3. Knowledge Management
What is it?
âș Definition of knowledge: Information plus experience*
o Information that you interpret internally based on your experiences
o Mental processes that you can share only as information
âș Knowledge cannot be shared (because it is personal) but the process of
creating, finding and codifying knowledge can be managed, as can the
process of sharing information
*Information is Data plus context. Knowledge is Information plus experience. Wisdom is Knowledge plus synthesis.
4. Knowledge Management
Knowledge and experience
âș We all see the world in different ways depending on recent and past
experience
âș What does the word âpitchâ mean to you?
âș Playing field
âș Slope
âș Sales spiel
âș To throw
âș Slope
âș If I tell you something you wonât interpret that information in exactly the
same way as I interpret it: in other words it will mean something slightly
different to you
5. Knowledge Management
Why use it?
âș To create more flexible organisations with workforces that have more
knowledge and that can react to opportunities and threats better
âș To allow more effective new product development processes, due to more
information being available
âș To enable faster production and business processes, due to better and
quicker decisions
âș To enable faster and better problem solving, underpinned by greater
knowledge
âș To build more connected organisations, as employees engage with one
another in order to share and build on information
6. Knowledge Management
When to look for knowledge
âș Project wash-up meetings
âș Collaborative projects, especially with multifunctional or international
teams
âș Task and job handovers
âș Community conversations
7. Knowledge management
What Donald Rumsfeld teaches us about knowledge
âș Known knowns: things we know we know (explicit knowledge)
o We can share these with others
âș Known unknowns: things we know we donât know
o We can learn these from others
âș Unknown unknowns: things we donât know we donât know
o These are dangerous and hard to manage
âș Unknown knowns*: things we donât know we know (tacit knowledge)
o Knowledge management can help us uncover and organise these
*DR didnât talk about these!
9. Knowledge management
Knowledge to information to knowledge
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I Internalise K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
10. Knowledge management
Activities: creating and uncovering
âș Create knowledge - through thought, innovation, work, learning and
collaboration
âș Uncover knowledge â find the things you didnât know you knew though
interrogation and analysis
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I
Internalise
K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
11. Knowledge management
Activities: organising
âș Organise knowledge â so it is easy to navigate, easy to build on, and easy to
compare
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I
Internalise
K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
12. Knowledge management
Activities: turning knowledge into information
âș Codify knowledge so it can be shared as information â through written,
spoken, and video documents
âș Discover knowledge that has already been codified â though learning,
workshops
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I
Internalise
K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
13. Knowledge management
Activities: internalising information
âș Internalise information so that you can create your own knowledge
o This wonât be the same as someone elseâs knowledge because your experiences will
be different
âș Confirm your understanding of information if you are unsure of its meaning
or validity
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I
Internalise
K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
14. Knowledge management
Activities: using knowledge
âș Before you use your knowledge you need to be sure that it is:
o Accurate
o Relevant
o Complete
o Unaffected by inaccurate or irrelevant information
Create K
Uncover K
Discover I
Share I
Internalise
K Use K
Confirm I
Organise K
16. Managing knowledge
Creating knowledge
âș New knowledge
o Innovation processes
o New experiences â role, technology, processes, teams
o Research
o âListeningâ to what is happening â feedback, analytics etc
âș Combining and improving knowledge
o Communities of practice
o Multifunctional teams
o Personal skills: inventiveness, scepticism and the ability to question
17. Managing knowledge
Extracting knowledge
âș Formal request (pull) â asking for knowledge sharing on an ad hoc basis
when required
âș Volunteered (push) â knowledge shared as a way of extending influence,
gaining allies, or doing good
âș Enhancing the amount of people who push knowledge out is an important
part of knowledge management
âș Provide an opportunity
âș Provide responsive and appreciative audience
âș Give positive feedback
âș Codify the information permanently to show it is important (and so you donât lose it)
18. Managing knowledge
Barriers to sharing
âș Knowledge is power
âș You already know that donât you?
âș What I know isnât important enough to share
âș What I know might not be true
âș I canât be bothered to tell you (because I will have to codify it)
âș I didnât know I knew that
19. Managing knowledge
Managing people
âș Enabling people to turn tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and then to
codify their knowledge as information
âș Incentivising people to share their knowledge with others
âș Giving people the opportunity to learn from others
âș Changing culture so that people feel empowered to question existing
assumptions and discover new ways of thinking
âș Providing opportunities to create new knowledge and then to codify and
share that knowledge
âș Identifying times when knowledge should be transferred e.g. leaversâ
interviews, project wash-up meetings, new employee induction sessions etc
20. Managing knowledge
Supporting through effective processes
âș Creating intranets and knowledge communities
âș Bringing together cross-functional teams to create best practice
âș Ensuring the departure of key individuals or teams, or the completion of
projects, doesnât result in the loss of knowledge to the organisation
âș Ensuring quality in the codification of relevant knowledge with adequate
documentation supported by metadata (keywords, indexes etc)
âș Allowing information to be transferred through formal and informal
learning and discovery
âș Allowing knowledge to be used by empowering individuals and teams
âș Ensuring any risks associated with new ways of working are managed
21. People, processes and technology
Knowledge management tools
âș Tools can help stimulate knowledge creation, facilitate information
discovery, and enhance knowledge use
o Groupware and intranets
o Workflow tools
o Collaboration tools
o Document and content management systems
o Search tools
o eLearning tools