Lessons Learned Template

You just wrapped up a big project. Everything seemed fine until you realized your team had to redo work because key files weren’t shared on time. It was frustrating, and worse, you could have prevented it had you caught this insight earlier.

Every completed project offers valuable lessons. But without a structured way to capture them, your team risks repeating mistakes or overlooking successes. Asana’s lessons learned templates help you reflect on project outcomes, gather input from stakeholders, and document key takeaways so you can make smarter decisions and continuously improve your workflows.

Who benefits from this lessons learned template?

At Asana, we use lessons learned reviews after every major initiative to identify what worked, what didn’t, and why. Capturing lessons learned with a ready-to-go template helps us do this faster and more effectively. A lessons learned template ensures actionable insights don’t get lost, and every team benefits from a structured, repeatable process. This reflection helps teams grow stronger with each project they undertake.

This lessons learned template is ideal for:

• Project managers capturing lessons from completed projects

• Teams conducting sprint retrospectives, post mortems, or project closure reviews

• Stakeholders looking to improve project planning and execution

• PMO teams creating a library of project learnings for future reference

Use this lessons learned template in project management to improve future project success, avoid repeating mistakes, and make more informed decisions.

Why use Asana’s lessons learned template?

After completing an entire project, you want to ensure that your team captures key insights before moving on. A dedicated template makes this process consistent, actionable, and easy to revisit.

With this Asana lessons learned template, you can:

• Focus discussions on key themes: Use structured prompts to explore what went well, what didn’t, and why, like a missed deadline or a last-minute scope change.

• Capture stakeholder input in real time. Use comments and forms to collect insights from your project team and stakeholders.

• Translate insights into action items. Turn lessons into clear, practical next steps. For example, if task ownership was murky, decide who’s responsible up front next time.

• Avoid repeating mistakes. Identify root causes such as communication gaps or unclear requirements, and define action items to guide future project planning and execution, such as clarifying timelines or improving handoff procedures.

• Track progress on follow-ups. Assign owners and deadlines for action items, such as checking in with project stakeholders to ensure everyone is aligned on a new approval process.

• Create a searchable knowledge base. Keep lessons learned reports accessible and linked to the original project

• Align on continuous improvement. Document what worked well to repeat success across similar projects

How to use this lessons learned template

Once your project ends, schedule a lessons learned session and invite your project team and stakeholders. Then:

1. Duplicate and rename the template. Make a copy of the lessons learned template and give it a clear, searchable name. Examples include “Q2 Campaign: Lessons Learned,” “Website Redesign Postmortem,” or “Employee Onboarding Review.” This helps keep your workspace organized and makes it easy to locate reports later.

2. Set the session agenda. Outline topics like successes, challenges, project objectives, and future recommendations. Start with a brief overview of the project and explain the purpose of the session.

3. Collect feedback. Use forms or shared documents to gather individual reflections in advance. Prompt contributors to share what went well, what didn’t, and any recurring challenges.

4. Discuss as a group. Walk through key project phases and outcomes. Analyze the reasons for successes and setbacks, not just the surface-level symptoms.

5. Document takeaways. Capture key learnings under categories like wins, misses, and root causes. Include supporting evidence or examples when possible.

6. Assign action items. Translate lessons into concrete next steps. Create actionable tasks, assign owners, and set timelines to follow through.

7. Share the report. Store your lessons learned report with the project. Tag it for future reference and make it accessible for teams running similar projects later.

Asana features that simplify lessons learned reviews

You don’t need a complicated setup to capture meaningful takeaways. These Asana features make it easier to collect feedback, document insights, and follow through on improvements.

• Forms: Standardize how you gather stakeholder input for each project, like a quick survey after a product launch or sales event.

• Custom Fields: Tag takeaways by project name or issue type to make trends easy to find, such as labeling feedback “handoff issues” or “scope creep.”

• Milestones: Mark key turning points, such as a delayed approval or scope shift, so they’re not forgotten in the review.

• Task Comments: Let teammates share context directly on lessons, like noting why a deadline slipped or what fixed it.

• Attachments: Link supporting evidence, deliverables, or final reports to each lesson.

• Asana AI: Let AI help summarize feedback, suggest insights, and identify themes across multiple lessons learned, such as unclear roles or last-minute changes.

• Status Updates: Share key takeaways and follow-up plans in a concise update so everyone can see the highlights without needing another meeting.

Recommended integrations

Connect your lessons learned template with the tools your team already uses. Whether you’re gathering feedback from a campaign, sharing designs, or reviewing technical documentation, these integrations help keep everything in one place and reduce back-and-forth between project management tools.

You can explore even more options in the Asana App Directory.

• Slack: Capture real-time feedback during project wrap-ups and turn messages into Asana tasks.

• Microsoft Teams: Keep your lessons-learned sessions collaborative with integrated task creation during meetings.

• Google Drive: Attach files like final reports, retrospectives, or project timelines for context.

• Figma: Embed design files and prototypes to reference visual work or UX feedback during your review.

• Coview: Attach screen recordings and visual feedback to provide a deeper context behind challenges or missed steps.

• GitLab: Link code repositories or merge request histories for postmortems tied to technical work.

• Threads: Capture and sync relevant team discussions from Threads to inform your lessons learned session.

• Jira Cloud: Sync postmortem insights across development and non-technical teams. Connect Jira

• Dropbox: Upload post-project assets directly to your lessons learned task or report.

FAQs about lessons learned templates