Principles For Managing Of Knowledge Using ICTs

Principles to Guide the Managing of Knowledge
Using Electronic Communication and
Information-Sharing Tools

By Nadejda Loumbeva

December 2008

The identification of the principles outlined here originates in research done by the author at

University College London, University of London, in 2002 as part of an MSc in Human-Computer

Interaction with Ergonomics. At the time, the principles were used to evaluate three

geographically distributed Communities of Practice supported by electronic communication

platforms at the then UK Countryside Agency, a British non-governmental organisation.

Subsequently, they have also underlied work the author has done at other organizations, such as

the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations

World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

By Nadejda Loumbeva, MSc, MBA, CAS, Consultant and Coach on Learning and Knowledge Management. 1
Contact email: nloumbeva@iomba.ch

INTRODUCTION:

Information is not knowledge and knowledge is not just information. On

the other hand, what can be conveyed through an electronic platform, an

intranet, a database, a website, or anything of this kind, is just

information.

Information itself does not enable us to learn, unless we can place it in a

context. Context comes when we interact with peers, communicating

about what we do, why we do it, what stops us from or helps us doing it,

what we want to do, what interests us.

This is why, for information to make any sense to us, and help us learn,

and become knowledge, we need the interaction with our networks and

peers in order to put it in context. Putting information in context helps us

learn about it. If we do this, then we know what we are talking about

when we read through guidelines, suggestions, reports, news, and the like,

that we usually find on websites, in databases, and other types of

electronic communication platforms.

Sounds easy? Apparently, though, a lot of organizations are struggling

with putting in place communication and information-sharing tools and

processes that enable and support geographically distributed knowledge

sharing and learning among peers. Below are five principles guiding the use

of communication and information-sharing tools for purposes of managing

of knowledge. These may help to cast some light on the confusion you may

be experiencing in your organisation with regards to why the knowledge

management system that has been put in place does not quite help people

share and learn.


Rather than defining the sorts of tools to use for knowledge management

and sharing purposes, these principles can help you figure out the

following:

to what extent electronic communication and information-sharing

tools per se can help people to share knowledge and learn, and

how the use of such tools can be approached if they are to be at all

useful to the sharing of knowledge and learning among peers.

The principles are:


1. Knowledge is not information

Information ‘does not make sense’ unless it becomes knowledge;

Information exists outside of contexts, whereas knowledge exists within

contexts (based on a shared theme, practice, purpose, etc.);

Contexts within which knowledge exists are driven by people, not by

technology;

Information is no use unless it is enabling knowledge within shared

contexts of some activity;

Information becomes knowledge when people use this in the context of

some shared interest;

Knowledge is both explicit and tacit; information is only explicit.


2. Knowledge is both explicit and tacit

For most things that people know, they know them in two ways: tacit and

explicit;

Sometimes, people know things only tacitly (i.e., riding a bike);

People never know things just explicitly;

Tacit knowledge can be called intuitive knowledge, procedural knowledge,

or interest. It is inherently emotional knowledge which gives us clues

about what matters to us and thus helps us make sense of things;

Explicit knowledge is just information;

Explicit knowledge can be transferred through the means of electronic

communication and information-sharing tools;

Tacit knowledge can not be transferred through the means of electronic

communication and information-sharing tools. It can though be

communicated or conveyed during some shared activity (a phone call, a

conversation, a chat over coffee, a meeting, a workshop, a group project);

We need explicit communication such as that can be transferred via

online platforms in order to know what bits and pieces of information are

out there for us to use for our learning;

We need tacit knowledge to make sense of explicit information and

communication we come across;

Explicit knowledge thrives in media and online media; tacit knowledge is

cultivated among peers.


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3. Individual Learning and Knowledge flow in and out Group Learning

and Knowledge

People learn by themselves (through reading a book, writing a paper, or

other forms of self-study);

People also learn in groups (through working on projects together, writing

papers together, or other forms of group activity);

Some people prefer individual to group learning, and vice-versa;

Both individual and group learning are driven by some interaction among

learners and those who are driving their learning;

Group learning interactions tend to be much more synchronous than

individual learning interactions;

Individual learning draws upon tacit knowledge already learnt in the

context of some shared activity;

Group learning, via its collective process, cultivates the tacit knowledge

of not individuals who are part of group, but also the group per se. There

are things groups can know which individuals can not;

Groups can know more than individuals would ever know and so can be

more effective;

Whereas individual learning can be optimized by merely supplying

individuals with information, group learning can not;


Group learning can be optimized by merely enabling and supporting more

exchanges and interactions among members of the group(s);

In geographically-distributed groups, group learning can be optimized by

supporting a combination of face-to-face and online exchanges;

For an organization to make the most of group learning, it is not enough

to merely encourage people to work in groups. Rather, group learning

would need to imbue the design of the work, and overall business.


≠
4. Learning and Knowledge are driven by incentives and will, not by

rules and orders

You can not tell people to know something. You can, however, create

conditions for them to know things;

Learning and Knowledge can not be planned, but rather enabled and

allowed to emerge;

The imposition of rules, of any kind and in any way, diminishes

effectiveness as it pushes people away from their preferred working and

learning mode;

That learning and knowledge can not be planned, but enabled, has

implications for the design of the work and overall business. The design

of the work should be composed of systems, structures, and the like, that

are inherently flexible;

The will and incentive to learn, and know, mostly emerges in the context

of exchanges and interactions among peers that are driven by shared

interest and so inherently informal;

The encouragement and cultivation of exchanges and interactions among

peers, in terms of informal communities of practice, more formal

knowledge networks, or else, can enable peers to identify and build on

their interests as part of the work;


Enabling conditions (work systems and structures) that support working

out of interest and not out of necessity in itself predisposes people to

sharing knowledge and learning together. Such conditions would work best

with people with the right values and motivation and so have implications

for staff selection and development.


5. We can only know as and when we do

Knowledge is not a possession but part of what we do, when we do it;

We do not know what we know until we do something with it;

Doing something with what we know enables an interplay of tacit and

explicit knowledge. This helps us put into work what we already know and

learn something new;

Doing something with what we know is possible provided that there are

cultures and structures that favour joint action, initiative-taking, and on-

demand leadership, as well cross-cutting among different lines of work;

The use of electronic communication and information-sharing tools as

part of knowledge management initiatives should ensure these are

integrated within bigger processes of sharing and doing together.


CONCLUSION:

Rather than defining the sorts of tools to use for knowledge management

and sharing purposes, the above principles can help you figure out some of or

more than the following:

to what extent do electronic communication and information-

sharing tools per se help people to share knowledge and learn?

- Electronic communication and information-sharing tools can effectively

support already existing processes of sharing of knowledge and learning.

- The existence of electronic communication and information-sharing tools

does not in itself in any way guarantee there is communication, sharing and

learning per se.

how can the use of such tools be approached if they are to be at all

useful to the sharing of knowledge and learning among peers?

- Electronic communication and information-sharing tools intended for the

managing of knowledge among peers should be suitably integrated in

processes that are, first and foremost, about knowledge sharing and learning

together.


The above principles can also be used as baseline criteria for evaluating

knowledge management and sharing initiatives using electronic communication

and information-sharing tools in support of their process.

Nadejda Loumbeva
nloumbeva@iomba.ch

December 2008


Principles For Managing Of Knowledge Using ICTs

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