However important it is stated as being, as a fundamental part of nearly all project management methodologies; project reviews are seldom carried out or taken seriously.  How often are projects actually reviewed and notes taken to analyse why they succeeded or failed in certain respects. If reviews are documented how often is this knowledge ever stored in a system which is searchable? Are the results ever revisited so that similar pitfalls don't reoccur in future projects?

Time is money and consultants are after diverted to the next project, if not physically at least mentally before their existing project is actually brought to a firm conclusion. More often than not they will leave the premises directly after project completion. They may stay around for a farewell beer but even that is often unlikely. I recall one Intranet project development where one meeting was set aside following a 12 month project to note what the project offered as a learning experience. I'm not sure what happened to the notes which were taken.

I'm not going to deliver a finite solution to this problem but here are a few noteworthy points. In a more iterative project with fixed and firm milestones these review meetings could be held more often. This would need to be driven from the top and the client partner would review it as part course and the Project Management Practice Manager (if such a position existed) would meet to discuss the overall project outcomes with the Project Management team as part of a mentoring exercise after a project completed. A good Knowledge Management solution would need to be in place to easily reference the information in the future.