Knowledge Management Principles for Project Managers

Knowledge Management Principles
for Project Managers
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Intelligence, Integrity and Innovation

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Global IIL Companies
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IIL Canada

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IIL France

IIL Spain



2

Overview
The purpose of this webinar is to:
Look at knowledge management through the lens of project
management from a practical perspective
Review how knowledge management practices are changing
and factors that influence knowledge transfer
Discuss screens, obstacles and barriers to knowledge transfer
Outline the roles and responsibilities of project manager as it
relates to knowledge management



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Topic

Knowledge Management
from a Practical Perspective



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Lens of Project Management - Bifocals
Project Management sees initiatives as being:
Temporary
Focus 1

Unique

For a specific purpose

It looks to produce a:
Product
Service
Result

Focus 2
Near Term
Tactical Project Planning


Long Term
Strategic Project Planning

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What is Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management (KM):
Is the over-arching umbrella that comprises the strategies and
practices an organization uses to discover, create, capture,
document, categorize, classify, protect, secure, file, obsolete
destroy and renew knowledge.
Includes external processes to identify, reference, adopt, share,
archive and maintain knowledge assets.
Focuses on transferring know-how that involves retrieving,
exchanging, accessing, and disseminating understanding



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Knowledge Management Illustrated
Reference

Capture
Create
Discover

Document

Categorize

Exchange
Retrieve
Knowledge Transfer
Disseminate

Classify
Protect

Access
Secure

Renew
Destroy

Obsolete

File

Archive


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Knowledge Management Illustrated (cont.)
Inner Sphere:
Discover: identify, observe, or find

Create: conceptualize, make or invent
Capture: gather, collect or get
Document: Disseminate, review, interpret,
Categorize: compartmentalize, segment or organize
Classify: prioritize, sequence or order

Protect: copyright, patent or reserve rights
Secure: password protect, limit access to, encrypt
File: save, store or record
Obsolete: discontinue, version control, outdate
Destroy: delete, throw away, regard as no longer useable
Renew: recycle, update or improve


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Outer Sphere:
Identify: view, upload or download
Reference: obtain through purchase
or agreement

Adopt: accept as if it were your own
Share: give to under terms of provision or freely
Archive: compress, put away and discontinue active use
Maintain: allow to remain active or viewable



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Core:
Retrieve: get, obtain or acquire
Exchange: share, give or make available
Access: open, view or read
Distribute: send out, enable permissions or decrypt



10

Topic

Changing and Evolving
Knowledge Management Practices



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What is Changing in the World of KM?
Knowledge management has evolved from limited:
Written and verbal forms of communication:
Person-to-person
Person to group
Group-to-group

To widespread:
Electronic means of communication
Transcending different languages



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Since the mid-1990’s, the world of KM has continued to
improve in its ability to leverage the Internet to enable:
Information websites, which are designed to be providers of
information, i.e., Dictionary.com

Communities of information where knowledge users upload
information, i.e., Wikipedia
Communities of practice, which target discussion groups to
specific job functions, i.e., professional associations

Specialized gateways that support advanced
functionality, such as real-time business intelligence
to support just-in-time decision making


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Knowledge management as a process depends heavily upon:
Methods of communication – written and spoken, ensuring
barriers are eliminated internally and/or externally
Approaches to managing knowledge through documentation –
electronic and hard copy
Types of systems – organize and control information through
stand alone, premise-based and cloud-based solutions
Kinds of repositories – enable access and archiving of data and
information



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Knowledge management:
More knowledge is being shared than every before
Much of knowledge that was previously paid for is now freely
available as a result of the Internet
The speed at which knowledge can be exchanged is faster than
ever before
The demands for even faster transfer of knowledge is increasing



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Knowledge management is becoming re-defined:
Traditional views of knowledge management is that it serves
purposes for
Succession Planning
Strategic Planning
Change Management



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Knowledge management is becoming re-defined:
Emerging views of knowledge management is that it serves
purposes for
Business intelligence
Decision support



17

Knowledge management is becoming a cross-functional
activity:
People throughout the organization are expected to participate
in knowledge management related activities

Sharing lessons learned
Discussing best practices
Conducting benchmarking activities



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Knowledge management is having an increased focus on
knowledge Transfer:
Knowledge is viewed as dynamic and changing
Just-in-time access and retrieval of information is critical
Servicing the point of need or location is essential
Providing only what is required, when it is needed



19

Topic

Screens, Obstacles and Barriers
to Knowledge Transfer



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What Factors affect Knowledge Transfer?
Knowledge transfer can be affected by:
Screens: things can filter the amount of knowledge that gets
through
Obstacles: issues or concerns that must be overcome to transfer
knowledge
Barriers: significant challenges that create a reluctance to
transfer knowledge



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About Screens
Screens: things that filter the amount of knowledge that gets
through
There are different ways to categorize screens.
Are conceptually protective devices or shields that are designed
to inhibit, slow down or reduce the amount or degree of
something getting through
Allow things to get through to a partial or full degree depending
upon the circumstances

Can be positive (beneficial) or negative (damaging) because it
can limit (prevent) things from entering


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About Screens – Case In Point
Screens:
A particular culture that is located in Asia is hard to
communicate with initially for a person in the US.
The individuals in Asia prefer to communicate in writing (not
verbally) with those who speak English in the US.
After months of sending emailing, trust begins and
communications change from emails to speaking on the phone.
A face to face meeting is set up, and it is customary to exchange
gifts upon the first meeting, which goes smoothly.
The knowledge transfer process now begins.


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Ex. Screens that Filter Knowledge Transfer
Relevance
Screen

Comprehension
Screen

Personality
Screen

Relationship
Screen

Values /
Beliefs
Screen

Culture
Screen

Language
Screen

Transparency
Screen


Geographic
Location
Screen


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Ex. Screens that Filter Knowledge
Transparency: Comfort with being open, honest and direct
Relevance: Application to the person or their job
Comprehension: Ability to understand it

Personality: Behavior, style or attitude’s can impact on someone else’s ability to
understand or transfer knowledge
Relationship: The level of acceptance and how they get along can impact their
ability to transfer knowledge
Values/Beliefs: What one believes is in line with their values and beliefs can
impact their willingness to transfer knowledge
Culture: Ways of living may handle knowledge differently
Language: The ability to use familiar terms affects knowledge transfer
Geographic Location: Where someone lives, i.e., country and region may impact
how they perceive knowledge


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Dealing with Screens from a PM Perspective
The Project Manager’s Role when dealing with screens:
Embrace the fact that you must be a communications expert
Acknowledge that screens to exist and develop a plan of action
for dealing with different types of screens

Demonstrate competencies when managing and leading teams
across cross cultural boundaries
Support virtual teaming by getting personnel to work together
collaboratively across time zones
Break through differences in personality styles, time zones and
languages by helping each individual to be remain actively
engaged in knowledge management related initiatives


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About Obstacles
Obstacles: issues or concerns that must be overcome to
transfer knowledge
Is their a perception that transferring knowledge has a real value
to the organization or recipient

Are people recognized or rewarded for transferring knowledge,
or do they believe they will not receive anything for investing
time in transferring what they know
Is the process formal where people are required to get together
as specific times to transfer knowledge



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About Obstacles – Case In Point
Obstacles:
An organization headquartered in the UK has been collecting
vast amounts of information on customer databases
The information technology department has significant data
processing capabilities and are able to extract information upon
demand
The sales department would like to launch a new product, but
does not know where to begin from a strategy perspective



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Ex. Obstacles in the way of Knowledge Transfer
Unwillingness to
Share What a
Person Knows

Regular Meetings are
not Scheduled for
Knowledge Sharing


The Organization
does not know how
to value Knowledge
Assets


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Ex. Obstacles that Filter Knowledge
Unwillingness to Share What a Person Knows:
This may occur do to an absence of rewards and recognition for
sharing know-how

Regular Meetings are not Scheduled for Knowledge Sharing:
Town hall meetings, regular team meetings, team building
sessions

The Organization does not know how to value Knowledge
Assets
What represents knowledge and what it is worth is not known


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Dealing with Obstacles from a PM
Perspective
The Project Manager’s Role when dealing with obstacles:
Take on the role of a change agent
Help people see that organizational hurdles require agility
Let groups know that dealing with obstacles is a normal growth
process that requires commitment



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About Barriers
Barriers: significant challenges that create a reluctance to
transfer knowledge
Groups feel threatened that sharing information will result in a
loss of competitive advantage.

This is common within the same company that some people
feel that power is knowledge
Teams are concerned that information should remain within a
certain group and only shared under certain circumstances even
though there is no rationale or justification for doing so
Information becomes obsolete or is lost because it is not
common knowledge within the organization


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About Barriers – Case In Point
Barriers:
A company located in Chicago, IL in the US has determined that
the knowledge management system that they have invested
$200,000 is totally ineffective.

Information is stored in the knowledge base, but it is essentially
useless
They have contacted project management for help to determine
next steps to get people to use the knowledge management
system



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Ex. Barriers that Prevent Knowledge Transfer
No Policies or
Procedures in Place to
Formalize Knowledge
Transfer Practices

No Endorsement from
Top Management to
Require Knowledge
Sharing


Environment is not
conducive to enable
people to effectively
communicate


34

Ex. Barriers that Prevent Knowledge
Transfer
No Policies or Procedures in Place to Formalize Knowledge
Transfer Practices
No Endorsement from Top Management to Require Knowledge
Sharing
Environment is not conducive to enable people to effectively
communicate



35

Dealing with Barriers from a PM
Perspective
The Project Manager’s Role when dealing with barriers:
Barriers must be broken down

Paint a positive picture that dodging what appears to be moving
objects is a normal part of increasing organizational capacity
Get departments talking to each other to develop solutions.
Look at these initiatives as projects and put plans together to
come up with good alternatives for key stakeholders.



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Topic

The Role of the Project Manager in
Knowledge Management



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The Role of the Project Manager
With regards to KM, the role of the PM is to:
Work closely with functional managers on initiatives that are
knowledge management related and perform a needs
assessment and preliminary project plan to help determine
feasibility of implementing a proposed solution
Cost Justification
‒ Return on Investment
‒ Return on Quality



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Work side-by-side with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to
formalize the project plan for knowledge management practices
Cost
Time
Scope
Resources
Quality
Risk



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Work side-by-side with key stakeholders to:
Educate them on the benefits of KM
Teach them how to effectively transfer knowledge
Reinforce positive behaviors that support overall knowledge
management initiatives



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Work in conjunction with external resources to:
Coordinate vendors and help them understand the
importance of how knowledge is managed and transferred
so that they can participate as business partners where
appropriate
Engage with consultants to incorporate good ideas in
support of continuously improving the organization’s
knowledge management practices
Manage other third parties service level agreements to
ensure optimal performance of software and systems


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Take Away – Responsibilities of the PM for
KM
1.

Lead communications regarding a common language for PM and KM

2.

Identify KM best practices for your industry

3.

Serve as a change agent concerning PM and KM initiatives

4.

Seek sponsorship from top management for KM

5.

Keep up-to-date with technologies that support KM

6.

Facilitate KM discussions on a regular basis

7.

Conduct analyses to show the value of KM

8.

Educate key stakeholders on how to transfer knowledge

9.

Recognize positive outcomes of KM through publicity

10. Transition KM related projects to ongoing operations


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