Knowledge Management Bob Marshall, MD MPH MISM - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Knowledge Management

Bob Marshall, MD MPH MISM

DoD Clinical Informatics FellowshipSlide2

Objectives

Definitions of Knowledge Management (KM)

Why KM is important and some basic rules

What knowledge to leverage

Tools to use

Critical success and failure factors

Creating and implementing a successful KM program

When experts leave

Avoiding knowledge hoardingSlide3

Definition

Strategies and processes designed to identify, capture, structure, value, leverage, and share an organization's intellectual assets to enhance its performance and competitiveness.

B

ased

on two critical activities:

(

1) capture and documentation of individual explicit and tacit knowledge, and

(

2)

dissemination of that knowledge within

the organizationSlide4

Another Definition

Knowledge Management is the

explicit

and

systematic

management of

vital knowledge

- and its associated

processes

of creation, organization, diffusion,

use and

exploitation - in pursuit of business

objectives

Identifies critical aspects of a successful KM program:

Explicit

- Surfacing assumptions; codifying that which is known

Systematic

- Leaving things to serendipity will not achieve the benefits

Vital

Knowledge

- You need to focus; you don't have unlimited resources

Processes

- Knowledge management is a set of activities with its own tools and techniquesSlide5

Why KM is Important

Facilitates

decision-making capabilities,

While information

overload or needing knowledge

from people

in other parts of the company for

decision making can

handicap managers,

P

utting

in

place knowledge

management systems can

facilitate better

, more informed decisions

Builds learning

organizations by making

learning routine

, and,

After

A

ction Reviews, learning

from

experience, builds knowledge

that can then be used to

streamline operations

and improve processes

Stimulates

cultural change

and innovation

Actively managing organizational knowledge

can also

stimulate cultural change and innovation

by encouraging

the free flow of ideasSlide6

Some Essentials (Basic Rules)

It is important to note that knowledge encompasses both

tacit knowledge

(in people's heads) and explicit knowledge (codified

and expressed

as information in databases, documents etc.).

A good knowledge program

will address the processes of

knowledge development

and transfer for both these basic

forms

Many

programs

start by focusing on the thrust of better sharing of

existing

knowledge e.g

. sharing

best practices.

However

,

research

indicates that it is the second thrust - the

creation and

conversion

of new knowledge through the processes of innovation that gives the best

long term pay-offSlide7

What Knowledge to Leverage

Customer Knowledge

- the most vital knowledge in most organizations

Knowledge

in Processes

- applying the best know-how while performing core tasks

Knowledge

in Products (and Services)

- smarter solutions, customized to users' needs

Knowledge

in People

- nurturing and harnessing brainpower, your most precious asset

Organizational

Memory

- drawing on lessons from the past or elsewhere in the organization

Knowledge

in Relationships

- deep personal knowledge that underpins

successful collaboration

Knowledge

Assets

- measuring and managing your intellectual

capitalSlide8

KM Practices: 3 Large Categories

Creating and Discovering

Environmental

Scanning; Knowledge Elicitation; Business Simulation; Content Analysis; Creativity Techniques; Data Mining; Text

Mining

Sharing and Learning

Communities of

Practice; Learning Networks; Sharing

Best

Practice; After

Action

Reviews; Structured Dialogue; Share Fairs; Cross

Functional

Teams; Decision

Diaries

Organizing and Managing

Knowledge

Centers; Expertise Profiling; Knowledge Mapping; Information Audits/Inventory; IRM

(Information Resources Management

); Measuring

Intellectual CapitalSlide9

Tools and Techniques

Lots of tools in varying categories:

Infrastructure:

groupware

, intranets, document management, KM suites

Thinking

:

concept mapping, creativity tools

Gathering

, discovering:

search engines, alerting, push, data mining, intelligent agents

Organizing

, storing

:

data

warehousing, OLAP, metadata, XML

Knowledge

worker support:

case based reasoning, decision support, workflow,

community support

, simulation

Application

specific:

CRM, expertise profiling, competitive intelligenceSlide10

Critical Success Factors

Knowledge Leadership

- a compelling vision actively promoted by senior management

Clear

Business Benefits

- tracking success and developing new measures

Systematic

Processes

- including knowledge mapping and IRM (Information

Resources Management

)

Knowledge

Sharing Culture

- teams that work across boundaries

Continuous

Learning

- though pilots and learning networks

Effective

information and communications infrastructure

- groupware and

other collaborative

technologies, such as an intranetSlide11

KM Failure Factors

Organized

into two broad categories: causal and

resultant

:

Causal

factors

refer to

the broad

organizational

and managerial issues that are required to implement KM

successfully

Resultant factors on the other hand deal with specific problems and can be regarded more like

the symptoms

rather than the diseaseSlide12

Causal Failure Factors

Lack

of performance indicators and measurable benefits

Inadequate

management support

Improper

planning, design, coordination, and evaluation

Inadequate

skill of knowledge managers and workers

Problems

with

organizational

culture

Improper organizational

structureSlide13

Resultant Failure Factors

Lack

of widespread contribution

Lack

of relevance, quality, and usability

Overemphasis

on formal learning,

systematization,

and determinant needs

Improper

implementation of technology

Improper

budgeting and excessive costs

Lack

of responsibility and ownership

Loss

of knowledge from staff defection and retirementSlide14

Creating a Successful KM Program

The best tool is only that; a tool that enables end users to locate and share knowledge.

Without

continuous knowledge management efforts, the content housed within the perfect knowledge management tool will not remain valuable

Anticipate this and follow best practices that will ensure that the amazing knowledge sharing technology continues to wow your customers for a long time to come

To manage it properly, the most successful companies form a Knowledge Management Operations team with the mission to deliver the right knowledge to the customer at the right time throughout the customer lifecycle Slide15

Creating a Successful KM Program

KM Operations needs skills in user experience design, process and workflow design, data analytics and reporting, communication, marketing, and search engine optimization

Dotted-line

arrangements

are created to

allow internal resources with specialized skills to be shared and allocated to

KM Operations

during peak times of need

Knowledge Management Steering

Committee: should

be comprised of 7-10 stakeholders to serve as representatives of their respective lines of

business:

Provide critical input when strategic decisions are needed,

Communicate

KM messages throughout their organizations, and

Identify

opportunities for better knowledge managementSlide16

Keep Knowledge Up-To-Date

Keeping

knowledge

up-to-date and relevant requires continuous

maintenance

To

hold

customer trust, and that of team

members who use the knowledge,

must be able

to find what they need easily, share their knowledge with each other, and flag information that needs to be updated

Workflows must include user feedback channels (internal and external) that are monitored and acted upon quickly

Processes have to be as

lite as possible to minimize long term costs associated with knowledge management activitiesSlide17

Create Operational Dashboard

Knowledge management operations requires continuous monitoring of the program for impact and

operational efficiencies

Highly

visible programs are often very successful

because

they hold leaders accountable for

impact

This

level of scrutiny brings out the best performance and

elevates visibility

for those who participate in the hard work of keeping knowledge relevant and current

Metrics to monitor can include a few or many in the four major categories (as determined by KM oversight) :

Customer satisfaction

Business processes

Financial performance

Organizational healthSlide18

Steps in the KM Program Journey

Establish Executive

Sponsorship

and Budgetary Constraints

Engage Experienced Knowledge Management Experts

Establish the Scope and Identify Tactical Solutions

Prepare a Budget that Executive Sponsors Support

Design the Roadmap to Get There Slide19

Implementing a KM Program

Map your knowledge assets

Unstructured (tacit) versus structured (explicit or codified)

Undiffused versus diffused

Interpret the map

Identify new opportunities

Mapping knowledge assets and discussing their

implications often

leads directly to strategic

insights

It is helpful

to systematically explore what would

happen if

knowledge were moved around on the

map

or different spheres of it were combinedSlide20
Slide21

When Experts Leave

M

anagers

often don’t know what they have lost until after the expert leaves — and

by then

, it may

be

difficult to

recover

Critical losses

in four areas in particular: relationships, reputation, re-work and regeneration

.

M

ost

expensive knowledge to

lose:

regeneration

,

the capability

to bring out the next new product

Price

tag associated with such

losses: estimated

to be

up to 20 times the more

visible, tangible costs of recruitment and

training

Can never

extract and transfer all the deep smarts that an expert

has accumulated

, but it’s important to identify what needs to be captured before it

walks out

the

door

In-depth

succession

planning &

knowledge-sharing

programs (even just questioning

the experts before they leave the

organization)

are imperative steps

to ensure an organization’s

deep smarts stay within the walls of

the organizationSlide22

Preventing Experts from Hoarding Knowledge

Lack of time or resources

can

constrain knowledge transfer.

O

ne barrier to

passing deep smarts along to the next

generation, often unaddressed,

is

expert’s

inclination to hoard knowledge.

Financial

incentives, personal ego,

and discontent

or frustration with the company are three of the top reasons

individuals choose

to keep their expertise to

themselves

But

they’re also three issues

that managers

can actually changeSlide23

Overcoming Knowledge Hoarding

Financial Incentives

Hiring back retirees to run critical operations is

shortsighted

Not

only does it cost

the Company more

financially, but it also doesn’t guarantee the successful transfer

of knowledge

Eventually

those deeply smart people will depart for good, leaving

the same

knowledge gap behind

them

Potential Solutions

Hire back retirees for the explicit purpose of mentoring and sharing knowledge with junior colleagues

Institute a formal knowledge transfer program to institutionalize knowledge sharing

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Overcoming Knowledge Hoarding

Many experts

widely

recognized

as

“go-to” person in

some capacity; their

deep smarts

strongly

linked to

identity

and

organizational standing

Don’t

wait until

someone has a monopoly

on certain kinds of

knowhow —

set systems in place to prevent it long before

an individual’s retirement date (some options):

Employees

cannot be promoted until they can

prove that

they

have mentored

a

successor

Personal

reputation

depends

not

only on

how skillfully people do their job, but how good they are at teaching others to

do it

Compensation

is based on how well

the team

is performing. That dependency breeds the necessity to help each other and

for experienced

operators to transfer their expertise to other

team members

2 of 3Slide25

T

oughest

expert to convince to share knowledge is someone

who’s dissatisfied

with the company they’re

leaving

Take notice of those who may be bearing resentment.

Individual managers

wield

an inordinate

amount of influence over whether or not experts feel their work is valued.

Acknowledging good work is the first

step

S

mall

acts such as providing frequent

positive feedback

, celebrating small wins, and removing obstacles to progress, pay huge

, immediate

dividends in productivity and

creativity

M

uch research

has shown

that people

who have

been mentored

themselves are

much more

likely to mentor others

Overcoming Knowledge Hoarding

3 of 3Slide26

Questions