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“Knowledge Management ; the password for Positive Change"
Published: Aug 11th, 2020 07:54 pmINTRODUCTION
Knowledge - is a much sought after word in today’s world, rather
it has always been. For centuries, the philosophers, the scientists, the
psychologists, the academicians have all been searching the real meaning of
knowledge. We would say, their quest was for a path.. a road map that would
lead the awareness, the intellect, the information , the facts into a complete re-acquiring
and re-discovering of what is known, which would not just be beneficial to
self, but to the entire community. Knowledge was not to be left bounded into
books and in great minds. It was… it is for everyone to understand and reuse it
to the best of his intellect. Knowledge as defined by dictionaries is a fact or
state of knowing with the perception of fact or truth having clear and certain
mental apprehension. It is awareness of fact and circumstances.
Management – a process of dealing with or controlling things is
management. It is a process of reaching organizational goals by working with
and through people and other organizational resources with the best of the
abilities. Some people have even have defined management as a trickery, a
deceit to achieve the goals and objectives determined by an organization.
Hence,
now if we have to club these two words together and give it a fair definition,
it would turn up as fresh new practice with lots of historical data for
reference.
Knowledge x Management = Knowledge
Management
Knowledge Management can be defined as “A
road map, awareness, a researching technique with facts and detailed analysis
of situation utilizing the resources available to the optimal for achieving the
organizational goals and objectives”
Knowledge
management is a practice which is happening in many organizations. Some think
it as a major contributor in the achievements and there are many for whom this
practice is more of an expenditure, perhaps still a taboo. Knowledge Management
(KM), is not expenditure rather if utilized properly and in the right manner
this process, this practice can curtail many unnecessary expenditure of an
organization thereby giving it a process which is completely loss proof.
A
noteworthy KM works with the systematic synergy of Tacit knowledge ( people are not often aware of the knowledge
they possess or how it can be valuable to others) and Explicit Knowledge (documented, read and acquired knowledge).
Effective transfer of tacit knowledge
generally requires extensive personal contact, regular interaction and
trust. This kind of knowledge can only be revealed through practice in a
particular context and when this knowledge works in a synchronized synergy with
the explicit knowledge it becomes more productive.
KM
is a new developing business model and like any other business model it needs
to be
strategized
and implemented. It is an interdisciplinary model which deals with every level
of the organization.
KM
is the process of capturing and utilizing an organization’s collective
expertise anywhere in the business- on
paper, documents or in people’s heads. Its about doing right things and not
doing the things right.
THE
BACKGROUND
We were working in a remote location in Uttar Pradesh which in itself is a tough market
for knowledge dissemination. The people here are more into power sharing,
political show offs. It is not just difficult, but a herculean task to impart
the RIGHT knowledge. We have a training firm which is into training of people
in three major verticals Institutions, Corporate and Spiritual. When we began
our operations in Jhansi, a major educational hub of the region of Bundelkhand,
with a full fledged university, and numerous institutions, we had ( atleast in
our heads we thought) the best market for growing a new business. Keeping
Micheal Porter’s 5 forces model in mind, we knew that we have no competition at
all in the region with our kind of training methodology.
Oops!!
We were not just shocked but startled with the kind of mental blocks that we
faced. But this is not what we are sharing here. The trouble was internal. We
wanted to hire trainers from the region for various training programs and we
were successful in building up a team of trainers. At the initial stages, well,
all was well, the trainers were all motivated and the productivity of the
organization was growing. But this did not last for long and we could soon feel
and see lots of politicking, low levels of performance and slowly the
productivity was on a declined mode.
This
was an alarm. If we soon did not think of a model, the organization would face
serious consequences.
What
we did?
Training
is a business which is dependent on knowledge sharing. The more you gain
knowledge the more you can share. It’s a two way process of gaining and sharing
knowledge. A trainer becomes stale when this process of gaining and sharing
stops. We had to come up with a solution of this problem where the trainers of
the organization were slowly getting stale, thereby, getting de motivated.
We
resorted to Knowledge Management. Developing a methodology for the trainers
that would not just help them rejuvenate but would also widen their horizon and
eventually help the organization in gaining more business.
Our
Strategy
One
thing for which we were sure was the implementation of KM in the organization
will bring about CHANGE.
Yes,
Change, besides knowledge, the other word that we all hear the most is CHANGE.
Change, not a very welcoming word yet it is mandatory, compulsory and
inevitable. We strive hard not to break our comfort zones and push the incoming
change a little more further. We push, it moves and this happens for umpteen
times. And this, eventually results in our failures, personally or
professionally. It is true that change under right knowledge will bring more
synergy, more impact in the working of an organization. The right knowledge
(tacit or explicit) has to be managed immaculately.
We
were seeking a desperate change in the attitude of our people and the KM
strategy that we were implementing would make this possible.
We
were sure that by implementing a good knowledge process model we shall be able
to overcome this issue.
We
can divide KM for any organization into 7 layers
Layer
1: Training & Developing – Building Skill Base
Layer
2: Information Sharing – Knowing Best Practices
Layer
3: Using Information – Extracting Contextual Knowledge
Layer
4: Leveraging sources of competence – Ease of access, visibility and dialogue
Layer
5: Mobilizing Action Teams – creating new initiatives
Layer
6: Facilitating Discovery – Incorporating diverse insights
Layer
7: Co-Creating value – Creating next practices.
These
7 layers give a direction for moving with the KM approach.
Strategy
Implementation : Password Phase 1
As
the very first phase of our strategy we wanted our people to accept our methods
and new implementations. It’s a tendency, it is very obvious that people are
not very positive with the idea of Change. The fear of breaking of comfort zone
is too much for them to deal. We focused on this. Removing the barriers to KM
implementation was our very first move.
Coaching
and counseling were the two steps that we followed. It was a complete marketing
plan for KM that we developed, inculcated a need for change in the employees.
The Barriers were removed slowly. Our ideas started to make way into their
psyche, making them believe that this strategy is for their own good. Our first
password phase to change in the organization
Strategy
Implementation: Password Phase 2
For
developing the KM Man in every trainer we began by giving them 10 Commandments
to follow, which were:
a.
Willingness to take risk
b.
Decisiveness in the midst of turmoil
c.
Not many friends in Business, there is a thin line between colleagues and
friends.
d.
Speak Less
e.
Keep your promises, the big ones and the little ones
f.
Every Transaction has a life of its own
g.
Commit yourself to quality
h.
Be nice to people
i.
Do not be afraid to say “ I don’t know”
j.
Do not hog the credit, Share credit with colleagues
These
commandments were to be followed by every trainer at every level. A booklet for
self marking and self monitoring were provided for them to keep a track of
their own mistakes in following the commandments. These commandments were like
a feedback that they were giving to themselves. With every feedback we could
feel the change coming in. This was the second level of password for positive
change.
Strategy
Implementation: Password Phase 3
Now
was the time to move on to teams and groups rather than focusing on individual
self. As our level three of the strategy implementation we developed “ Knowledge Worker Career Ambitious Personal
Effectiveness Forum”. The main aim behind the creation of this forum was to
get everyone involved in our KM Implementation strategy. This forum was working
on a 8 point agenda:
1.
After Action Reviews (AAR): To capture lessons learnt during and after an
activity or project
3.
Knowledge Audit: A systematic process for identifying the need of resources,
flows and how can a better KM be used
4.
Identifying and Sharing Best Practices: Learning from various organizations,
practices that helped.
5.
Knowledge Centers: Developing small kiosks like digital libraries, books etc
for the people to take in and use the resources
6.
Knowledge Harvesting: Talks, discussions with experts, documenting it and using
it.
7.
Story Telling: Using the ancient art of storytelling to share knowledge in a
more meaningful way
8.
White Pages: This is like a staff directory which is an online/offline resource
allowing people to find colleagues with specific knowledge and expertise.
Strategy
Implementation: Final Password Phase.
Conclusion
Our
strategy was simple and it was a four phase process. This is an ongoing process
and it is indeed giving positive results in terms of more motivated, more
impact, more trained and more knowledgeable workforce.
The
password for change is simple:
WE
ENABLE, ENHANCE and EMPOWER. ( a motto on which Illuminated Ideas work)
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