Welcome
Welcome to the KMfSCC training tool. It
is the product of a 2-year study into the UK
construction industry and, in particular, an
exploration of knowledge management
processes in SMEs in the sector.
The research finding
that shaped this tool
Research conducted last year found:
- People rely heavily upon
communication to solve day-to-day
problems. For project staff, this is almost
entirely within the company or the immediate
project-related supply chain.
- The industry values experience
very highly and personal communication emerges
as the most common, and maybe the most
effective, way of transferring learning from
experience.
- Most companies regard training
as a means to improve on their existing
knowledge.
- The industry finds it very
difficult to capture knowledge gained
from experience.
- A formal KM initiative within a large
construction company was developed with a
low-level IT investment.
Instead, dedicated staff were put in place to
deliver and facilitate the initiatives, and,
along with senior management backing, appeared
to contribute significantly to the
initiatives' success.
In response to these findings, this training
tool aims to address one of the major concerns
of SMEs - capturing the knowledge of staff.
However, rather than encouraging firms to
document people's knowledge in (expensive) IT
systems, the tools explores the ways in which
more members of staff can learn the
business-critical knowledge of key team members
by knowledge sharing. The tool focuses
on learning between projects, as this can be one
of the greatest challenges to the construction
industry.
Go to 'Why
knowledge sharing is important' to
learn more about these issues.
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