Next
steps...
The case study in the last section highlights
the cultural issues that can affect knowledge
sharing.
Every organisation has projects
that go wrong. What do you do? Not speak of it?
Sweep it under the carpet? Get rid of the
people? In a 'no blame' culture, there
is the capacity to learn from failure.
There is the opportunity to analyse what
went wrong and improve.
Knowledge sharing comes naturally in a
culture where there is trust and people
feel 'safe' - where they can express views
or admit problems without feeling they'll
get jumped on. There's also reciprocity - others will share their experiences and
views - and this is the discussion that
facilitates knowledge sharing.
Your firm's culture is an important factor.
Trying to implement an initiative such
as knowledge interviews, or after action
reviews, within a blame culture, is unlike
to succeed.
That said, what should you do next
if you do think that a knowledge sharing
initiative
might enhance your business performance?
Here are some pointers:
- Focus on business-critical
knowledge:
establish what knowledge must be managed
to improve which aspect of the business.
- Create senior management support: the backing of top managers is shown
to improve
the
success of KM initiatives.
- Provide an incentive: Give people
an incentive to get involved with the
initiative. The
best one is it makes their jobs easier.
- Develop continuous learning: Allow
people time for learning and
development. Take
the lessons of success and failure
from every activity. Encourage
people to ask
questions. Show that learning
takes place at all levels of the organisation.
- Measure performance improvement: It often takes a leap of faith
on the
part of
managers to start an initiative.
After that, look
at ways in which you can measure
performance. Don't just focus
on the bottom line.
If problems are solved more
quickly, more
easily, with fewer frustrations,
then that's just as valid.
To find out whether
this
is the case, you'll have to
poll opinions. But over time, this may
show itself
in staff retention or profit.
For
further information, we recommend, Demystifying
Knowledge Management:
A best practice guide for the
construction industry.
Published by Constructing Excellence
(2004) and Benchmarking Knowledge
Management Practice
in Construction. Published by
Construction Industry Research and Information
Association (2004)
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