Current Style: Standard
Knowledge Management: ten quick wins
Compiled by: Jane Grogan; Revised by Peter Underwood, December 2011
There are many different definitions of Knowledge Management, but essentially it involves managing and sharing our information and knowledge effectively, to ensure we always have the right information, in the right place, at the right time. The knowledge can be explicit (written down or recorded) or tacit (the know-how, contacts and job experiences that people hold in their heads). Many organisations have systems for recording explicit information (filing systems, data storage centres, etc.) but forget the tacit information that is often vital to the smooth operation of the business. Knowledge Management highlights the importance of having systems to organise both types of knowledge.
Some Knowledge Management activities involve major IT projects or organisational change, however, there are a number of simple and practical "quick wins" that anyone can undertake and which can make a positive contribution to our working lives.
1. Hold regular reviews when you’re undertaking a project or task, particularly when you’re working with other people. Reviews should be held at key stages during the lifecycle of the task and should consider what you intended to achieve, what was achieved, what may have altered priorities or prevented completion and what changes you need to make to the planning of the next stage of the work, as a result. It’s important to be aware of both the positive and negative lessons that have been identified and to share these with colleagues in different teams, departments or organisations who may be doing similar work. Once a project (or a long task) is over, set aside some time to discuss its conduct: be clear about what worked and what did not but avoid turning the review into a “blaming” session.
2. Share electronic calendars with colleagues – this has several benefits including being able to assess from their appointments the most appropriate time to plan a meeting or drop in for a chat, thus ensuring their full attention. It also means that you can have an agreement with colleagues that when anyone is away at short notice someone will check their calendar and attend, rearrange or cancel any meetings.
3. Arrange deputies if you’re organising an event; this will ensure that if the original speaker has to drop out at short notice, or just doesn’t turn up on the day, you won’t be left with a gap in the programme. Alternatively, plan a back-up activity such as a group discussion and feedback session relevant to the subject matter of the event.
4. Make use of shared storage if you are in an organisation where you have an IT network, rather than keeping all of your working documents on your home drive. An alternative is to use a document sharing site, such as Dropbox, where files can be seen only by those with whom you invite to share. The benefit of using a sharing facility is that if you want someone to look at a document and comment on it, you can send them a link to the document rather than sending out lots of attached copies. The drawback with using e-mail attachments is that they waste storage space and may also get amended and saved in different places, making it hard to work out which is the definitive version. To avoid this, adopt a standard naming convention that identifies a draft number and the date of its completion – for example, “Draft 1.2 25 February 2011”.
5. When someone leaves your organisation or moves to a different part of the business, it’s important to capture some of their knowledge and experience before they move on. This involves getting them to update all relevant working aids, but also looking for ways to capture their tacit knowledge, including knowledge (that they may not be willing to commit to paper) about dealing with their customers and things that they have learnt over the years that help them to do their job more effectively, but might not get written into a working aid. The knowledge capture can be done using an informal interview involving the person leaving and people who have an interest in that particular role or, if time and resources are scarce, by an exit questionnaire. Extend this idea by encouraging colleagues to tell their “company stories” about incidents in the life of the organisation. Much of this information will be tacit knowledge and reflective of what has worked and what hasn’t in the recent years of the organisation. You will need to allow adequate time for this - don't leave it until the person's last day!
6. If you can’t meet face-to-face, find out what other tools are available to enable you to collaborate effectively with colleagues. E-mail, blogs, wikis, bulletin boards and social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are some of the tools that may be available for you to discuss and share ideas, knowledge and problems in virtual space. If you don’t have access to these at work and you want to share information that isn’t sensitive you can make use of software on the Internet to set up your own blog or wiki.
7. Talk to people with relevant knowledge or expertise whenever you start an unfamiliar piece of work. These can be people in your organisation, people you know through a professional body or contacts made though other means. Don’t be afraid to admit to lack of knowledge on a particular topic and to learn from others, as this will save you time and effort in the long run. Return the courtesy by sharing your experience with them after you have completed the work.
8. Manage your stored documents by scheduling regular slots to review what you have stored, to move documents that should be stored elsewhere and to delete items that are no longer needed (e.g. removing draft copies when a final version is produced). Regular reviews will mean your storage will remain manageable and people will be able to find the information they need. For shared storage areas assign folder owners who have the responsibility of reviewing contents on a regular basis and don’t forget to include e-mail folders when undertaking reviews of your own storage. Even for a small organisation, it is important to develop an archiving and retention policy that clearly distinguishes between material that still has value to the organisation and that which can be discarded.
9. Arrange regular Knowledge Sharing meetings with colleagues and other contacts. Try to introduce variety into your events to encourage people to attend and to feel relaxed enough to make a contribution. Some of the different methods include circuit training where you split attendees into groups and move them around to different presentations every 20-30 minutes, meetings away from the usual work environment and “brown-bag” lunches, where everyone brings a packed lunch and is encouraged to move around the room, rather than sitting in small groups, discussing an agreed topic.
10. Give your electronic files and folders relevant and consistent names to ensure that you can find them again and your colleagues can find them if they’re in shared storage. Avoid using jargon or acronyms that may not be understood by everyone and may become obsolete in a short period. Use dates or versions within the filename to ensure that you know which is the most up-to-date version and use a consistent date format e.g. yyyymmdd.
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