Knowledge sharing is power Judy Payne, Henley KM Forum October 2007

© 2007 Henley KM Forum DATA Dispersed elements INFORMATION Patterned data KNOWLEDGE Validated platform for action WISDOM Implicitly knowing how to generate, access and integrate knowledge Depth of meaning Tacit Explicit (from Saint-Onge, 1996)

© 2007 Henley KM Forum What is knowledge management? Knowledge management means using the ideas and experience of employees, customers and suppliers to improve the organisation’s performance (Skapinker, 2002)

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Knowledge networks Communities Expertise directories Capture Codify Store “Explicit” Connect Communicate “Tacit” Document Management Processes and workflows (Larry Prusak, IBM) Knowledge Management Continuum

© 2007 Henley KM Forum In practice… Learning from successes and mistakes –using existing knowledge to improve today’s performance. Learning how to be more successul –creating new knowledge to improve tomorrow’s performance Improving collaboration –joining things up Having the right knowledge in the right place at the right time –to make better decisions

© 2007 Henley KM Forum But… Knowing is a human capability. Knowledge itself can’t be managed. Collaboration is a pre-requisite for knowledge creation and sharing. Collaboration is voluntary. What we can do is create the right environment and provide appropriate tools for people to collaborate and to create and share knowledge.

© 2007 Henley KM Forum What KM people talk about - environment CultureTrustLearning CollaborationStrategy Change management Performance Alliances and partnerships Knowledge flows Motivation

© 2007 Henley KM Forum What KM people talk about – tools People finders Wikis Extranets and intranets EDMS Post-project reviews After action reviews Storytelling Mentoring and apprenticeships Discussion groups Communities and networks

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Henley KM Forum Integrated KM model External relationships Individual employees Organisation Nine knowledge flows Four alignment factors that influence the effectiveness of the knowledge flows: –motivation –skills and knowledge –action required –the environment KM maturity = all nine knowledge flows working together in an integrated and appropriate way

© 2007 Henley KM Forum KM challenges in project-based organisations Projects are… Unique –“my project is different so I can’t learn from yours” Novel –“no-one will have had this problem before…” Transient –New relationships for each new project Closely controlled –No free time or space

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Types of project Type 2 Product development Type 1 Engineering Type 3 Systems development Type 4 Research and organisational change Greater chance of failure Greater chance of success Goals well defined YesNo Methods well defined No Yes (Turner and Cochrane, 1993)

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Different management approaches Milestones (components of product) Task and activity scheduling Milestones (life cycle stages) Mission definition, team building, refinement of objectives Greater chance of failure Greater chance of success Goals well defined YesNo Methods well defined No Yes (Turner and Cochrane, 1993)

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Types of KM practice Informal knowledge systems e.g. social spaces; non-billable time Human resources e.g. training and coaching in KM skills; incentives for knowledge sharing External relationships e.g. benchmarking against competitors; membership of external networks Organisational practices e.g. senior responsibility for KM; well-defined project management processes with embedded KM Project practices e.g. project checklists; shared diaries; project reviews; lessons learned sessions Information technology systems e.g. project extranets; data mining

© 2007 Henley KM Forum Different KM approaches? Greater chance of failure Greater chance of success Goals well defined YesNo Methods well defined No Yes (Turner and Cochrane, 1993)

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