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The knowledge management lifecycle
Some organisations measure the progress of their knowledge management activities in terms of their maturity - how far ‘down the line’ they are in implementing knowledge management practices and ways of working. The aim is to provide organisations with a map to guide them from getting started right through to ‘institutionalising’ knowledge management - embedding it in the organisation and making it an integral part of the way an organisation works. The map has five stages:
Get started
Develop a strategy
Design and launch a knowledge management initiative
Expand and support
Institutionalise knowledge management
Right knowledge, right place, right time
Some people mistakenly assume that knowledge management is about capturing all the best practices and knowledge that people possess and storing it in a system in the hope that one day it will be useful. In fact this is a good example of what knowledge management is not about! Consider this: how often has information or knowledge been pushed at you when you don't need it - paper, emails, training, another irrelevant meeting? Then later, when you do need it, you vaguely remember seeing something relevant but can't find it. Some surveys suggest that professional workers spend ten per cent of their time looking for information they know is somewhere. And if what you want is in people's heads, and they're not always around, how can you access it when you need it? What if you don't even know whose head it's in? Or if they'd be willing to share it with you? In a nutshell, good knowledge management is all about getting the right knowledge, in the right place, at the right time.
One popular and widely-used approach is to think of knowledge management in terms of three components, namely people, processes and technology:
People: Getting an organisation's culture (including values and behaviours) 'right' for knowledge management is typically the most important and yet often the most difficult challenge. Knowledge management is first and foremost a people issue. Does the culture of your organisation support ongoing learning and knowledge sharing? Are people motivated and rewarded for creating, sharing and using knowledge? Is there a culture of openness and mutual respect and support? Or is your organisation very hierarchical where 'knowledge is power' and so people are reluctant to share? Are people under constant pressure to act with no time for knowledge-seeking or reflection? Do they feel inspired to innovate and learn from mistakes, or is there a strong 'blame and shame' culture?
Processes: In order to improve knowledge sharing, organisations often need to make changes to the way their internal processes are structured, and sometimes even the organisational structure itself. For example, if an organisation is structured in such a way that different parts of it are competing for resources, then this will most likely be a barrier to knowledge sharing. Looking at the many aspects of 'how things are done around here' in your organisation, which processes constitute either barriers to, or enablers of, knowledge management? How can these processes be adapted, or what new processes can be introduced, to support people in creating, sharing and using knowledge?
Technology: A common misconception is that knowledge management is mainly about technology - getting an intranet, linking people by e-mail, compiling information databases etc. Technology is often a crucial enabler of knowledge management - it can help connect people with information, and people with each other, but it is not the solution. And it is vital that any technology used 'fits' the organisation's people and processes - otherwise it will simply not be used.
These three components are often compared to the legs of a three-legged stool - if one is missing, then the stool will collapse. However, one leg is viewed as being more important than the others - people. An organisation's primary focus should be on developing a knowledge-friendly culture and knowledge-friendly behaviours among its people, which should be supported by the appropriate processes, and which may be enabled through technology.
Developing a knowledge management strategy
A knowledge management strategy is simply a plan that describes how an organisation will manage its knowledge better for the benefit of that organisation and its stakeholders. A good knowledge management strategy is closely aligned with the organisation’s overall strategy and objectives.
A good, clear knowledge management strategy can benifit in the following ways:
- increase awareness and understanding of knowledge management in the organisation
- articulate the business case and identify potential benefits
- gain senior management commitment
- attract resources for implementation
- communicate good knowledge management practice
- give you a clear, communicable plan about where you are now, where you want to go, and how to plan to get there
- give you a basis against which to measure your progress.
There are many ways to approach the development of a knowledge management strategy, as well as many ways of presenting the strategy document itself – there is no ‘one size fits all’. Larger organisations will probably need a detailed, formal strategy document whereas for a smaller organisation something briefer and less formal might be more appropriate.
The strategy document
A relatively brief and informal knowledge management strategy should be structured around these three questions:
Where are we now? - An assessment of the current situation.
Where do we want to be? – An outline of what knowledge management will do for the organisation. How will it help the organisation and the people in it to meet their objectives? What might ‘good knowledge management practice’ look like for this organisation specifically? How will you know when you are there i.e. how will you measure the progress and value of your efforts?
How do we get there? – Describing the specific actions that will be taken to get to where you want to be. An action plan covering the three key elements of people, processes and technology: what specific knowledge management tools and processes will you use; how will you motivate people and realign your organisational culture to a ‘knowledge friendly’ one; and how will you develop the supporting technological infrastructure?
Developing your strategy
In developing a knowledge management strategy.
Start with your organisation’s strategy and objectives
The most important factor in guiding a knowledge management strategy is the organisation’s overall strategy and goals. Given that the whole purpose of knowledge management is to help the organisation to achieve its goals, the knowledge management strategy should describe precisely that. In order to do that, you need to understand what your organisational goals are, and how you are currently performing against them. Talk to key people throughout your organisation about strategy and goals. Look at what various departments or functions are doing. Discuss plans for the future, and look at factors that influence reaching goals. Get a feel for how sub-optimal knowledge management might be currently limiting the organisation in achieving its goals, and how better knowledge management might help it to achieve them. Look for gaps that could prevent the organisation from achieving its goals. As you talk to people, be on the look out for the issues that are really causing them problems – their ‘pains’. As well as problems, look also for opportunities – not only the chance to fix things, but the chance to do something new or better. Needs, problems, pains and opportunities give you an opening to use knowledge to make a difference..
Conduct a knowledge audit
A knowledge audit is an investigation into an organisation’s knowledge management ‘health’. A typical audit will look at:
- What are the organisation’s knowledge needs?
- What knowledge assets or resources does it have and where are they?
- What gaps exist in its knowledge?
- How does knowledge flow around the organisation?
- What blockages are there to that flow?
- To what extent do its people, processes and technology currently support or hamper the effective knowledge management?
The knowledge audit can reveal the organisation’s knowledge management needs, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and risks. It provides an evidence-based assessment of where the organisation needs to focus its knowledge management efforts.
Think about capturing versus connecting
A key decision in developing the strategy and in selecting knowledge management tools and techniques involves looking at the relative focus on explicit and tacit knowledge – in other words, do you want to focus on connecting people with information, or on connecting people with people? Of course this is not an ‘either/or’ decision and most knowledge management strategies tend to involve a combination of the two; the optimal balance between them will depend on your organisational context. A good strategy will reflect a balance between ‘quick-wins’ and building a sustainable knowledge management capability into the long-term. The advantage of quick wins is that they allow people to see immediate benefits, and therefore they are more likely to give their support.Gaining support and acceptance for your strategy and ultimately embedding knowledge management into the organisation is about winning ‘hearts and minds’. Think constantly about addressing the "what's in it for me?" Always anticipate that question from all of those involved – senior managers, middle managers, staff, those departments and functions whose support you will need such as human resources and information technology. In answering the "what's in it for me?" question, consider the three key levels of ‘me’: myself, my team/department/function, and my organisation as a whole.
The benefits to an organisation due to the KM Strategy are as follows:
- identify and replace poor practices
- raise the performance of poor performers closer to that of the best
- avoid reinventing the wheel
- minimize re-work caused by use of poor methods
- save costs through better productivity and efficiency
- improve services to clients.
Best practice programmes are most appropriate in organisations where processes are quite well developed and where a certain amount of knowledge and experience has been accumulated. They are most useful where an organisation has several units or people performing similar tasks but who are widely dispersed and so do not tend to learn from each other through day-to-day contact.
This answer is enough if ther is a case study just link this answer to that case study just conclude sayin that if all this is done in the XYZ organisation then changes will take place over time.
