Eliminating Knowledge Silos
Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.
I guess that this topic isn’t really unique to the world of project management, but I want to put a project management “spin” on it here. As a consultant, I go into a lot of organizations and have to get up to speed on how those organizations operate as quickly as possible. More often than not, that involves working closely with someone (or a small group) as they try to familiarize me with what’s happening and how they need me to assist. One of the things that frequently strikes me is how little of this vital information is documented anywhere. If the person who is “showing me the ropes” were to leave, then the organization would struggle to capture that information and it would likely be lost.
I’m not talking about the basic organizational process stuff that is documented in manuals and policy documents, and I’m also not referring to the opinions and interpretations that come with any individual’s consideration of their circumstances. Instead, I’m talking about those best practices, workarounds and shortcuts that are vital to being effective.
In any organization, there are several vital “single points of expertise” who have all of this knowledge and without whom the organization couldn’t operate as effectively. Many of those individuals tend to be involved in project execution simply …
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"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." - Mark Twain |
