Implementing a Knowledge Exchange Program

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Strategy  

Organizations are becoming more geographically dispersed and diverse in nature. As this occurs, the ability to share and transfer knowledge between business units and peer groups becomes increasingly difficult. Developing internal best practices requires more than just exchanging emails and memos and creating policies. It requires a program that brings people together in order to share viewpoints, experiences and ideas in a collaborative setting. It also requires a way to capture knowledge in a codified form so it can be made available to the organization. Sharing and integrating knowledge is essential if an organization is to maintain a culture of continuous learning, improvement and innovation. In addition a properly deployed knowledge exchange program (KEP) contributes to the creation of consistent processes and policies across business units making it easier for staff to be exchanged with minimal training.

More often than not KEPs are organized around the organizational structure. For example a company with five subsidiaries might create a KEP group made up of representatives from each company’s HR department or accounting department, etc. While this approach can yield value, it tends to dissolve into chat sessions with no definitive output or goal. A better approach is to bring together employees and strategic partners …

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