For KM practitioners, Agile frameworks have long been important for optimizing stakeholder value and satisfaction in KM initiatives. Over 20 years ago, a group of software developers revolutionized their field by introducing the Agile Manifesto to guide their industry in adopting Agile values, frameworks, and practices. However, until now, KM practitioners have lacked a formal framework demonstrating how to apply Agility to KM. In short, it is time to codify these Agile principles in a manner suited for the KM profession. Leveraging the original Agile Manifesto for inspiration, Andrew Politi and Megan Salerno introduced “The Agile KM Manifesto” at KM World 2022. The presentation is designed to initiate a conversation amongst KM practitioners across the industry about this initial version of the Agile KM Manifesto (the 'AKM'), and solicit feedback on future iterations. Next, the presenters walked through three EK case studies demonstrating how the application of its principles could have saved significant time in those initiatives. First, we described how a global non-profit approached EK to address duplicate and outdated content, and the lack of content creation standards. Applicable AKM principle: "Content should only be available to users if it is new, essential, reliable, dynamic, and reusable. If these criteria are not met, the content must be cleaned-up or archived accordingly.”" Next was a discussion of how national nuclear research laboratory struggled to share and discover knowledge from retiring employees and compartmentalized silos. Applicable AKM principle: “Tacit knowledge and expertise should be proactively and formally captured and stored in the same manner as explicit knowledge.” Finally, the presenters described how one of the largest multinational athletic apparel companies struggled to help geographically separated teams collectively and collaboratively reuse knowledge and create content across the globe, even functionally similar focus roles. Applicable AKM principle: “All KM efforts must leverage a common language. Develop, socialize, and employ a common KM language so stakeholders don't speak past each other and can maintain consensus throughout your KM effort.” Ultimately, this presentation served to introduce The AKM to the broader community, demonstrate its value, and solicit input from across the industry.

1. Introducing
The Agile KM Manifesto
KM World 2022
November 10
https://enterprise-knowledge.com
/the-2022-agile-km-manifesto/

2. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Who Here Is Familiar With or Utilized the
AGILE MANIFESTO?

3. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Agile Manifesto
● Neither a methodology
nor a framework; it’s a
set of values & principles
● Developed by a small
group for an industry
● Developed to describe a
way of working
● Its use has evolved; the
text has remained static
Credits: AgileAlliance.org, Agilemanifesto.org

4. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Agile Manifesto
● Collaboration
● Transparency
● Sustainability
● Simplicity
● Consensus
● Feedback
● Incremental improvement
● Focusing on users
● Welcoming Change
● Inspection & Adaptation
Core Values:

5. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Speakers’ Background
Andrew Politi
Knowledge Management
Consultant
Enterprise Knowledge
Principal Consultant
Enterprise Knowledge
Megan Salerno
Agility meets KM!

6. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
What Is The Agile KM
Manifesto?

7. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
What Is The Agile KM Manifesto?
● A KM ‘how-to’ guide
● A list of KM commandments
● Project management or general management principles
What is it not?
The Agile KM Manifesto is intended to serve as a document to help
Knowledge Management Practitioners more efficiently and effectively
meet the needs of knowledge workers.
● Formalize the application of Agility to KM
● Make it easier for us to quickly unlock KM’s value
● Make it easier to explain KM’s value to our stakeholders
Goals

8. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Statements of Value
Agility maximizes KM value
through the successful integration of
People, Process, Content, Culture, and Technology.
So….
Rather than restate the values in the Agile Manifesto,
we have created five statements of value.

9. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
⬢ People - Communicating the value of KM and how individual roles
contribute to KM, is inherently valuable.
⬢ Process - Value is maximized when your KM processes continuously
address the full knowledge lifecycle.
⬢ Content - Good KM connects people to content and each other. Content
is only valuable when it can easily be found and leveraged by users.
⬢ Culture - KM’s value is only sustained when KM processes are
thoughtfully integrated into users’ day-to-day activities.
⬢ Technology - Technology is most valuable when serves to unlock the
value created by your People, Processes, Content, and Culture.
Statements of Value

10. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Principles
1. Enlist the support of non-KM practitioners as champions who can demonstrate
KM's everyday value to individuals, teams, and your organization.
2. Prioritize end users in your governance strategy development to understand how
restrictions on content change or hinder day-to-day operations. After implementing
new governance, return to users to gauge the impact.
3. Your approach to KM should evolve as your organization's needs evolve.
Continuously share your work, solicit feedback, and reassess your KM roadmap.
Adjust as needed to create a positive feedback loop that enables you to react to your
users' evolving experience.
4. Employ comprehensive data models, such as taxonomies, ontologies, and
knowledge graphs, to ensure your content is connected and findable.
5. Content should only be available to users if it is new, essential, reliable, dynamic, and
reusable. If these criteria are not met, the content must be cleaned-up or archived
accordingly.

11. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Principles
6. Tacit knowledge and expertise should be proactively and formally captured and stored in
the same manner as explicit knowledge.
7. To ensure content is reusable by relevant content consumers, content creation must
occur in an accessible, standardized, and collaborative manner that employs CMS
platforms, content types, templates, and/or other means.
8. Building a collaborative learning culture aligned around core competencies ensures
employees will remain excited about contributing to and maintaining the health of your
knowledge systems and your content. Adopting this business-centric approach to
learning will discourage knowledge hoarding and will replace internal competition with
support.
9. Leverage adult learning techniques, such as Spaced Learning, to ensure
understanding, engagement, and excitement about the importance of maintaining
the health of your KM ecosystem. This will also foster a safe space where anyone who
is struggling can find guidance, making KM accessible to all.
10. Create a formal recognition and rewards system that is tied to performance reviews,
which will encourage staff to follow your KM practices and support change management.

12. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Principles
11. All KM efforts must leverage a common language. Develop, socialize, and employ a
common KM language so stakeholders don't speak past each other and can
maintain consensus throughout your KM effort.
12. Express trust and openness to change by applying success criteria that incentivizes
adherence to KM governance and innovation.
13. Agile KM solutions must be forward looking and scalable. Properly define your scope
based on the content, audience, and capacity considerations unique to your
organization.
14. Effective technology alone is neither an end point nor a silver bullet. Technology
should serve as a mechanism that supports and evolves alongside your
organization’s people, processes, content, and culture.
15. Do not let your current technology's limitations dictate your KM path; instead,
rely on use-cases, user stories, and data to drive you forward. If your technology
is discouraging appropriate democratization of data and information, don’t be
afraid to change course or replace the technology.

13. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Applying the
The Agile KM Manifesto

14. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Global Non-Profit
Current State
• Lack of access to the correct content led
to duplication of work when spinning
up new funding initiatives.
• Different teams shared different
versions of content, leading to decisions
based on conflicting information.
• The absence of content creation and
content management standards meant
that content consumers were unsure if
their content was reliable and content
creators were unsure if it was unique.
Agile KM Principle:
“Content should only be
available to users if it is new,
essential, reliable, dynamic,
and reusable. If these
criteria are not met, the
content must be cleaned-up
or archived accordingly.”

15. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Nuclear Research Laboratory
Current State
• Dedicated KM Team was trying to
pinpoint why employees were
struggling to find the real-time
information to make decisions
• High and sustained turnover meant the
opportunity for employees to learn from
seasoned professionals was at risk.
• Goal of developing a Knowledge
Repository to solve the problem.
Agile KM Principle:
“Tacit knowledge and
expertise should be
proactively and formally
captured and stored in the
same manner as explicit
knowledge.”

16. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
Multinational Athletic
Apparel Company
Current State
• Teams within the same function were
siloed around the world in over 26
countries.
• Organization was struggling to discern
the best way to help geographically
separated teams operate in a collective,
collaborative, and efficient manner.
• There was limited reuse of information
across teams, even though many teams
had a similar focus area.
Agile KM Principle:
“All KM efforts must leverage a
common language. Develop,
socialize, and employ a common
KM language so stakeholders
don't speak past each other and
can maintain consensus
throughout your KM effort.”

17. ENTERPRISE KNOWLEDGE
The Agile KM Manifesto: What’s Next?
Your Input!
We’re asking you to review our Manifesto and provide feedback
● What do you find insightful?
● Does our content deliver on our vision?
● What have we missed?
What about scope?
● As written, are these values, principles, and/or best practices?
● What should they be?
● Are these statements worthy of our industry’s Agile KM Manifesto?

18. Q&A
Thank you for listening.
Questions?