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Knowledge Management - an enigma exposed

posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 10:52 AM

Knowledge management is a method of capturing learning within an organisation. It can have multiple aims and can look differently depending on the type and objectives of an organisation, the product/service provided, and the type of people that work there. Fundamentally though, KM is about the capture, utilisation and storing of knowledge.

Within any living organisation knowledge management is critical. It provides the means to stay productive in the current and future climates, to become more effective and efficient, and to be sustainable in the long term.

Most organisations already manage knowledge however they wouldn’t necessarily call it knowledge management; they may call it research, staff development, database management, archiving, internal communication, or case studies. Each of these can be an effective way of managing knowledge however without a strategic approach for the whole organisation what tends to happen is each of these are treated separately and the organisation ends up functioning within individual units instead of collectively.

To operate collectively you need a knowledge management strategy that is led from the top - that brings together all relevant knowledge in the organisation and builds on it as an integral part of the business. The organisation becomes a powerful and dynamic hub for achieving the most effective product or service and staff become motivated because they are an important part of it.

How? The organisation as a whole needs to commit to learning to ensure that the organisation learns and progresses in the most effective way.

A commitment to learning must then be put into practice and not set out as just the latest priority resource spend. For example a Director of ICT may implement an amazing database - it can do all sorts of whizzy things. However if that database has been introduced without ensuring that it meets the internal and external needs of all the other departments the whizzes and the bangs may never be used - I have seen an incredible number of databases that aren’t used effectively or are ineffectual because the knowledge needs of the organisation were not fully considered before it was implemented. Also if staff cannot record and use the information it holds because they haven’t been appropriately trained or it is set up without using staff language, the whizz and the bang can cause months, if not years, of anguish and frustration - let alone hours of effective time wasted.

The most important part of knowledge management is people. I am often coming across examples of information management wrongly labeled as knowledge management. The difference is the people dynamic. Info management becomes knowledge management when people are making sense of the information to do something - they are learning and utilising this learning.

To achieve this the organisation must encourage people to think and to express their thinking in an effective way. This means the environment must be conducive to the sharing of knowledge - and staff must be encouraged and given the skills and means to utilise what they have learnt.

A knowledge management strategy therefore must consider how a learning environment and a learning culture can be achieved. This will include:


• An analysis of what the organisation is aiming to achieve and where they are at now,

• An analysis of the people and their roles in the
organisation,

• The tools that will be used to maximise learning,

• The type of technology that will most effectively help
learning and the way in which that knowledge is used,

• How people, technology and learning will come together effectively,

• What areas will need to be developed/upskilled to achieve a learning culture,

• The measures that will be used to acknowledge the importance of learning and

• How staff will rewarded for this type of working.


Learning cultures and environments don’t come easily unless there is an organisational strategy committed to its existence. It can be difficult for organisations afraid of change because at its core knowledge management is about embracing change. It can be difficult for strict lead and control management as it is also about empowering staff so they can contribute and see their contribution to the organisation’s progress. And it can also be difficult for organisations that ‘do do do’ - knowledge management is about critical reflection and building on what has been learnt which means allowing the time to analyse as well as operate.

As the world changes and competition increases knowledge management becomes increasingly important. And the beauty of it is once an organisation commits to and sets up a learning culture and environment it is self sustaining - knowledge breeds knowledge and this will include how it is managed! So stop and reflect now - there’s no better time!


Well thats about it for now... I guess lastly I should say that knowledge management doesn’t have to be complicated - in fact quite the opposite is usually true - it just has to be fully embraced as a type of working.

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