Lessons Learned Report Guidelines
In recent decades we have seen a proliferation of “lessons learned” reports, taking a variety of forms and operating at a variety of levels, across many aspects of conflict and development.
This assessment item requires you to select one post-conflict or post-disaster reconstruction mission, or an individual project within a given mission, and analyse it in terms of the lessons that can be drawn from it.
AUDIENCE & STYLE
Similar to the Memoranda to Cabinet, imagine your audience for this report is officials and policymakers in relevant departments, agencies and organizations. Once again, this will require you to present complex issues concisely, using
plain language, in a logical and persuasive form.
THE STRUCTURE
For the purposes of this assessment item, your Lessons Learned Report will include four primary sections, as well as a complete reference list at the end:
1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION (300-400 words)
1.1 Description of Context (briefly describe the context of your chosen mission/project, including where it took place and under what conditions/circumstances)
1.2 Description of Mission/Project (briefly describe the nature of the mission/project itself, including the key actors, aims, resources, etc.)
2. KEY MISSION/PROJECT SUCCESSES (500-600 words)
2.1 Key Mission/Project Successes (briefly outline the key successes of your chosen mission/project and how they were attained).
2.2 Impact of Key Successes (briefly outline the impact of key successes. Did they lead to the mission/project successfully meeting or even exceeding its original aims?)
3. KEY MISSION/PROJECT CHALLENGES AND FAILURES (500-600 words)
3.1 Key Mission/Project Challenges (briefly outline the key challenges of your chosen mission/project, examining their nature and causes)
3.2 Impact of Key Challenges (briefly outline the impact of key challenges. Were challenges overcome? If so, how? Did they lead to the failure of the mission/project, or key components of it?)
4. LESSONS LEARNED (800-1000 words)
4.1 Replicating Key Successes (analyse the lessons that can be drawn from the key successes in terms of replicating them in future missions and contexts)
4.2 Avoiding/Overcoming Key Challenges (analyse the lessons that can be drawn from the key challenges/failings in terms of avoiding or overcoming them in future missions/projects)
REFERENCE LIST
Your Memoranda to Cabinet must be fully referenced using a standard system of referencing (such as APA or Harvard) correctly and consistently, and should include (at the end) a reference list of all sources used, in alphabetical order by author surname.
