I have recently been charged with the development of a knowledge management project for our company. This is a huge undertaking, and determining where to begin has got me stumped. I have been reviewing vendors, but I have a feeling that I am better suited to determine my KM needs first, then search through the vendors that match my requirements. I could use some suggestions on how to go about diving in. Your assistance and advice will be greatly appreciated! Saving Changes...
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Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Big challenge. I can offer this. There are two basic forms of knowledge related to an enterprise. The first is external knowledge about competition, industry trends, research, etc. This can be catalogued and developed over time. The second is internal knowledge. This knowledge is locked inside the heads of workers. It manifests itself in the culture and the processes that the company uses to deliver value. Both areas should be stakeholder value driven. That is to say that all knowledge that the KM deals with should be quantified in terms of how it enhances the enterprises ability to deliver value to stakeholders. For internal knowledge I suggest a series of Cross-functional facilitations that farm collective knowledge from key knowledge workers about how value is delivered in a speicic process and how that value could be enhanced. I would focus on building the KM content before selecting a repository tool. Saving Changes...
Wow. Good luck with your project. I’d recommend starting with a knowledge audit. Figure out what your organization knows vs. what you think it SHOULD know. With that information you will be in a better position to see where the organization IS and where is SHOULD be. It might make navigating through KM easier if you can identify your starting and ending points.
You might also consider drawing out knowledge maps for the org’s processes, social networks, and advice networks. Use the maps to identify bottlenecks, or better paths for flow and information.
There is a free knowedge management website at http://www.icasit.org this is looking to get more users.
We are currently engaged in a similar endeavor. The best advice I've received (from Gartner and others) is to take the time to develop and agree on an enterprise wide vision for KM. As you start to examine the vast world of knowledge management you will probably find, as we did, that it can encompass a plethora of data retention methodologies. It is important to know the full extent to which your company or enterprise will ultimately take KM, in order to make the right steps at the beginning of your project.
I don't know how timely this is, but you will also need to consider how your people will react to the implementation. I recently read an article by Bernard Horak from the Feb 2001 Topics in Health Information Management. He talks about ten human factors that need to be addressed and then gives a phased approach to implementing KM. This won't tell you what system to use, but might give some ideas about how to implement the one you do chose. Saving Changes...
