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There are three key questions to ask when developing a Knowledge Management (KM) strategy: where are you, where do you want to be, and how do you ensure you get there successfully? These are the three pillars crucial for the development of a sound KM strategy. At Enterprise Knowledge (EK), we define these as the Current State, Target State, and Roadmap. As simple as these terms may sound, developing a complete understanding of each is no small challenge. In this white paper series, one of EK’s KM strategy experts, Yanko Ivanov, addresses each step, starting with the Current State Assessment.
The challenge with creating a KM strategy that works is that one size does not fit all. In reality, your KM strategy must be intimately tailored to your specific environment, technology ecosystem, and business goals. In order to develop a practical, realistic, and successful KM strategy, you need an in-depth grasp of the current situation.
We are often approached by clients who, in their attempt to develop their KM strategy in-house, failed to fully grasp the fundamentals of their current challenges. Having a sound KM strategy is not only about having a SharePoint or Drupal installation with a nice interface or a set of KM policies documented. There are many crucial factors that influence how KM becomes a true and working part of an organization, many of which have little to do with technology.
To cover these various factors, at EK we approach the Current State Assessment from five perspectives: People, Processes, Content, Culture, and Technology. We purposefully list Technology last, as it reinforces a key point for our work, that Technology is an enabling tool for KM, not the complete solution itself.
1. People
Organizations often make the mistake of focusing solely on technology and underestimating the people aspect. However, no matter how cutting edge and cool technology is, if it doesn’t cater to the actual needs and preferences of your users, adoption will suffer drastically.
With that in mind, here are some critical questions to ask when developing your KM Strategy:
It is important to understand the composition of your staff, their communication patterns, and their preferences, as well as the information they need. For example, in a past project with a global Fortune 500 company, we found the same search interface was going to be used differently by executives compared to directors and even more junior associates. Executives were more focused on most relevant results of a specific topic and type while associates were interested in relevant results across topics, business units, and document types. In other words, depth versus breadth.
Understanding who your audience is, their communication channels, and any existing or potential barriers to information flow will guide the next step of your KM strategy development, the Target State Definition.
2. Processes
Organizational processes are driven by information. Every step in a process consumes some kind of data, and produces some form of output, be it a document, the number of produced items, or a simple email. As such, analyzing organizational processes is integral for developing a working KM strategy.
When analyzing current processes in an organization, we address questions like the following:
It is important to note that understanding an organization’s processes goes much deeper than what they have documented as “official” processes. Many organizations have created processes that work at various levels, but have yet to be expanded enterprise wide or established as “official” to the organization. A key component of our process discovery work is learning what is being done that is working and could potentially be expanded upon.
Understanding your processes and their data needs feeds important information to the next step of the KM strategy development: developing a Target State where a mutually beneficial relationship between your KM and business processes leads to improved efficiency and retention of organizational knowledge; where capturing, finding, and sharing information is an integral part of the business process rather than a burden.
3. Content
Hand-in-hand with understanding organizational processes, analyzing the information and content that flows through these processes and how, is another critical aspect for forming the Current State Assessment and guiding the Target State definition. There is more to understanding content than just a straightforward content analysis effort. While diving into the actual content analysis, also consider the following:
Much of the discussion on content is tightly intertwined with the analysis of processes and vice versa. Knowledge objects are the building blocks of knowledge retention and dissemination through established processes. Performing content analysis will help you identify gaps, stale content, potential security risks, missing or deficient processes, and other areas that should be addressed in the Target State Definition.
4. Culture
Another important aspect that has crucial impact on enterprise KM, yet is often overlooked, is company culture. Along with processes and procedures, company culture shapes staff’s behavior and attitude toward capturing, managing, and sharing information. For example:
These are just a few questions, but the answers will help guide a realistic KM Target State for your company. For instance, if collaboration between business units is important, yet there is information that needs to be protected, then streamlined sharing and content security are two important factors to be considered in the next steps of the KM strategy development, namely the Target State Definition and the KM Roadmap.
5. Technology
Covering the above aspects, by this point you would have heard the most important technology-related pain points. It is important, however, to thoroughly understand the existing technology ecosystem and the restrictions it implies. We approach this effort by addressing questions like these:
Depending on company size, technology infrastructure can be minimal or overwhelmingly large and complex. For instance, on a past project, we found that there were at least three separate content management systems with their own search engines and various integrations. That led to significant confusion among staff as to where to search for what type of content. The overwhelming sentiment was that they preferred to use external systems to do their research. Having a number of KM systems with overlapping functions strongly hinders adoption.
It is crucial to gain a solid understanding of all current systems, their functionalities, users, restrictions, as well as where they are in their lifecycle. For example, if your company recently purchased the latest version of SharePoint or SalesForce, chances are good that these systems will make an appearance in your Target State Definition.
Benchmarking
In addition to the above themes, having a clear picture of how your organization’s KM capabilities stack up to the industry can be a valuable tool to inspire support and leadership for your KM transformation effort. To help visualize organizational KM capabilities, at EK we perform a benchmarking analysis of the company’s KM maturity based on our proprietary KIM Maturity Model. We utilize a variety of categories to determine the current level of the company’s KM maturity compared to industry standards. This approach not only helps you visualize your current KM state, but it also identifies areas where your organization lags behind the industry benchmark, which in turn can spur needed actions.
Concluding Remarks
Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the Current State of your KM is paramount for the KM strategy development process. However, it is only the first step. In upcoming posts, we will discuss steps two and three:
About the Author: Yanko Ivanov is highly-skilled management consultant focusing on business analysis, system design, and integration. Yanko is passionate about developing practical knowledge and information management strategies that help organizations achieve their vision.
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