Knowledge Management presented by Janet Foley Suncoast Chapter Society for Technical Communications September 7, 2006 Please send questions/suggestions to MarkLewis@HyperWriters.com

Ground Rules No phones No computers No clock-watching No bio-breaks No note-taking No talking No sneezing No burping No laughing No snoring

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

So What? Surprise! You already are a knowledge manager How do you organize your projects? Your workspace? Your garage? Your books? Your life? You bring order where there was chaos Make the leap from carbon copies to browsing the internet Your ability to understand KM Allows you to bring valued ideas to management, your peers, and your reports Broadens your career horizons Allows you to see how what you do fits into the KM process of your organization (all organizations have it)

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

Who? Everyone Yes, KM can be practiced by: An individual A work team A department A division An entire organization However, to be successful in an organization, it requires Upper management directives and support An enterprise-wide KM organization Initial and continued funding Flexibility in implementation Change Management support

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

What? Define Your Terms Knowledge Management Oxford: An organized body of information The Knowledge Continuum: Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Management Oxford: Exercising executive control or authority Creating order out of chaos

What? Knowledge Value Continuum Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Five days The business week is Monday through Friday. I have to work the entire business week. But I don’t have to work hard. No one The office was empty. It was Saturday, so no one had to work. I can work on Saturday if I want to. There is an on-off button on the machine. The machine needs to be on during work hours. The last person out the door each night must turn off the machine. I never want to be the last person out the door at night. Factual / Non- Contextual Contextual / Procedural Factual, Contextual Conclusion Interpretative /Applicative / Creative

Mission: Organization! What?: What is IT? Mission: Organization! …What does that mean?

What? So, Organize Your Closet Mission: Organization Throw out or give away (you’ll never use it again) Categorize/color code Put similar things in baskets Maintain it—put stuff away or get rid of it Result? You can find what you want when you want it, quickly You will only find things that are of value to you Things of value to you can be re-used efficiently You discover you are missing key pieces Know what do you do? You either create them, ask your friend if they have something you could use, or buy them You categorize them Put them where they belong

What? So, Organize Your Knowledge Mission: Organization Throw out or give away (you’ll never use it again) Categorize/color code Put similar things in baskets in a certain order Maintain it—put stuff away or get rid of it Result? You can find what you want when you want it, quickly You will only find things that are of value to you Things of value to you can be re-used efficiently You discover you are missing key pieces Now what do you do? You either create them, ask your friend if they have something you could use, or buy them You categorize them Put them where they belong Mission: Organization Delete/Purge/Archive Create a taxonomy and tag accordingly Post in a database with similar documents grouped Review twice a year Result? You can find what you want when you want it, quickly You will only find things that are of value to you Things of value to you can be re-used efficiently You discover you are missing key pieces Now what do you do? You either create them, ask your colleague if they have something you could use, or buy them You tag them You post them in the database

What? Informed Judgment is Essential to KM Success KM requires evaluating and anticipating a user’s knowledge needs and (Judgment) Organizing it in such a way that the user can find it intuitively (Judgment) Navigating the Gray: Continuums Usefulness (Judgment) Value (Judgment) Currency (Judgment) Authoritativeness (Judgment) Etc., etc., etc. Therefore, each document is labeled and tagged according to it’s attributes: dates, title, abstract, and various continuums (Applying your judgments to the document)

What? Defining a Knowledge Object and Content Re-usable Unique Identified by tagging Includes contextual information Knowledge objects may include one or more documents which become content when they are put somewhere where others can access them Within a given document, moving sentences and paragraphs to create the optimum message is an editorial function; the final version is considered content, or perhaps, after reasonable judgment is made as to it’s value to others, is considered a knowledge object.

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

Where? Technological Enablement Knowledge is comprised of content (knowledge objects, documents) Why does managing knowledge require titles, abstracts, dates, tags, etc.? Taxonomy drives browse Tags drive search Technology enables Knowledge Sharing: we can see in everyone else’s closets and borrow their clothes!

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

When? How do we know how often to exercise KM procedures? Depends on the KO Legal Alert Report Etc. Tag KOs for at least an annual review of all content

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

Why? Why Bother? Simplifies your search for what you want Saves you time to do what you want/need to do You know that what you find will be of value to you Saves money Feels good Knowledge Management is Fun

TOC So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent)

How? KM Succeeds When it Creates a K-Sharing Culture KM is an ever-changing, ongoing process It must be flexible to reflect the changing organization It requires dedicated change management activities It must be driven by upper management It must be continually well-funded

So What? Surprise! You already are a knowledge manager How do you organize your projects? Your workspace? Your garage? Your books? Your life? You bring order where there was chaos Make the leap from carbon copies to browsing the internet Your ability to understand KM Allows you to bring valued ideas to management, your peers, and your reports Broadens your career horizons Allows you to see how what you do fits into the KM process of your organization (all organizations have it)

Questions, Please ?????????????? ??????????????