Knowledge Management 101
Patti Anklam
February 2016
Based on a workshop
given to a client in
August, 2015.
Examples are from
user interviews and
surveys.
This workshop
concluded with a
tutorial on Value
Network Analysis.
Those slides are
included as well.

Topics
• My role – KM Assessment
• How to Think about Knowledge Management
– Definition
– Review of the Key Concepts that have characterized KM as a discipline
– Practices, methods, and tools
• Implementing Knowledge Management
– Standard models
– Your context
• Work out next steps
– KM committee/working group/champions
– Work with IT group to integrate KM into their plans
2

What We Do in a KM Assessment
• Understand the current state – where you are today
– Knowledge sharing habits & needs
– Tools in use
– Processes and practices
• Possibilities for the future
– Generate ideas while in conversation
– Be specific about next steps – recommendations
3

KM – A Definition
Knowledge management is a collection of approaches, methods,
work practices, and tools that enable an organization to identify
and leverage critical knowledge.
4
Knowledge management is adaptive – the more you learn and apply knowledge
management techniques, the more you see how they work together.
You don’t have to bite it off all at once. Understand the principles, the range of
work practices and tool and get started with the ones that will make the biggest
difference NOW.

Why KM May Be Important
Problem Impact
Help when it’s needed
Being able to locate critical expertise at the
moment it is needed
Not being responsive to community or funder
needs
Inability to act on innovation
Time to Find
Amount of time it takes to locate a document,
person when needed
Staff productivity
Quality of reporting to funders
Delay in providing services
On-boarding
Being able to bring new hires or partners up to
speed quickly
Productivity of new employee
Less demand on existing employees
Knowledge hoarding
Maintaining control of information so as to
enhance personal status
Needless rework
Reduced response times to community and
funders
Staff productivity & moral
Lost knowledge
Knowledge leaves the workplace when staff go
to new jobs or retire
Inability to staff key projects
When to share/how to share
Staff not knowing what might be valuable to
others and providing it in a way that others can
find it
Staff “reinventing the wheel”
People don’t know who can provide needed
expertise
5

Three “Eras” of KM
6
1st Generation 2st Generation 3rd Generation
Explicit Tacit Emergent
Content Collaboration Connection
Artifacts Individuals The Network
1995 2015

Explicit/Tacit Distinction
7
Explicit
• Identified, codified
• Reusable
Tacit
• In people’s experience
• Embedded in practices

Knowledge Transfer – SECI Model
8
• Face to face
• Storytelling
•Communities
•Mentoring
• OTJ Training
• Recipes
• Reports
• Post mortem
• Video
• Database
• Report
• Portal• Reading
• Practicing
• Searching
• Revision
•Blogging

Data  Wisdom
9
https://www.climate-eval.org/blog/answer-42-data-information-and-knowledge

22 February 2016
St-Onge, Armstrong, Petrash & Edvinsson
Customer
Structural
Human Capital -the capabilities
of the individuals
Structural capital - capabilities
of the organization (processes,
tools)
Customer capital - the value of
an organization's relationships
Social capital – the stock of
relationships, context, trust,
and norms that enable
knowledge-sharing behavior
Human
Social
Intellectual Capital

Practices, Methods, Tools
File sharing
Content management; databases
Intranet/extranet portals
Information architecture/Taxonomies
Enterprise discovery and search
[…]
Face-to-face, people practices
Videoconferencing/Web meetings
Communities of Practice
Discussion boards/collaboration tools/instant messaging
Lessons learned/peer assists
[…]
Microblogging (Tweeting)
Wikis
Blogging
Working out loud
Personal knowledge management
[…]
1
2
3
[Adapted from Nancy Dixon: http://www.slideshare.net/SIKM/km-3-eras-nancy-dixon-slides

The Challenge
12
Knowledge management is not a “one
size fits all” anything. Every organization
is unique; the specific approaches,
methods, and work practices that drive
one organization’s success may not be
useful in a different organization.

Your Environment
Where are you in
each of the three
“layers”?
13

Domains of Knowledge
• From improving individuals’
capabilities for knowledge sharing
and collaboration
• To working as a networked set of
interdependent units
• To becoming a learning
organization that creates and
shares intellectual property with
sponsors and partners and provides
thought leadership
Organizational Learning
& Thought Leadership
Team Collaboration and
Learning
Personal Productivity
As the organization matures, the focus shifts from the
individual to the organization

A Little Card Game
• Pick a card from the pile
• Read the description
• In groups of 3, discuss your
card:
– Something new to you?
– Something you already do?
– Something that you might
benefit from?
15
KM Method Cards are available from Straits
Knowledge
(http://www.straitsknowledge.com/store_new/km_method_cards/)

Elements for Implementing KM
16

Aligning Knowledge & Mission
17
Strategic KM Tactical KM Operational KM
View
A company is part of a
larger ecosystem;
knowledge that supports
mission, vision, position
& uniqueness
Configuration of people,
functions, roles & relationships;
knowledge that supports
corporate organization &
objectives
Activities, processes &
systems that keep an
enterprise healthy;
knowledge that supports
functional flow and
structural maintenance;
Individual productivity
Frame Why How What
Purpose
Connect knowledge to
the business model
Connect people to knowledge
and each other
Connect knowledge
activities to results
Key Questions
What is our purpose?
How does knowledge
create business value?
How can we better create, use &
apply our knowledge?
How can we codify and
share knowledge of
routine tasks, etc.
Supporting
Tools &
Methods
(Examples)
Strategy mapping
Competency modeling
CRM systems
Collaboration
Expertise location
After action reviews
Group processes
Meeting management
Job aids (“How Do I”)
Intranet/search tools
Verna Allee, The Future of Knowledge

What Knowledge Do You Need?
18

Public
Community
Partners
Social Collaboration
(Ask & answer, search & discover, real-time)
Structured Collaboration
(Creative, coordinated, goal-oriented)
Managed
(Authoritative,
stable,
controlled)
Mobile Dimension Based on Jane McConnell’s Digital Workplace, NetStrategyJMC
Technology: The Digital Workplace
Your Stuff

Boundaries in the Digital Workplace
• Defined constituencies:
– Internal
– Community
– Partners
– Public
• Each have potential needs in any of the spaces. Questions to
ponder:
– Should there be an interactive space on the web site?
– What guidelines need to be in place (messaging, standards) for
interaction in each space?
– How are the spaces managed and constituencies invited in?

Digital Workplace – Spaces
Space What Do We Mean By
This?
Your Current State
Example/[Opportunity]
Managed (external) “Official” data, some of
which is proprietary
Web site
Facebook
Twitter
Managed (internal) All documents and
mission-critical
information systems
Z:, R:, drives etc
Structured
collaboration
Project/task management
Shared documents (co-
editing, co-authoring)
[OneDrive]
[WIKI]
Social collaboration
(external)
Blogging
Microblogging
Facebook
Social collaboration
(internal)
Bulletin boards, blogging,
activity streaming
[Yammer]
[WOL]

What your staff say…
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
I can easily find the
information I need to do my
job.
I am comfortable using the
computer system and tools
that we have for capturing
and storing information.
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Staff Feedback
…we had a tool that
connected all-staff in a
"real time" manner - other
than email
…we had a streamlined
system of sharing that
everyone understands
and uses consistently.
… we limited our tools and
were disciplined in their
use.
… we had a better and
easy way of organizing
and categorizing our
information; we had a
process/practice of not
only sharing our info but
also storage on our
network for files that could
be more readily shared
and found.
… I have a clear
understanding when/which
tools should be used in
any given situation
"I could do a lot better at sharing what I am learning if..."

People
• Where knowledge really lives
• But:
– How do we know who knows what?
– How do we know who needs to know what?
• How do we overcome the barriers of people sharing what they
know?
• How do we ensure that people are trained and equipped to use
the tools and methods that matter?

Dave Snowden’s Principles
• Knowledge can only be volunteered, it cannot be conscripted.
• We only know what we know when we need to know it.
• The way we know things is not the way we report we know
things.
• We always know more than we can
say, and we always say more
than we can write down.
25

People & Culture
• They don’t know why they should do it
• They don’t how to do it
• They don’t know what they are supposed to do
• They think the recommended way will not work
• They think their way is better
• They think something else is more important
• There is no positive consequence to them for doing it
• They think they are doing it
• They are punished for doing it
• They anticipate a negative consequence for doing it
• There is no negative consequence for them not doing it
• There are obstacles beyond their control
Reasons Why People Don’t Share Their Knowledge
Ferdinand Fournies (via Stan Garfield)

Survey Feedback
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
I am encouraged to share
my knowledge and insights
with others on staff here at
Incourage.
I routinely share
information, ideas, and
insights with others outside
my own group or team.
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Interview Feedback
28
Making it a practice; [we
need] to get into the
muscle-memory of it.
Sometimes I think we are
moving too fast and there
isn’t time to share, not
that people don’t want to.
Culture trumps everything. – Tom Davenport on KM, 1994
: "I could do a lot better at sharing what I am learning if..."
…I had clarity of who
needs what information
and to what end
…we had more
opportunities to connect
together as a staff and
share knowledge
…want to know the org
structure and how I fit in.

People and Culture: The Shift
• From “I know” to “We know”
• From “Knowledge is mine” to “Knowledge is ours”
• From “Knowledge is owned” to “Knowledge is shared”
• From “Knowledge is personal property” to “Knowledge is collective/community
property”
• From “Knowledge is personal advantage” to “Knowledge is company advantage”
• From “Knowledge is personal” to “Knowledge is inter-personal”
• From “I defend what I know” to “I am open to better knowledge”
• From “not invented here (i.e. by me)” to “invented in my community”
• From “New knowledge competes with my personal knowledge” to “new knowledge
improves my personal knowledge”
• From "other people's knowledge is a threat to me" to "our shared knowledge helps
me"
• From “Admitting I don’t know is weakness” to “Admitting I don’t know is the first
step to learning”
29
http://www.nickmilton.com/2010/12/top-7-reasons-why-
km-implementations.html#ixzz3iZ09jYxD

Processes: Two Perspectives
• Embed knowledge capture into existing processes:
– One of the top reasons that knowledge management programs fail is that
organizations do not embed knowledge capture and learning into their
everyday processes.
– If one part of the organization is doing well at capturing knowledge, make
sure they share how they do it with others
– Add “Plus-deltas” at the end of every meeting
• Institutionalize “standalone” knowledge capture processes:
– Lunch & Learns
– Monthly focused sessions to improve knowledge sharing and capture
practices
30
Knowledge lives in three places in organizations – in its artifacts,
in its people, and in its processes. – Larry Prusak on KM c. 1994

Survey Feedback
31
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
I know how to capture and share
information from external sources
(e.g. from residents) that is
important to our work.
We naturally capture insights and
learnings as part of our operational
processes.
When I have an idea or insight, I
know how to share it and whom I
should share it with.
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Survey Feedback
32
0 5 10 15 20
When I have an idea or
insight, I know how to share it
and whom I should share it…
We naturally capture insights
and learnings as part of our
operational processes.
I know how to capture and
share information from
external sources (e.g. from…
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree

Survey Feedback
33
[debriefings] the
organization is getting
very comfortable with
went well/didn’t go well/do
next time
[We need to be] realistic
about the time it takes to
capture information. If it
takes twice as long as it
should, how can we support
each other?
We attend others’
debriefings but need to
strengthen how we
capture and share these.
Staff meetings have fixed
agendas but no informal
sharing at meetings.

Organization: Two Perspectives
• Defined job positions, roles and responsibilities
– Knowledge management strategy & leadership
– Knowledge stewardship: help capturing and re-using
– Training and communication & user support
• It’s everyone’s job!
– But are they measured on how well they do?
– Do they know what they are supposed to do?
– Have they had adequate training?
– Do they have time to do what they know they should be doing?
34

Interview Feedback
35
Biggest barrier is the
question of autonomy and
knowing what our roles
are so we can share
appropriately.
….there was a change in
[presidency] of a nonprofit
and it wasn’t changed [in
our database]. Need to
ask whose responsibility it
is that it be changed.

Implementation Choices
BIG KM
• Strategic, mission-oriented initiatives
• Top-down, organization-wide
Little KM
• Focused introduced of KM methods and tools
• Bottom up improvements using existing infrastructure
• Things that just make sense for groups
PKM
• Personal productivity
• Self-service information management
• Personal network management

Big KM Elements
• Information architecture
– Digital Workplace
– Taxonomy
– Templates and forms
– Vocabulary
• Mindset
– Drive KM practices into work processes
– Provide ample opportunity for staff to learn new tools and exercise new
skills
37

• What are the space and what tools
are used for each?
• How does each space use the
defined taxonomy?
• Who has responsibility for the tools?
– What does responsibility mean?
• Who are the users of the tools?
– Do staff have the training needed to use them effectively and
consistently?
– How do the community and partners participate?
• How does information move from private to public?
– What processes? Who owns the processes?
Information Architecture
38

Your Options
• Incremental deployment of Office 365’s features/options
– SharePoint – Intranet
– OneNote – Personal notes plus shareability
– OneDrive for Business – shared files and co-editing options
– Yammer
• Rollout individual/group productivity tools
– Good Meeting
• Pilot systemic KM for one project
– Collaborative Intranet
– Working out loud
– Ecosystem mapping
39

Collaborative Intranet Elements
• Home Page
– Daily blog(s)
– Newsletter
– Staff listing – links to personal pages and profiles
– Search button for shared documents, Z drives, media
• Calendar
• Personal pages and profiles
– About me
– My documents (my work in progress)
– Blogs
40

Working Out Loud
• What it is:
– Using private (to organization) activity
streams to narrate, ask, share, think out loud
– Sharing project information with joint
responsibility for managing it
– Peripheral vision – on what’s going on inside
the company – that alerts you to something
you might need to know
– Searchable archive of who has been doing
what
– Maintaining your personal online profile so
that others can find our expertise
41
Working Out Loud = Observable Work + Narrating Your Work

How WOL is used
• Observable and discoverable work:
– Get an answer to a question
– Answering a question directed to you
– Answering a question not directed to you
– Collecting input before starting a work task
– Sharing who you are planning a meeting with
• Narrating work:
– Taking meeting notes and sharing them live
– Capturing brainstormed ideas
– Capturing snippets of “good practices” or good ideas and collecting them
• Purposeful network building
– Developing relationships
– Fostering collaborations
42

What this looks like
43
You don’t have to know who might be interested or needs
to know. But someone who is interested will see it or be
able to find it.

WOL vs Email
44
http://ipadcto.com/2011/02/28/email-is-where-knowledge-goes-to-die/
“Email is where knowledge goes to die.”
-- Bill French

Working Out Loud
45

Mapping the Ecosystem
• How does the work actually get
done?
• What do we exchange with
others?
• In which transactions is valuable
knowledge being created?
• Are we capturing the knowledge
that is created? Where and for
whom?
• Where are opportunities for
improving value and efficiency?
46

Exchanges Occur Among Roles
• A role is not necessarily the
same as a group, company, or
function
– One person or group might play 2-
3 key roles
– Roles are different from job
descriptions or job titles
• If people are not clear about
their roles, they can miss
value-creating opportunities
and are vulnerable to
competition

Getting Started Options
• Pick a Pilot
– Existing or new project
– Team members commit to working in a new way
– Map the ecosystem
– Try a few new tools
• Start a KM team
– Work with IT in reviewing, testing, selecting tools
– Develop schedule for roll out
– Champions in their own groups to mentor, coach others
– Reflect and learn on a continual basis
48

Critical Success Factors
• Leadership commitment
• Embedding KM in the work processes – not something extra
• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Aligning KM initiatives with the mission
49

VNA DETAIL
5

Basic elements for mapping value

Value Network Modeling
© 1997-2011 Value Networks, LLC All rights
Roles
Intangible
(Informal)
Interactions
Tangible
(Formal)
Deliverables

Tangible Deliverables
Goods, services, revenue (traditional value chain) –
all contractual or mandated activities that directly
generate or deal with revenue or funding.
Value Exchanges
© 1997-2011 Value Networks, LLC All rights reserved.
Knowledge and support offerings – strategic information,
collaborative design, plans, processes, policy
development, etc.
Benefits that go beyond actual service such as
exchanging business contacts, image enhancement,
recognition, co-branding opportunities, etc.
Intangible Deliverables

ValueNet Works™ Methodology
• Purpose
• Boundaries
• Determine the level of detail
Scope
• Ecosystem players
• Stakeholders
Roles and
participants
• Tangibles
• Intangibles
• Sequence
Transactions
and deliverables
• Participants and roles
• Exchange analysis
Analysis

(1) Scope and Boundaries
• Purpose
– What does a successful outcome look like?
– What is the scope?
– Current state and/or desired future state?
• Business drivers
• Current situation
• Environment
55

(2) Understand the roles
• A role is not necessarily the
same as a group, company, or
function
– One person or group might play 2-
3 key roles
– Roles are different from job
descriptions or job titles
• If people are not clear about
their roles, they can miss
value-creating opportunities
and are vulnerable to
competition

(3) Identify value exchanges and interactions
• What are the deliverables?
• How does the deliverable move through the network?
• What are the intangible exchanges that flow through the
network?
http://www.valuenetworksandcollaboration.com/mapping/tangiblesandintangibles.html

(4) Analysis
• Insight level
– “Aha’s” that occur through the mapping process
• Exchange analysis
– Looking at the structure of the network
– Redundant and overlooked activities
• Impact analysis/process improvements
58

A Big “Aha”
A senior VP in the professional services arm of a large telecommunications equipment provider said
that it was “scary” that the customer feedback from the delivery of services went only to the
operational arm of the company and not the organization charged to innovate in service
development.

Unnecessary transactions
60

Detailed Analysis
61