The Cultural Shift Needed To Gain Full Advantage Of The Knowledge Store

The success of the Knowledge Store is dependent upon the continued usage of the system by the initial user base, together with a critical mass forming through the addition of more and more users, together with material that users want to use. Gaining this critical mass requires individuals within the scientific community being self-motivating and self-regulating.

Usage of the Knowledge Store is entirely voluntary; there are no separate rewards or sanctions to encourage scientists to use it. The organisation works on the assumption that peer recognition is a key reward factor in itself, therefore opportunities to become known as an expert, and to form new networks, is seen as being a key motivator.

Because usage of the Knowledge Store is entirely voluntary, the Knowledge Store project development team wanted to ensure that the system was particularly user friendly, thus making it easy for users to locate the right people, as well as making it easy for scientists to publish their ‘know how’. This was an important lesson learnt by those leading the organisation’s knowledge management programme in the early stage (i.e. prior to the organisation being formed out of DERA). One of the tactics employed in the early stage of the organisation’s knowledge management journey was ‘leaving users hungry for more’ by tempting them with a taster of what is possible and then working with them to shape systems in a way which more closely matches their needs. This was the approach adopted when developing the software to support virtual team working.

One of the other design features to encourage scientists to use the Knowledge Store was to ensure that it is user-friendly. Scientists have a free-hand here, but are encouraged to use the system as a vehicle for self-promotion, and as a vehicle for letting their colleagues know about their interests and activities outside of work too, thus adding to a wider sense of community.

The Knowledge Management and Technology Intelligence Information Services team are now working on collecting and disseminating usability stories, as a way of encouraging other scientists to start to propagate the system. The Technical Managers forum will also be used as a forum to promote and encourage usage of the Knowledge Store.

One of the expected pay-backs for those who regularly contribute to the Knowledge Store, either by ensuring that their CV details are kept up-to-date, or through publishing papers that are accessible to the wider community, is that they will enhance their knowledge reputation, track-record and deployment (i.e. an individual’s in-demand factor on projects). In an environment where individuals are expected to manage their own career, and have to meet utilisation targets, then clearly there are direct benefits of contributing to the Knowledge Store and indeed other knowledge management initiatives and forums.

From a broader business perspective, however, QinetiQ wants to see their investment in the Knowledge Store bringing commercial benefits. With the nature of the business changing, the company wants to be able to draw on the different scientific and technological disciplines to generate new commercial services. One of the current challenges for the Knowledge Management and Technology Intelligence Information Services team is to demonstrate how the business benefits are being realised.