Have you thought about how a more formalized approach to Knowledge Management in your organization can have a significant impact on quality, patient care and help with improving the outcomes required in accreditation?

Knowledge Management Defined:

In the last ten years we have all become acutely aware that central to any successful organization is managing all of the wisdom and know-how that exists. We spend an inordinate amount on educating our workforce and training them only to see them disappear out of the door for new opportunities, and with it all of that knowhow (often not collated and stored for others to use).
In addition the workplace has changed dramatically with the onset of digitally available streamed media, online books, research and academic insight. We are also increasingly aware of blogging, social networking, twitter and all of the other information and relationship management systems available to us. The internet is revolutionising and creating a more social collectivist global attitude rather than individualist.

Recently I purchased a very interesting book:

“Groundswell is about winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on You Tube. They are defining you on Wilkpedia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook.”

What I personally gained from this book was that the big corporates, the likes of Dell and Procter & Gamble (and this can also apply to public organizations), recognise just how powerful this media can be, both positively by reaching so many people quickly and negatively by what people can say about you and what you stand for.

Surprisingly these two companies have seen 25%-35% growth in their profits. Not seeing the technology as dangerous but grabbing it and capitalising on the literally millions of people who interact with social networks on a daily basis.

The important thing is that I want to talk about Knowledge Management but not before I have spoken a little about the technology, unfortunately the technology has come before the knowledge depository, and often in companies this depository is fragmented and not linked in a way that it can dramatically have an impact on the business.

In business we are all aware of how important knowledge and education are. The very basis of health business delivery is evidenced and the average company or organization is full of knowhow, research, libraries and one of the largest depositories with a wealth of knowledge. Yet it has been very slow to capitalise on the opportunities the new technologies present.

Globally to a degree, the cart has been put before the horse and when asked what Knowledge Management means to them organizations will often refer you to the corporate database publications and the computerised system; this is NOT Knowledge Management.

Knowledge Management is managing knowledge throughout an organisation in a way that positively impacts on others; staff, patients and the business.

Talent Management and Resourcing are people centred processes, in contrast Knowledge Management is strategic and about the intellectual capital in Your Organization.

When asked about capital the traditional mindset will think of real-estate equipment and not the very thing that creates that business its wealth of knowledge.

Definition of KM:

Knowledge Management (KM) is a field which originally developed in the mid to late 90s. Often it is interpreted in different ways by managers and organizations trying to understand its value and relevance for them in improving their organizational performance and effectiveness.

Our Understanding of Knowledge is that it includes individual and social human capital, in addition to structural capital. Although knowledge can be explicit, as captured for example in patents, documented procedures and product descriptions, much knowledge and wisdom remains in the heads of our knowledge workers as tacit knowledge and experience which involves the individual and a collective understanding gained from their experience. If those workers leave the organisation much knowledge and wisdom simply walks out the door.

Our Practice therefore should define KM as an ongoing strategic program of knowledge and wisdom based processes and enriched practices for achieving organizational objectives through the creation, acquisition, sharing and utilisation of knowledge wisdom and the cultural and technical systems that support such processes. Successful KM programs and practices should therefore address issues related to human capital development, working culture and trust, leadership and collaboration readiness, in addition to the use of any technology supporting the knowledge processes of the workforce.

Knowledge Flow describes the transfer of knowledge between individuals and different groups which may take place by both explicit and tacit knowledge transfer. Knowledge flow may for example take place through sharing a useful document or report with another group, participation in a community of practice, or simply through a conversation over coffee at the morning break.

Knowledge Assessment approaches can be applied to the organization to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of current KM practices, knowledge resources and flows, to identify prioritised areas for performance improvement, e.g., that would impact the company scorecard, and to monitor the outcomes in areas where interventions are subsequently introduced.

Knowledge Management Systems involve the cross-disciplinary, enterprise-wide management (creation, storing, disseminating, etc) of knowledge processes catalyzed by wisdom, aligned with strategic objectives to support and improve performance and productivity.

Knowledge Management Systems are the starting point in which other structures, assessment of knowledge; competence management and talent and wisdom management form a base component in performance improvement both personally and organizationally. The starting point should therefore begin with Knowledge Management in the context of forming a Human Capital Strategy from which other important elements and activities could flow.

How do we differentiate and move thinking from a knowledge reservoir (as in document management) which is the classic misrepresentation of a Knowledge Management system towards new ways of managing knowledge within organisations and capitalizing on a largely untapped reservoir of WISDOM?

If you need help in the area of KM in your organization then please contact me.

Comments are welcomed.