Lessons learned that don't get lost after the meeting

Collect what went well, what didn't, and what you'll do differently on one board, grouped by area, with an owner on every change. The board stays alongside your other projects, so the next team can find it.

No credit card needed. See pricing

The Lessons Learned template in Cardsmith: columns for what went well, what didn't go well and what to do differently, and rows for people, process, tools and customers.
The Lessons Learned template as it opens in Cardsmith.

How the board is laid out

  • Columns: What went well, What didn't go well, and Do differently next time.
  • Rows: People, Process, Tools and technology, and Customers. Rename them to match your project, or add rows for phases or workstreams.
  • One lesson per card. Each "do differently" card gets an owner and a date in its fields, so it reads as an action, not a complaint.

Running the session

  1. Before: start from the Lessons Learned template (Create From Template, then Team methods) and invite the project team as collaborators. People can add cards ahead of time, and everyone sees changes as they're made.
  2. During: walk the grid row by row. Drag duplicates together, color the ones that matter most, and use comments for side discussions.
  3. Close each "do differently" card with an owner and a date.
  4. After: export the board to PDF for the project file, and copy the action cards onto the next project's board.
  5. Next time: search across all your boards to find what earlier projects learned.

Other retrospective templates

The Retrospectives category in Cardsmith's template picker also has Start, Stop, Continue; 4Ls (Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for); Sailboat; Mad, Sad, Glad; and a Project Post-Mortem board. They all work the same way: copy one, rename what you need, and share it.

Questions

Is input anonymous?

No. Collaborators sign in, and the board's activity log shows who added and changed cards. If your team needs anonymous input, collect it beforehand, for example with a form, and add the cards yourself.

Can we keep lessons from many projects together?

Yes. Keep each project's board in a folder, and use search on your boards page to find cards across all of them.

What does it cost?

Every account starts with a 30-day trial of all Professional features, and no credit card is needed. After that, Professional is $9 a month billed yearly ($12 billed monthly), and Team plans are $9 per person per month billed yearly. If you don't subscribe, your boards stay viewable but can't be edited. Details are on the pricing page.

Boards for other methods

Try it on your own plan

Start from the template, rename what you need, and invite your team.

No credit card needed.