Knowledge Management

The management of knowledge is nothing new. People have always shared knowledge with each other, passing on their experiences and skills. However, the current business environment is one characterised by complexity.

Changes in working practice and developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are affecting how organisations operate and how people work and interact.

Knowledge Management provides organisations with a more structured approach to the management of this highly valuable asset.

Like knowledge, there is no set definition of Knowledge Management (KM).

A useful way to think about KM is as a number of inter-connected processes which together provide a structured approach for organisations to improve how they utilise and attain more value from their knowledge.

Knowledge Management Assessment

Our Knowledge Management Assessment, is part delivered through self-assessment workbooks that are completed by individuals and/or peer groups within the organisation and applied at either the organisational or business unit level. The results are non-attributable and provide an in-depth, internally generated insight and “reality check” into your

current business.

The process is flexible, consistent and robust and delivers a detailed report supported by simple, at-a-glance graphics representing the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation.  Recommendations build on improvement opportunities identified during the process.

Periodic use of the tool facilitates trend analysis providing the basis for creating a long-term benchmarking process. It also creates a good practice database of effective strategies and tools for assessing, managing and increasing the value of knowledge in the workplace.

The prime deliverable of Robb-Fordyce’s Knowledge Management Assessment is a report that provides a detailed analysis of strengths, weaknesses & development opportunities.

Specifically, it:

	Assesses the ability of the organisation to work effectively in the key knowledge process areas of Acquisition & Learning;
	Application & Exploitation; Storage & Maintenance; Transfer & Dissemination; Measurement & Valuation, Knowledge Creation
	Examines how these process are mediated by and through Organisational Culture & Behaviours; Structure,
	Knowledge management Strategy; Infrastructure and Knowledge Assets
	Focuses on the Knowledge Management Environment within the company, specifically; External Focus; Relationships; Leadership;
	Creativity & Innovation; Commitment and Learning & Skills
	Identifies blockages to and catalysts for effective knowledge management
	Develops relationship maps to identify key communication, problem-solving, decision making,
	advice & support relationships within and outwith the business unit/organisation
	Details recommendations for strategies for increasing the value of knowledge within your organisation

Knowledge Capture

If organisations fail to capture knowledge before it leaves the organisation, they may be forced to address this loss through re-employing staff as consultants, or by giving other members of staff the added burden of having to learn quickly about a subject area of which they may have little knowledge. The truth is that very often this knowledge is not captured, and so organisations are forced to 'reinvent the wheel' in terms of the acquisition of knowledge. The consequence of this is that this knowledge is not developed further as it is often perceived as a difficult, time consuming and costly process. The organisation is caught in a cycle of losing tacit knowledge, and then trying to reacquire it, again in a tacit form. However if some of this knowledge was captured and stored in an easily accessible explicit form, then the re-learning cycle would be reduced and the organisation could build new tacit knowledge on the back of this explicit knowledge.

In order to implement and introduce a knowledge capture/retention programme, some or all of the following processes may be considered, a number of which can be seen to have been determined in the previous stages of the project:

	Identify key knowledge and roles (stage 2)
	Identify experts with valuable knowledge, subject matter experts and prioritise (stage 2)
	Identify what knowledge is to retained, specify how and in what form  (stage 2)
	Determine if experts are willing to share their knowledge
	Utilise existing resources to the extent possible
	Identify key relationships
	Assess existing knowledge transfer processes and organisational needs (stage 1)
	Develop plan for knowledge capture and preservation
	Define the knowledge retention process and the role of employees to capture and manage critical knowledge
	Integrate and setup knowledge retention process as a firm component
	Evaluate, improve and clean it

The precise method or methods for capturing the knowledge will be decided upon with the client based upon the culture of the organisation as well as the tools, processes and technologies which may already be in place for knowledge capture.

Knowledge Mapping

If knowledge is not visible within an organisation, in effect it does not exist. Knowledge mapping is a method of visualising knowledge embedded within the people, processes, relationships and documentation of an organisation. It can be used to recognise and locate knowledge in a wide variety of forms: tacit and explicit, formal and informal, codified and personalised, internal and external, short life cycle and permanent. Knowledge mapping visualises knowledge and information in such a way that the mapping itself creates additional knowledge, and can create new Intellectual Capital through the creation of new knowledge from previously undiscovered relationships.