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Knowledge Management:
Quick Wins
Compiled by Jane Grogan, UKeiG Hon. Treasurer
There are many different definitions of Knowledge Management, but
essentially it involves managing and sharing our information and
knowledge effectively, to ensure we always have the right information,
in the right place, at the right time. The knowledge can be explicit
(written down or recorded) or tacit (the stuff people hold in their
heads). Some Knowledge Management activities involve major IT projects
or organisational change, however, there are a number of practical
quick wins that anyone can undertake, they are simple activities
that can make a positive contribution to our working lives.
- Hold regular reviews when you’re undertaking
a project or task, particularly when you’re working with
other people. Reviews should be held at key stages during the
lifecycle of the task and should consider what you intended to
achieve, what was achieved, what may have altered priorities or
prevented completion and what changes you need to make to the
planning of the next stage of the work as a result. It’s
important to be aware of both the positive and negative lessons
that have been identified and to share these with colleagues in
different teams, departments or organisations who may be doing
similar work.
- Share electronic calendars with colleagues
– this has several benefits including the fact that you
can assess from their appointments the most appropriate time to
plan a meeting or drop in for a chat, thus ensuring their full
attention. It also means that you can have an agreement with colleagues
that when anyone is away at short notice someone will check their
calendar and attend, rearrange or cancel any meetings.
- Arrange deputies if you’re organising
an event, this will ensure that if the original speaker has to
drop out at short notice, or just doesn’t turn up on the
day, you won’t be left with a gap in the programme. Alternatively,
plan a back-up activity that you can engage attendees in, such
as a group discussion and feedback session relevant to the subject
matter of the event.
- Make use of shared storage if you are in an
organisation where you have an IT network, rather than keeping
all of your working documents on your home drive. The benefit
of doing this is that if you want someone to look at a document
and comment on it, you can send them a link to the document rather
than sending out lots of attached copies. The drawback with attachments
is that they waste storage space and may also get amended and
saved in different places, making it hard to work out which is
the definitive version.
- When someone leaves your organisation or moves
to a different part of the business, it’s important to capture
some of their knowledge and experience before they move on. This
involves getting them to update all relevant working aids, but
also looking for ways to capture their tacit knowledge, including
knowledge about dealing with their customers (that they may not
be willing to commit to paper) and things that they have learnt
over the years that help them to do their job more effectively,
but might not get written into a working aid. The knowledge capture
can be done using an informal interview involving the person leaving
and people who have an interest in that particular role or if
time and resources are scarce by an exit questionnaire.
- If you can’t meet face-to-face, find
out what other tools are available to enable you to collaborate
effectively with colleagues. E-mail, blogs, wikis and bulletin
boards are some of the tools that may be available for you to
discuss and share ideas, knowledge and problems in virtual space.
If you don’t have access to these at work and you want to
share information that isn’t sensitive you can make use
of software on the Internet to set up your own blog or wiki. See
the UkeiG blog and wiki at: http://www.ukeig.org.uk/blog/index.html
and http://ukeig.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
- Talk to people with relevant knowledge or expertise
whenever you start an unfamiliar piece of work. These can be people
in your organisation, people you know through a professional body
or contacts made though other means. Don’t be afraid to
admit to lack of knowledge on a particular topic and to learn
from others, as this will save you time and effort in the long
run.
- Manage your stored documents by scheduling
regular slots to review what you have stored, to move documents
that should be stored elsewhere and to delete items that are no
longer needed e.g. removing draft copies when a final version
is produced. Regular reviews will mean your storage will remain
manageable and people will be able to find the information they
need. For shared storage areas assign folder owners who have the
responsibility of reviewing contents on a regular basis and don’t
forget to include e-mail folders when undertaking reviews of your
own storage.
- Arrange regular Knowledge Sharing meetings
with colleagues and other contacts. Try to introduce variety into
your events to encourage people to attend and to feel relaxed
enough to make a contribution. Some of the different methods include
circuit training where you split attendees into groups and move
them around to different presentations every 20-30 minutes, meetings
away from the usual work environment and brown bag lunches, where
everyone get a packed lunch and is encouraged to move around the
room discussing an agreed topic.
- Give your electronic files and folders relevant
and consistent names to ensure that you can find them again and
your colleagues can find them if they’re in shared storage.
Avoid using jargon or acronyms that may not be understood by everyone
and may become obsolete in a few months time. Use dates or versions
within the filename to ensure that you know which is the most
up-to-date version and use a consistent format e.g. yyyymmdd.
PDF of Knowledge Management:
Quick Wins Factsheet (30 KB) - opens in new window
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