Practitioner Tips

From my background research, which includes discussions with different HR, IT and IM professionals, I have identified the following practitioner tips which could be applied if the organisation is considering introducing a technological solution for managing knowledge.

Tip 1: Understand The Value Of The Information That You Have

One of the issues that many individuals complain of today is information overload. However, Shapiro and Varian (1999) suggest that this isn’t because the quantity of information has changed significantly, but that technology has made it more accessible; as a result this has affected the value that people ascribe to information. New technologies have also made it possible to manipulate information in ways that were not feasible in the past; again this has added to the value of information. However, the value that people place on information is not static. Equally, different people can ascribe a different value to the same piece of information.

Having access to information in business is one thing, but what is also important is whether or not people then act on that information (thus bringing more value). A story to illustrate this point follows:

An HR manager in a pharmaceutical company that I met while writing this book talked about how she happened to stumble across a news item about how a rival pharmaceutical company was planning to open an office about twenty miles away from her company’s offices. She immediately alerted her senior management team about this piece of information, pointing out some of the implications for the organisation.

Together the HR manager and the senior management team worked out a plan for minimising any potential fallout from this change. They looked at who their most vulnerable employees were, i.e. the ones whom they did not want to lose, but who might be attracted to the other company. A decision was taken to bring forward a salary review. They also looked at the development plans for those employees whom they wanted to retain, looking at what could be done to enhance their development opportunities. The physical work environment was reviewed too, recognising that the building that their competitors were moving into would be more modern, and hence possibly have better facilities.

Despite the initial concerns, the organisation did not lose any of the key people that they wanted to retain. The HR manager couldn’t be certain that this was entirely linked to the speed at which the management team had responded to this potential threat, but felt it must have been a contributing factor.

This story illustrates how information and knowledge are not the same thing. We can each have the same piece of information in front of us, but how we interpret, or apply that information, is different depending upon our prior experience, i.e. our preexisting knowledge.

Tip 2: Get A Better Handle On Managing Information

Making the information that people need to do their jobs more accessible is often a key goal for organisations when they start off on their KM journey.

Some of the sources of information that people need to do their jobs effectively include:

• Contact details for all employees – name, telephone, e-mail addresses

• Departmental information – What departments exist and what do they do?

• My PC is broken, who do I contact to get it fixed?

• Products and services – What do we offer now? What new products and services are in the pipeline?

• Customer information – Who are our customers? What do we know about them? Do they have any outstanding problems? What business issues are they struggling with?

• Supplier information – Who are our major suppliers? Who are the key contacts? Where are they located?

• Organisational procedures – How do I complete an expense claim form?

• Who is the expert on XYZ?

• Is there a template for writing a client a proposal?

• What customer reports have been written on XYZ?

• What are the latest Project Management guidelines?

• How do I prepare for a performance review?

However, one of the biggest challenges for organisations is ensuring ease of access to the vast range of information that people need to do their jobs effectively, as well as ensuring that this information is kept up-to-date. In the past, much of the information that people needed to do their jobs was held in procedures manuals. Often these manuals gathered dust on employees’ shelves, largely because they quickly became outofdate. However, through the use of web-based technologies many organisations have been able to find a way of centralising key information. Intranet systems are quickly becoming the central repository for organisational procedures.

But managing information is a skill in its own right. Information management professionals need to understand and effectively manage information from its conception, including its role in the organisation’s ability to meet its strategic goals. Today’s information management professionals need to demonstrate an understanding of how and why data is created, who should have access to it, how long data should be kept and hence when it is safe for it to be destroyed. They also need to be able to demonstrate an understanding of where technologies can help in managing an organisation’s information sources.

Tip 3: Keep It Simple

Work with real needs, rather than what someone/some department thinks is needed. This will require building an understanding of the issues that get in the way of people doing their jobs effectively.

Tip 4: Treat Managing Knowledge As A Task That Has A Deliverable And Therefore Requires An Allocation Of Time

Often a key reason why people do not share their knowledge is not because they don’t want to, but because they do not have the time to do so, as they are too busy doing other things, some of which may be more valuable, or perceived to be more valuable. If it is so important for people to acquire, build and share knowledge then it is important that they are allowed to plan for this in the same way as they plan their other work activities.

In Chapter 7, I described how working, learning and knowledge-building was very much integrated into the lives of independent consultants. They plan for and manage this aspect of their lives. For these individuals there is a more direct relationship between knowledge and income, i.e. if they don’t keep their knowledge up-to-day their in-demand factor goes down, which in turn can affect their income. However, in organisations this relationship is not so clear. Individuals may be set targets, but how those targets are met, or whether they actively contribute from a knowledge perspective, may not be taken into account in the reward system.

Tip 5: Provide Basic Tools And Train People In How To Use Them

In many organisations some of the basic knowledge management tools already exist, e.g. e-mail, Internet access, word processing facilities, video conferencing facilities, as well as conference call facilities. Before introducing more tools, a start point could be to look at how these facilities are currently being used. Does everyone have access to these facilities? How frequently do they use them? Are they over-utilised, or under-utilised? Do some teams/departments use these tools more frequently than others? If, so what is the outcome?

KPMG, for example, has invested significantly in the technologies needed to facilitate knowledge sharing and to encourage collaborative working among its own staff, and with clients. The corporate intranet is one of the key tools used by staff as part of their day-to-day work. As this was felt to be such an important vehicle for knowledge sharing a separate training programme was developed to help staff get the most out of the intranet as a tool for use in their day-to-day work.

As different people use technology in different ways, depending on the nature of their jobs, this needs to be taken into consideration in the training provision. Rather than go into too much depth initially, provide people with the basics to get them started, followed by opportunities to go into more depth at a later stage, as and when individuals are ready to use additional facilities. One area to consider would be to set up a network of experts who would be willing to offer one-to-one advice/coaching to others in the organisation, at the time when they need to know more.

Tip 6: Examine The Feasibility Of Adapting Existing Systems To Provide Just-In-Time Knowledge

Davenport and Glaser (2002) suggest that instead of developing separate knowledge management systems, an alternative strategy would be to build the specialist knowledge that people need to do their jobs into existing IT systems. This is an approach adopted by Partners Healthcare, a Boston-based group of hospitals. The challenge facing this particular hospital group was one of doctors finding it difficult to keep their clinical knowledge up-to-date. Something that is not untypical among highly skilled professionals, such as doctors. However, instead of developing a separate knowledge management system the organisation decided to link large amounts of constantly changing clinical information to the existing IT systems that their doctors use during their day-to-day work. The organisation started by linking critical knowledge to their order-entry system; a system that Partners’ doctors regularly use to order tests, drugs and treatments.

By linking the existing order-entry system with a clinical database (knowledge-management system) doctors are offered ‘real-time’ up-to-date information about new drugs, or whether a particular drug is compatible with those that a particular patient is already taking. Instead of having to search out critical information, as in the past, the information that they need to do their job is automatically presented to them. But what is also different about the system that Partners’ have introduced is that it still enables doctors to apply their professional judgment to the decision-making process. In other words the system was designed so that doctors are presented with suggestions, not commands. This was also a critical element in getting buy-in to invest in developing such knowledge management systems.

Tip 7: Make Sure That Any New KM Systems Addresses A Real Need

One of the traps that many organisations have fallen into is introducing a KM system because the technology is there, or because other businesses have them and therefore feel that their organisation should have one too, rather than because it addresses a real business need. It has been a case of technology in search of a business solution, as opposed to the other way round.

When introducing KM into the organisation, the KM team needs to spend time gaining an understanding of the difficulties that individuals currently experience gaining access to information, locating who is who, and also who knows what. From here a decision can then be taken as to how best to address these difficulties. Is an IT systems solution needed, or a human systems solution needed, or a combination of the two?

When Compaq were introducing a portal for its global sales force the first stage of the project involved building an in-depth understanding of how the organisation’s global sales force actually worked^[1]. Many of the sales people were home-based, therefore having access to key information from different locations was something that was a key requirement. The portal development team spent five months gaining this insight through a combination of e-mail surveys, focus group discussions and onetoone discussions with sales people. It was the one-to-one sessions with sales people that provided some of the most valuable insights for the portal development team.

Tip 8: Pilot New Systems With A Small, But Representative Group, Of Users Before Rolling Out To The Wider User Population

This was one of the key lessons learnt by QinetiQ during the early stage of its knowledge management journey (see the QinetiQ case study that follows later in this chapter). If well managed the pilot phase can be used to generate wider interest in knowledge management. As with other types of change programmes running a pilot enables users to make a mental shift and to start to see new possibilities.

Tip 9: Learn From Other People’s Mistakes

This was a strategy introduced in Chapter 6 that discussed ways of enhancing learning in the knowledge economy. Ways of gaining access to this type of information include: informal networking at conferences; organisational case studies; research reports produced by academic institutions, or specialist technology research institutions, such as Gartner, or Butler Cox, or carrying out a study tour and/or benchmarking activity.

Tip 10: Ensure That New KM Systems Interface With Existing Systems

This was one of the criteria specified by QinetiQ when selecting software to help tap into the organisation’s intellectual assets, in this way avoiding wasteful duplication of data, as well as making it easier from the user’s perspective.

The rest of this chapter discusses the different types of technologies that are available to help locate and connect people, as well as to facilitate collaborative working. This is not meant to be an in-depth discussion. The aim is to provide an overview of what technologies are available and how they are being used, so that as practitioners you will be able to engage in a dialogue with your IT colleagues.

^[1]Portal Pitfalls, Knowledge Management Magazine, October 2000. See www.destinationKM.com.