Knowledge Management presented by Janet Foley Suncoast Chapter

Knowledge Management presented by Janet Foley Suncoast Chapter Society for Technical Communications September 7, 2006 Please send questions/suggestions to Mark. Lewis@Hyper. Writers. com

Ground Rules • • • No phones No computers No clock-watching No bio-breaks No note-taking No talking No sneezing No burping No laughing No snoring

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

So What? • Surprise! You already are a knowledge manager – How do you organize your projects? Your workspace? Your garage? Your books? Your life? – You bring order where there was chaos • Make the leap from carbon copies to browsing the internet • Your ability to understand KM – Allows you to bring valued ideas to management, your peers, and your reports – Broadens your career horizons – Allows you to see how what you do fits into the KM process of your organization (all organizations have it)

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

Who? Everyone • Yes, KM can be practiced by: • • • An individual A work team A department A division An entire organization • However, to be successful in an organization, it requires – – – Upper management directives and support An enterprise-wide KM organization Initial and continued funding Flexibility in implementation Change Management support

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

What? Define Your Terms Knowledge • Oxford: An organized body of information • The Knowledge Continuum: Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Management • Oxford: Exercising executive control or authority • Creating order out of chaos

What? Knowledge Value Continuum Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Five days The business week is Monday through Friday. I have to work the entire business week. But I don’t have to work hard. No one The office was empty. It was Saturday, I can work on so no one had to Saturday if I work. want to. There is an on- The machine off button on the needs to be on machine. during work hours. The last person out the door each night must turn off the machine. I never want to be the last person out the door at night. Factual / Non- Contextual / Contextual Procedural Factual, Contextual Conclusion Interpretative /Applicative / Creative

What? : What is IT? Mission: Organization! …What does that mean?

What? So, Organize Your Closet • Mission: Organization – – Throw out or give away (you’ll never use it again) Categorize/color code Put similar things in baskets Maintain it—put stuff away or get rid of it • Result? – – You can find what you want when you want it, quickly You will only find things that are of value to you Things of value to you can be re-used efficiently You discover you are missing key pieces • Know what do you do? – You either create them, ask your friend if they have something you could use, or buy them – You categorize them – Put them where they belong

What? So, Organize Your Knowledge • Mission: Organization – Throw out or give away (you’ll never use it again) – Categorize/color code – Put similar things in baskets in a certain order – Maintain it—put stuff away or get rid of it • Result? – You can find what you want when you want it, quickly – You will only find things that are of value to you – Things of value to you can be reused efficiently – You discover you are missing key pieces • Now what do you do? – You either create them, ask your friend if they have something you could use, or buy them – You categorize them – Put them where they belong • Mission: Organization – Delete/Purge/Archive – Create a taxonomy and tag accordingly – Post in a database with similar documents grouped – Review twice a year • Result? – You can find what you want when you want it, quickly – You will only find things that are of value to you – Things of value to you can be reused efficiently – You discover you are missing key pieces • Now what do you do? – You either create them, ask your colleague if they have something you could use, or buy them – You tag them – You post them in the database

What? Informed Judgment is Essential to KM Success • KM requires evaluating and anticipating a user’s knowledge needs and (Judgment) • Organizing it in such a way that the user can find it intuitively (Judgment) • Navigating the Gray: Continuums – – – Usefulness (Judgment) Value (Judgment) Currency (Judgment) Authoritativeness (Judgment) Etc. , etc. • Therefore, each document is labeled and tagged according to it’s attributes: dates, title, abstract, and various continuums (Applying your judgments to the document)

What? Defining a Knowledge Object and Content • Knowledge object – – Re-usable Unique Identified by tagging Includes contextual information • Knowledge objects may include one or more documents which become content when they are put somewhere others can access them • Within a given document, moving sentences and paragraphs to create the optimum message is an editorial function; the final version is considered content, or perhaps, after reasonable judgment is made as to it’s value to others, is considered a knowledge object.

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

Where? Technological Enablement • Knowledge is comprised of content (knowledge objects, documents) • Why does managing knowledge require titles, abstracts, dates, tags, etc. ? • Taxonomy drives browse • Tags drive search • Technology enables Knowledge Sharing: we can see in everyone else’s closets and borrow their clothes!

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

When? How do we know how often to exercise KM procedures? • Depends on the KO – Legal – Alert – Report – Etc. • Tag KOs for at least an annual review of all content

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

Why? Why Bother? • Simplifies your search for what you want • Saves you time to do what you want/need to do • You know that what you find will be of value to you • Saves money • Feels good • Knowledge Management is Fun

TOC • • So What? Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? (to what extent) So What?

How? KM Succeeds When it Creates a K-Sharing Culture • KM is an ever-changing, ongoing process • It must be flexible to reflect the changing organization • It requires dedicated change management activities • It must be driven by upper management • It must be continually well-funded

So What? • Surprise! You already are a knowledge manager – How do you organize your projects? Your workspace? Your garage? Your books? Your life? – You bring order where there was chaos • Make the leap from carbon copies to browsing the internet • Your ability to understand KM – Allows you to bring valued ideas to management, your peers, and your reports – Broadens your career horizons – Allows you to see how what you do fits into the KM process of your organization (all organizations have it)

Questions, Please ? ? ? ? ? ? ?