The document discusses knowledge management (KM) workshops conducted by WELL with three organizations - SEUF, AMREF, and IWSD. It summarizes the key outcomes of the workshops: 1) SEUF developed two KM plans around information sharing through their website and improved project documentation. 2) AMREF staff from headquarters also joined the workshop and it was found that a KM initiative was already underway at HQ. 3) IWSD workshop attendees developed four KM plans around strategic issues like research, information and marketing, technical training, and administration and finance.

1. Sector learning & KM The WELL KM experiences November 2008, Pels, IRC

2. DfID <– WELL <– Partners <–> IRC / WEDC / LS Outputs + Capacity development Participatory needs assessment Writing skills ‘ Know your client’ (proposal writing) … Knowledge management Big steps 1

3. Round of introduction; plenary (ice breaker) Fears and expectations; plenary (links to ‘Are expectations met’ just before closure) Introduction of concepts Information Management Knowledge Management KM, a play on words What is knowledge? Why knowledge cannot be managed directly KM perspectives; three levels: Personal Organisational Community / network (of practice) KM landscape: KM applications: from stock to flow transactional, analytical, asset management, process, developmental and innovation and creation Enabling technology (same scale as applications) Weggeman framework Operational processes (KVC versus ODV matrix) Big steps 2

4. KM ‘instruments’: access, create, share and evaluate Activity: personal information behaviour / personal KM; buzz groups and plenary Activity: organisational profile; individual, buzz groups and plenary Introduction to KM scan, relation with Weggeman model Activity: perform KM scan Introduction of concepts: How to become a Resource Centre Activity: where do we stand?; buzz groups and plenary Activity: how to network outside the organisation?; buzz groups and plenary Recap knowledge value chain / examples Activity: based on vision and mission discuss goals; buzz groups Activity; make KM plan(s); group work Activity; presentation KM plans; plenary; feed back by management Are expectations met; plenary round based on list; take homes Feed back on workshop; questionnaire Closure Big steps 3

5. Introducing KM as a concept and its underlying principles; (initiating) Providing assistance in developing KM plans; (advisory) Sharing lessons learned from WEDC’s and IRC’s own experiences in this area; (advisory) Facilitating local workshops hosted by the partners; (instigating) Providing guidance on appropriate literature (instigating) Big steps 4

6. KM scan Knowledge needed Knowledge available Develop / acquire knowledge Share knowledge Apply knowledge Evaluate knowledge Average 66 Maximum 71 72 70 71 70 62 Minimum 66 66 64 65 65 57 Strategy 66 66 64 65 65 57 Culture 68 69 67 68 67 60 Management style 70 70 68 70 69 61 Personnel 71 72 70 71 70 62 Structure 66 67 65 66 65 58 Systems 66 67 65 66 65 58

7. The Socio-Economic Unit Foundation India has a Coordinating Office, four regional offices, one technical supporting wing and seven project offices. It has the ambition to become a leading resource centre in the region. They identified a lack of information sharing in SEUF as a major drawback in achieving their ambition and have developed two plans to address this. KM Plan 1: Information sharing though SEUF website use skills gained through the Learn@WELL writing skills module to provide quality material for the website; repackage existing outputs to serve different online target groups; develop an inventory of staff skills, attitudes and experiences and use to allocate responsibilities for website management and to inform organisational HR needs. KM Plan - SEUF

8. KM Plan 2: Internal information sharing through improved project documentation make results and experiences from projects more explicit, thereby creating leverage for information sharing; document proposal development; create central project overview (track record); document project activities and outcomes. These two plans were developed during a workshop attended by staff from two SEUF regional offices. A section of the workshop attendees in turn facilitated second workshops with colleagues in the four remaining regional offices to introduce them to KM concepts and acquaint them with the KM plans developed. The implementation of these plans will cut across all six regional office. Meanwhile, SEUF has plans to change its web architecture as well as developing an Intranet under an RCD (IRC Resource centre development) initiative. These two initiatives dovetail well with the KM plans developed and when implemented, will be a major step towards SEUF becoming a resource centre. New additional KM plans were drawn up in the second workshop to complement the two shown above. KM Plan - SEUF

9. AMREF is a large organisation The module was used at the AMREF Kenya country office in the water and health department. From the AMREF headquarters, also based in Nairobi Kenya, some staff joint the workshop and we found that in HQ a KM initiative was running for a while. KM plan AMREF

10. IWSD (Institute of Water and Sanitation Development The aim of holding this KM workshop at IWSD was to provide an understanding of how KM can be used to leverage corporate knowledge to meet IWSD’s vision, mission, and goals. A major exercise in the workshop was the development of KM plans. Fortunately, the high attendance by IWSD staff at the workshop has meant that it has been possible to develop four KM plans. The topics of each plan are detailed in the box below. Thematic Groups - Strategic Issues / KM plan Research - Resource generation /Acquisition Info. and Marketing - Positioning / branding IWSD, Profile raising, Web-presence Technical & Training - Product development, New work Admin & Finance - Resource allocation /Transparency /Compliance Our interpretation of these topics reveals a common thread in the four proposed KM plans; and this is that they all address key strategic issues for the organisation. Our interpretation of these issues is detailed in the second column of the box above under the heading ‘Strategic Issues’ KM plan IWSD

11. KM as has been stated, involves organisational change. It is well known that organisational change often meets with resistance. Fortunately, this has not been the case with the organisations we have worked with. This is attributable to the fact that the idea for the KM module came from the partners themselves. They also took responsibility for organising the workshop and creating its terms of reference. Consequently, even though it was not fully understood exactly what it would entail, the commitment to see the module through (organizing a workshop, go through the exercises mentioned above, draw up KM plans, take ownership and implement them) has been present. In this regard, the incentive to adopt the KM approach was pre-established and therefore required not to put in place an incentive structure. Further, we have articulated in the workshops, some of the benefits that would accrue from implementing a KM plan, together with commitment from management, have served as additional incentives. Incentives for adopting KM

12. Below, we assessed the situation in the three organisations based on the five lessons from pioneers as mentioned by Sveiby. KM Lessons Lesson SEUF AMREF IWSD Enthusiastic champions Yes Yes Yes Build on existing core competence Yes No / HQ yes Yes Address an urgent strategic imperative Yes No Yes Firm commitment from the top Yes Yes / HQ ? Yes Early quick wins neutralise the nay-Sayers. N.A. No N.A.

13. Within organization / group KM work Ultimate WWHWW and SMART On personal level Education / training / HRD / PCS On sector level KS RC as entrepreneurial centre Initiator Recap

14. Enable sharing Key is Manage -> Define -> Deliver -> Enable World cafe People's network versus KM generation

15. Complexity The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world, Kurtz / Snowden 2003 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin) Probe Sense Respond Act Analyze Categorize

16. KM work IRC IRC Mission / Vision: ‘ use of I & K’ => flow Network secretariat => association (Success) ‏ Streams of Knowledge GWA World bank: Intranet water-staff (no credits) ‏ UN / WSSCC: KM dialogue (stopped) ‏ WIS 6 KM workshop (2003) ‏ KM workshops Well WEDC conference 2005 KM titles / 40 years Lib services & News + Pubs KM job for RNE's / DgIS? Key is KM

17. So... How big is your sector? Individuals: teaching; PCS => champions In organizations => KM make organizations knowledge friendly (financial sustainable first) ‏ In sector => KS RC or secretariat Thought leaders Information (library / flyer / news (paper) / workshops ) ‏ Organize players / certify / influence policy Co-others? Civil society? The sector is complex so... Key is SCALE

18. WELL KM lessons Supporting learning processes of various organizations KM workshops all staff! Hands-on create KM plan according to a model by Weggeman; presentation at WEDC conference KM lessons from the pioneers (Sveiby 2001) Enthusiastic champions Build on existing core competence Address an urgent strategic imperative Firm commitment from the top Early quick wins neutralize the nay-Sayers. Key is KM

19. Sector learning Deconstructing Sector: What? Learning: What ... learning? ... knowledge is needed for ... information ... ... attitude ... ... institutional framework ... ... reputation ... ... quality control assurance ... ... acquisition ... ... competences ... Key is focus

20. Network is .. Key is ? When How Why Who What Time / project bound Life cycle theme Life cycle problem Life cycle topic Timeless Lifetime Do it Review topic Action research Innovation Scale up Share knowledge Feel good Back-up Purpose project Advocacy on / advance Topic Engage al stakeholders Learning on topic Nurture relations Functional relation Like minded Colleagues (Across Sectors) ‏ Prof. interest Peers Friends & family Project team Thematic group LA / Network SECTOR Community of practice Social network GLOBAL

21. WASH dvlpmnt chain Within the WASH development sector the chain of institutions between the MDG's and the grass root level is often depicted as left. Information has to flow top-down and bottom-up (and mid-around probably). MDG-monitoring means information flowing upwards, for example by a JMP ( http://www.wssinfo.org/en/welcome.html ). MDG's as formulated in global arenas ( http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals ) have to be translated and communicated to be understood on other levels. It is no secret (and no wonder) that people at the grass roots do not know what MDGs are. (See a 2008 IRC report by Maurice Verhaegh on WASH knowledge & information management in Uganda). Knowledge is not tangible and does not 'flow' but is locally re-created in learning processes by the people populating the various levels. Rural / Community / Grass root level The world community / Humanity MDG’s UN / Bi- and multi laterals Continent wide donors: EU and NEPAD World fora / Water-weeks Regional bodies / Basin organisation (Sub) National level County / Province / (Mega) City level Urban / Small town level Key is learning

22. IRC BP 2006-2011 Grass root MDG’s Key is learning

23. Information flow Up and down! Big audiences Make explicit Choose target group arena carrier Rural / Community / Grass root level The world community / Humanity MDG’s UN / Bi- and multi laterals Continent wide donors: EU and NEPAD World fora / Water-weeks Regional bodies / Basin organisation (Sub) National level County / Province / (Mega) City level Urban / Small town level Key is flow

24. Information flow Means: Newsletter / thought piece Digital repository (IRCDOC, InterWATER etc) ‏ Tangibles (Flyers up to books) ‏ Go to big venues Issues: Al information goes digital Internet is the communication backbone Language / Access / Web 2.0 Key is flow

25. Knowledge sharing Up and down! Human scale Learning alliances Action research Rural / Community / Grass root level The world community / Humanity MDG’s UN / Bi- and multi laterals Continent wide donors: EU and NEPAD World fora / Water-weeks Regional bodies / Basin organisation (Sub) National level County / Province / (Mega) City level Urban / Small town level Key is Face to Face

26. Knowledge sharing Methods: Venue / Seminar / World fora Community of Practice / Practitioners Learning alliance / Thematic group Brown bag lunches / TFW Issues: Fatigue / Fad / Far away Flobbidigroestiow Key is Face to Face

27. Communication Audience Access Language Relevance Power F2F: CoP, LA, TG etc Keys!

28. Themes Information flow Knowledge sharing Up and down Advocacy Thematic group Rural / Community / Grass root level The world community / Humanity MDG’s UN / Bi- and multi laterals Continent wide donors: EU and NEPAD World fora / Water-weeks Regional bodies / Basin organisation (Sub) National level County / Province / (Mega) City level Urban / Small town level Key is Innovation

29. Regions Information flow Knowledge sharing In and out Regional platform Coordination Rural / Community / Grass root level The world community / Humanity MDG’s UN / Bi- and multi laterals Continent wide donors: EU and NEPAD World fora / Water-weeks Regional bodies / Basin organisation (Sub) National level County / Province / (Mega) City level Urban / Small town level Key is Learning & Sharing

30. Themes / Regions Motifs Innovate Scale up Matrix Information flow Knowledge sharing Learning Key is Impact

31. Today How did you support these organizations? How did they try to develop a learning process in-house and in the sector in their country, what this has led to etc. KM plan / closure at WEDC conference Anything related to the broader topic of sector learning? Key is KM

32. Operators / Engineers / Managers Information specialists / Sector professionals / Decision makers Activities / Frameworks / Discipline What … learned?

33. Nonaka