FG

 

Tagged: informatics, Knowledge management, Knowledge sharing, Learning, Lessons learned, Organisational learning, Quality and Improvement, Tacit knowledge