Knowledge Management (KM) Knowledge Continuity Management (KCM)

Transcription

1 Knowledge Management (KM) Knowledge Continuity Management (KCM) Dr Kimiz Dalkir School of Information Studies McGill University 25 October 2011 Presentation is subject to the Creative Commons Agreement

2 overview What do I need to know about KM? What do I need to know about KCM? What are some steps I can take tomorrow to contribute to KM and KCM in my organization?

3 KM Where do I start? Define key terms such as KM, Web for your organization Use concept analysis List some examples -Tacit & explicit knowledge Found in people & documents List some non-examples Database, website, archive How do they differ? List these attributes Content is experience-based Purpose is to learn form the past Formula to define your term Key attributes in a good definition

4 The concept digital library Examples: Exploratorium (multimedia collection for science education), Perseus (collection of classical texts on the ancient world) Non-examples: a website, webcast, database, traditional library that you have to visit in person, has physical books Key attributes (should be in a good definition): An organization that provides resources - - people A collection of digital objects - - content A technology - - container Virtual - - location-independent independent (1) an organized collection of digital information. (2) supports creation, maintenance, management, access to and preservation of digital content (3) information stored in digital format available remotely over a network

5 KCM key issues Do you know what your intellectual assets are? Organizational capital Human capital Social capital Do you know which ones are the most vulnerable? What types of knowledge transfer and retention (KT&R) strategies are best suited for each one at risk? What are the roles played by culture? Technology? HR?

6 Identifying intellectual assets Organizational capital What remains when everyone leaves typically the least at risk Human capital Leaves at the end of the day human know-how, skills, experience typically at the greatest risk Social capital Not just knowing what but knowing who relationships, reputation, connected to a community typically the hardest to identify and hardest to do a risk analysis on

7 Examples Organizational capital Human capital Social capital Culture Unique expertise Go to person Patents Highly experienced Connected outside the organization Physical inventory Know-how Know-who - chairs, tables, databases, books

8 How can knowledge be at risk? What do we mean by knowledge at risk or vulnerable knowledge? Knowledge that is not being widely shared throughout the organization best practices not known, not shared, used only locally Knowledge that is not being preserved in organizational memory lost when employees leave end up having to re-engineer engineer our own expertise

9 Which assets are the most vulnerable? We will focus on human capital (which often will also touch on social capital) There are 9 major criteria we can use to assess risk of losing human capital: 1. How specific is it to the organization? 2. How localized is it? Détenteur unique? 3. How much has it already been documented? 4. How complex is it? 5. How often does the knowledge change? 6. How hard is it to learn? 7. How hard is it to hire such people? 8. Is it possible to subcontract? 9. What are the consequences of not being able to access and apply this knowledge

10 Organizational specificity How specialized or contextual is this expertise? Can it be found throughout the industry? Specific to this company? For example legal expertise Tends to be country-specific Except: Quebec legal system differs from the rest of Canada and actually has more in common with France (Napoleonic Law)

11 Level of documentation How well documented is this expertise? Manuals, job aids, FAQs,, demos, how to guides etc. The more procedural the know-how, the easier it is to document and the more likely that it has already been documented to some extent If not documented, would it be easy to document? Can explain to someone in approx. 20 minutes over the phone? Cost/benefit of having someone write it up?

12 Complexity How complex is the expertise in question? Does it involve multiple inter-related related steps? Does it require prerequisite knowledge? Does it depend on others to complete different steps in the process? An easy to transfer type of know-how is typically something that you could teach or show someone else to do in less than 2 days

13 Useful lifespan How stable or enduring is the type of expertise? Alternatively, how dynamic or changeable is the demand for this know-how? Has it changed much in the past 5 years? Past decade? Past decades? For example: a group of Y2K specialists in a company possess expertise of a limited lifespan (or one that has an expiry date) Someone who is specialized in mediating conflicts in teams and helping them to work well together probably will have a longer useful lifespan for their know-how

14 Difficulty of learning How easy or hard is it to train someone to do these tasks? Vocational training? University level degrees? Professional development? Mentoring by peers? The easier it is to train someone up to assume these responsibilities, the less the risk

15 Difficulty of recruiting How easy or hard is it to find and hire people with this type of expertise? Graduates number per year Ability to compete for qualified recruits Ability to retain talent For example, some sectors have difficulty attracting younger workers (Gen X, Y - - millennials) ) due to their less then rich IT environment or less than evolved organizational culture

16 Uniqueness Level of diffusion or extent to which this expertise is shared within the organization How many people have the same type of expertise and can perform at the same level (e.g. mastery or very advanced skillset)? If only one, then it is unique and it is at the greatest risk If shared by other similar professionals (e.g. within a network of community of professionals), then the risk is much less

17 Ability to subcontract How easy is it to find someone or a company to subcontract some or all of these tasks? In other words, how much is this type of expertise available outside the organization? Diffused throughout an industry? Service provided by consultants? Remember: not just technical skills but soft skills, strategic expertise

18 Last but not least: Consequences What are the consequences of not doing these tasks well? Mission-critical? Life-threatening? What if they are done but not done well suboptimal performance? Impact on reputation media coverage etc.

19 Knowledge transfer and retention (KT&R) strategies How to select the best knowledge transfer and retention strategy? Question #1: How well documented is the knowledge today? Aide mémoiremoire or a how-to fact sheet Question #2: How many other people have this knowledge? How diffused is it throughout your organization? Question #3: How much time do you have to do the KT&R? 3 years phased retirement or 2 weeks notice?

20 If not documented Knowledge mapping or knowledge codification After action review or post-mortem Storytelling Group problem solving (cas( complexes) Communities of practice Social network analysis Yellow pages or expertise location system Portal or organizational memory Simulation e.g. pandemic Mentoring, peer mentoring, coaching, job shadowing

21 Post-mortem project review (PPR) First, meet with project managers to get their perspective on: What went as expected (routine)? What was unexpected? What went well? Better than expected? (innovations) What did not go as well as expected and how can we ensure we do better next time (lessons learned)? Next have a facilitated session with the project team and ask the same questions Facilitator should be neutral should ensure everyone has a voice and feels safe during discussion Document best practices (innovations) and lessons learned Diffuse (assess how generalizable and categorize)

22 If you don t t have time If you have less than 2 months: Emergency or Rescue Archaeology method is needed Map out social network and have incumbent introduce and vouch for successor in their professional networks Who do you ask for help? Who asks you for what type of help? Good solutions: Document/map key knowledge, key people that they know Label everything! Negotiate staying connected e.g. alumni network

23 If knowledge is documented If already mostly documented, focus on: Portals, Wikis, Intranet Taxonomy building to decide how best to organize know-how for easy future access, retrieval and application Document the context, when to use, when not to use Bottom-up or consensus-based knowledge taxonomy for non-official official content e.g. work in progress

24 If knowledge is fairly rare Focus on knowledge diffusion Mentoring Apprenticeship (e.g. interns) Have them develop training seminars Have them produce a knowledge dictionary Set up a community of practice around them The rarer the knowledge the more time needed Ideally years

25 In parallel Strategy for the longer term: 1.Think about roles and responsibilities Need not be dedicated KM roles More often than not need IT and HR on board, on committees 2.Think about policies and guidelines More often than not, will need to involve the Legal Department (IP, copyright) But can start with Creative Commons to facilitate knowledge sharing 3.Develop a KM/KCM strategy for five years, including a one-year road map for key priorities

26 Knowledge Management (KM) Knowledge Continuity Management (KCM) Dr Kimiz Dalkir School of Information Studies McGill University 25 October 2011 Presentation is subject to the Creative Commons Agreement

27 Creative commons agreement Also referred to as copy-left as opposed to copy-right You are free: to share to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: 1. Attribution You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse e you or your use of the work). What does "Attribute this work" mean? You can embed this as metadata, including how the creator wishes to be attributed for re-use. to Properties under the File menu. 2. Noncommercial You may not use this work for commercial purposes. 3. No Derivative Works You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.. (***or you can but only if you advise the creator***)

28 Wrap up Key takeaways from today: what can you do starting tomorrow? 1.Define what KM means to your organization 2.Develop a KCM strategy with both a short-term term action plan and a longer-term risk management plan 3.Document valuable knowledge that stems from each project, initiative or mandate - - post-portem portem project reviews (PPRs( PPRs) 4.Ensure that détenteurs uniques are connected - -in peer-to to- peer mentoring, in a social network - - to diffuse their knowledge 5.Create awareness for the need for a KM and/or KCM governance - - policies need to be in place to help promote knowledge capture, diffusion and preservation for future reuse

29 Questions? Merci! À venir : Knowledge Continuity One-Day Workshop 16 février 2012