Developing Organisational Knowledge Management

Developing an Organisational KM Strategy Keith De La Rue AcKnowledge Consulting Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Overview
Developing a knowledge sharing toolkit
Keeping content up to date
Dealing with knowledge hoarding
Using multiple media
Applying Social Media principles

Developing a toolkit A knowledge sharing approach

The environment Business Sales Force Business Customers Product & Marketing Teams Hundreds of Products Hundreds – On the road and desk-based Thousands Specialist Sales KM Team

The KM approach
Product, service and solution “know-how”
Build a standard toolkit and activity program
Different media to suit different audience needs
Content , communications and training in one
The iStore
On-line document library
Sales KnowHow Bulletin
Weekly web-based newsletter
Knowledge Bites
Web and audio conference briefing

The iStore
Everything sales staff need to know – in one place
Documents for internal & external use
Multimedia content
Standard document templates
Provide sales information in predictable format
Also stored on iStore
Lotus Notes/Domino database
Web browser access for all
Hand-held device access
Secure Admin access

iStore scope
3,300 entries
90% documents – others link or text only
270 contributors…
370 products, services & solutions
Average over 60,000 hits per month
Multiple indexes and search
Every entry accessible by any index
Anonymous reader access
Subscription for weekly updates

Keeping content up to date Accountability, behaviour and engagement

The contributors
Product Managers, Marketers, SMEs
Increasingly time-poor
The “Ivory Tower” syndrome
Knowledge “hoarding”…
Interested mostly in products and solutions
Want to provide lots of detail!
More accountable for costs than sales
Not usually hired as communicators
Focus only on own product

Contributor accountability
Self-service
Contributors load and own all content
Every entry must have one accountable owner
Manage entry status, currency and validity
Draft, Published, To be deleted
Guides and training provided
Including eLearning modules
Control hand-over as required…
Job changes
Extended leave

Regular reviews
All entries have a 90-day timer
“Entry last updated” date displayed
Auto review reminder emails to contributor
Two weeks’ notice, one week reminder
Update, republish or delete
Automatic archive at 90 days
Contributor advised
Entry visible, but attachment not accessible
Entries may be deleted if archived > 2 weeks

Extended currency management
Attachment currency critical
Separate “file last uploaded” date tracked
Attachment age checked at each review
If attached file more than six months old:
Contributor asked to confirm content review
Confirmation logged & copy sent to manager
If attached file more than twelve months old:
Monthly scorecard sent via senior management
27% reduced to 7% over 12 months

The audience
Sales staff, Sales Specialists, Technical Sales
Large customers: face-to-face, on the road
Smaller customer: by phone, desk-based
Sales specialists need more technical detail
Increasingly time-poor
Need to know how to sell solutions
Focus on customer needs
Income at risk, based on sales and revenue

Sales input and awareness
The audience as part of currency management
All entries have feedback form
Messages go to contributor
Available for archived entries
Identity automatically captured through single sign-on
All entries have “five-star” rating
Messages logged on Admin interface…

Administration
Monitor entry status on Admin interface
Provide reporting
Monitor email failures and responses
Identify and follow up staff movements
Intervene as required
Identify issues
Phone calls to recalcitrants
Provide training and help

Dealing with knowledge hoarding Tearing down the Ivory Tower

Starting out
Start with defined scope
A “Knowledge points” system
Built into KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
Rewards and Recognition program
Include branding, non-monetary rewards
Public recognition
Must reward only correct behaviour
Become part of standard business
Need to drive accountability

Extending the scope
“Middle-out” approach
Started small, but management support critical
Original culture became accepted
Even with organisational changes
Continually emphasise audience needs
Sales staff need up-to-date information
“Is that on the iStore?”
Build into standard Product Launch process

Keep it simple – and standardised
Make it as easy as possible to share knowledge
Simple web form
Contributor selects meta-data
All key meta-data mandatory
With some optional extras
Ensure clarity in classifications
Single product name, but optional additional names
Single document type, following template
Entry title automatically assembled

Building a contributor community
Need to Know – quarterly email newsletter
Brief, focus on key issues and system updates
Report “Top 10” contributors
Also update via other media
Contributor statistics access
Help, guides and training provided
Use of dedicated emailbox – “! iStore”
Risk of complacency
Phone calls, alternative approaches

Using multiple media Social Media principles

An open policy
"Knowledge can only ever be volunteered ; it cannot be conscripted "
David Snowden

Be afraid!
A completely open system
Anyone can create, update or change
Open access to all
No log-in required
But identity captured and audit trail kept
Risk of incorrect information?
Never eventuated
Trust a critical element
The heart of Web/Enterprise 2.0
Trust has been consistently honoured

Sales KnowHow Bulletin
Weekly web-based newsletter
Latest news on products and campaigns
Notice emailed to target audience
Only read items of interest
Front page has 50-word summary
Click through layers to detail
Suits time-poor audience

Knowledge Bites
Weekly audio and web conference
Two 10-minute “bites”, with Q&A
Introduced and managed by KM team
Presentations delivered by SMEs
Slide pack loaded to iStore
Audio edited and loaded to iStore
Enhanced subscription service
Provides ‘podcasting’
Suits time-poor audience

Other tools
iKnowItAll Quiz
Online interactive quiz
Fun learning, suits desk-based staff
Scripted audio and video (ProductStream)
Online
Suits desk-based staff
Audio CDs (iRadio)
For on-the-road staff
Replaced by Knowledge Bites audio

Choosing the media
Ignore traditional distinctions
Content , communications and training
End result is an informed audience
Build media to meet audience needs
Use available technology
Get new technology as required
Go outside the firewall if necessary!
Use “safe-fail” experiments

System review & refresh
Change determined by audience
Regular review program
Review of entire toolkit
Surveys, Focus Groups, Projects, Reviews
Qualitative and quantitative measures
Team strategy workshops
Feed back results
Communicate changes

Summary
Build a broad-based toolkit
Make it "the way we do things around here“
Know the business and meet the needs
Know your audience and contributors
And how they operate
Manage currency and accuracy
Address accountability, behaviour and engagement
Exercise trust, and make it as easy as possible
Human issues come before technology!

Thank You! [email_address] +61 418 51 7676 Blog: http://acknowledgeconsulting.com/

Developing Organisational Knowledge Management

by Keith De La Rue on Mar 05, 2009

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