Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

David Hyde, Project Engineer

Aaron Crews, Principal Engineer

PresentersPresenters

David Hyde

Aaron Crews

Company Logo

Company Logo

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

David Hyde, Project Engineer

Aaron Crews, Principal Engineer

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

TAG’s recent successes in Knowledge Sharing using “low barrier to entry”

tools and practices

Harnessing Your Experts’ Knowledge for Sustainable

Competitive Advantage

TAG’s recent successes in Knowledge Sharing using “low barrier to entry”

tools and practicesDavid Hyde, Project Engineer

Aaron Crews, Principal Engineer

Terms and ConditionsTerms and Conditions

We are not Knowledge Management experts

We are sharing TAG’s story

We are on the journey

We want to instill the importance of getting started

AgendaAgenda

Why we think Knowledge Sharing is important

Our approach What we’ve learned

along the way Where we are going

Key TermsKey Terms

Knowledge = information + experience Knowledge Management = manage

with due attention to the value of knowledge

Why We Think Knowledge Sharing is ImportantWhy We Think Knowledge Sharing is Important

Increases efficiencies Avoids repeating mistakes Nurtures the creation of new knowledge

– Speeds up innovation– Gains competitive advantage

Identifies experts Transfers knowledge between people &

organizations (horizontal and vertical)

Why We Think Knowledge Sharing is ImportantWhy We Think Knowledge Sharing is Important

What your organization collectively knows,

how efficiently it uses what it knows,

and how readily it acquires new knowledge

Is your company’s

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Our VisionOur Vision

Maintain industry advantage Nurture innovation Drive knowledge workers to higher

levels Align knowledge strategies with

organizational strategies

Our VisionOur Vision

Our clients are now demanding it!

BarriersBarriers

Q: What’s so hard about sharing?

A: It’s not that easy.

BarriersBarriers

Cognitive Motivational

BarriersBarriers

Cognitive– Challenges

• Expertise leads to abstraction• Difficult to bridge gap • “Tacit” knowledge

– Overcoming• Use intermediate experts• Apprenticeships• Boundary objects

BarriersBarriers

Motivational– Challenges

• “Knowledge is power”• Formal Processes• Trust• Time/dedication

– Overcoming• Norm of reciprocity• Part of normal daily affairs (culture)

BarriersBarriers

Siloed

Image credit AnnieGreenSprings on flickr

This is a common problem.This is a common problem.

An entire field of study called “Knowledge Management” has been built around trying to solve these issues

GapsGaps

We’re doing some things (actually, a lot of things), but there are gaps.

Image credit squeaks2569 on flickr

The KM ToolboxThe KM Toolbox

Lessons Learned

Knowledge Harvesting

Knowledge Centers

Best Practices

Exit Interviews

KM Strategy

Knowledge Audit

Communities of Practice

KM

Peer Assists

Social Network Analysis

White Pages

Story Telling

Why doesn’t KM always work?Why doesn’t KM always work?

Lack of design thinking– Tools aren’t designed around how we work– Tools aren’t designed to feed back into the organization– Tools are too onerous

• Difficult to maintain• Difficult and time consuming to use (and more passwords!)

Lack of context – archiving solutions only– Knowledge is more about reframing problems than repeating

solutions– We need to know why, not just how

StrategyStrategy

Q: How do we know how to build the right tool?

A: We don’t. (hey, at least we know we don’t)

– Exec sponsorship– ID Champions– Jump In– Start small, be agile.– Capitalize on indirect methods

Executive Buy-In+

Evangelism

Celebrate small winsSmall, informal tools

Organizational AwarenessAnd

Culture Change

Start

StrategyStrategy

TacticsTactics

KM Program

People

TechnologyProcesses

TacticsTactics

KM Program

People

TechnologyProcesses

TacticsTactics

Processes– Fed by People and Technology outcomes– Led by Management to drive participation– May be formalized/institutionalized– Examples

• Lessons Learned• Exit Interviews• Customer Surveys• Employee Performance Goals• Standards and Procedures

TacticsTactics

KM Program

People

TechnologyProcesses

TacticsTactics

People– Knowledge Shares– Solution Circles– Peer Assists

OutcomesOutcomes

Knowledge Shares– Story Telling– Kick-off for Monthly Brown Bags– 10 minute Share, 5 minute Q&A– Highlights expertise informally– The Point: Not so much to remember the

content, but the expert– Reinforce KM initiatives and “wins”

OutcomesOutcomes

Based on “Knowledge Café” model by David Gurteen

Uniquely structured brainstorming sessions Very actionable and challenging outcomes Source of most TAG KM initiatives

OutcomesOutcomes

Peer Assists

TacticsTactics

KM Program

People

TechnologyProcesses

TacticsTactics Technology

– Fit into existing workflow when possible– Flexible and inexpensive– Lowering barriers

• Use open standards• Web-based

– Examples• Communicator• Mindstream• Sharepoint• Search

OutcomesOutcomes

Mindstream– Web-based application– Open source: based on Wordpress– Provides

• Whitepages• Virtual Communities of Practice• Easy publishing

– Open/searchable document format (just html, not Word)

OutcomesOutcomes

Mindstream• Whitepages

OutcomesOutcomes

OutcomesOutcomes

OutcomesOutcomes

Mindstream– Internal Google

search – Analytics

OutcomesOutcomes

MS Communicator– Instant messaging– Already available,

not used

– Real-time collaboration& group chat

ClosingClosing

Ongoing Challenges– Continue celebrating small wins– Nurturing uptake/participation of tools– Consistency – schedule and follow-up of

people and process-related solutions– Governance

QuestionsQuestions

Feedback Questions

Thanks!Thanks!

Thank you for attending. Your feedback is welcome!

David Hyde:– [email protected]– Twitter/davidmhyde– LinkedIn/davidmhyde

Aaron Crews:– [email protected]– Twitter/aaroncrews– LinkedIn/aaroncrews

Sources and CreditsSources and Credits

ABC’s of Knowledge Management, by NHS National Library for Health

Knoco Ltd. Knowledge management models, SPE poster Gabriel Cepeda-Carrión (University of Seville, Spain), Competitive

Advantage of Knowledge Management APQC’s Road Map to Knowledge Management Results: Stages of

Implementation Knoco Ltd. Knowledge management stories, www.nickmilton.com Olivier Amprimo, The Adaptation of Organisations to a Knowledge

Economy and the Contribution of Social Computing Andrew McAfee, The Business Impact of IT, andrewmcafee.org Mark Gould, Enlightened Tradition: Unpicking traditional

assumptions about KM and the life of the law, blog.tarn.org