Summary of #KMers Twitter chat June 22, 2010. For details, color, and to see who said what, see the full transcript.
Q1. Where does Knowledge Management fit in your organization? Is it the right place for it?
- We sit outside IT, between the folks on the front lines and technology. Coordinated with library function on org chart.
- There are multiple KM groups which fit under the individual member firms and functions, often in operations
- In 15 years in professional services, I’ve seen KM has been in many places-from its own organization to R&D to bus.
- Other orgs I have been in (like IBM) are largely built around the concept of knowledge management and so had it all
- We are under of the Practice, Product and Knowledge umbrella.
- Ian Thorpe, Working on KM in UNICEF. We are part of the “Policy and Practice” Division, but there are KM focal points in many teams
- We are recently brought out of a group called Knowledge, Training and Technology
- Glad to see the coordination w/ training. That seems key if U want 2 do more than doc management.
- At Fluor, KM is part of project execution services… where the rubber meets the road. But the distributed KM management and authority resides with each community and the organization(s) it supports.
- is “project execution services” the same as a centralized PMO?
- we don’t have centralized PMO, per se, but we do emphasize global functional networks to support projects.
- can you say more about “global functional network”?
- I will write up something about functional networks. It will take more than 140 characters.
- Orgs I have been in had KM champions, but it was not their full time jobs
- In your experience are KM champions effective enough or should there be a dedicated role?
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- Effectiveness of champions depends on their savvy, the overall culture, and their passion for the topic
- Ideally, one super champion w/ accountability 4 KM and then lots of mini-champs around the org to move things along.
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- In your experience are KM champions effective enough or should there be a dedicated role?
- Controversial time – do we manage knowledge or share knowledge? Functions of KM remain but branding has to evolve
- Not sure KMers shld manage knowledge. Perhaps our highest good is to facilitate knowledge sharing.
- I would agree with that. KMers or (KSers
) need to evolve to knowledge sharing / facilitation type roles - KM role may be more important the org location – seen more mileage from facilitative role than control/execution role
- Question to all: I have yet to be in org w/ dedicated KM role. Is work/role termed KM or called something else
- It has usually been called KM or something similar
- Not much of a rule on naming. Usually whatever will ring best in given culture. Innovation, collaboration, content, etc…
Q2. How many, and what kind of people work within the KM department? How do you find the best people for these jobs? (look for KM experience? other backgrounds?)
- We have a large number of people with KM job titles, but not many of them are actually KMers like the participants in this chat . Titles in the job system tend to be things like “SV Knowledge Management” but the generic term is “knowledge manager”. And then there is the title that people actually use, such as “content publishing program lead” or “community evangelist”, etc.
- Knowledge of and sensitivity to local org culture one critical thing to look for in staff – KM experience of marginal value
- ~10 people on the enterprise KM team: 2 communications, 3 developers, 5 consultants/facilitators. All wear many hats. within a knowledge community, a sponsor, a community leader, a knowledge manager, any number of experts, moderators, etc.
- Should always have people involved who have deep knowledge of the biz. KM no good without that.
- Our model is that KM team supports KM processes and practices but focal points in technical teams “manage/share” K in their areas
- Combination of KM experience, experience in the business being supported, and collaborative
- KM experience is useful provided the person keeps an open mind. Most “KM experience” is wishful thinking.
- Many focus on content management – collaboration is relatively new
- KMers role changing from managing to sharing/facilitating requires a change in culture. This change should not be assumed
- Does a change in culture require a change in the ideal knowledge worker
- Yes-more collab; less command & control
- definitely. Should not assume that KMers today can be a KSers (knowledge sharers) tomorrow
- Does a change in culture require a change in the ideal knowledge worker
- re culture change and KM – I’ve been shifting my focus away from C word (culture) to trying to specify and promote more specific behaviors
- Jim McGee: some things i point to re behaviors – reduce friction, increase visibility of your work, share credit, celebrate authorship
- Stan Garfield: Behaviors: collect & connect, try things out, iterate, lead by example, set goals, recognize & reward, tell stories, use tools, innovate & integrate, span boundaries, ask & answer, pay it forward, let go of control, just say yes, deliver, act boldly, communicate authentically, and finally – Share, Innovate, Reuse, Collaborate, and Learn (see http://conferences.infotoday.com/documents/67/A101_Garfield.ppt and http://sites.google.com/site/stangarfield/googledocs )
- also re behavior – emulate Isaac Asimov and become a “speed understander”
- Speed understander? Neat concept. How does it work
- read widely, think deeply, make connections, repeat
- another evocative notion for today – Wendell Berry’s excellent phrase – “solving for pattern”
- Behaviors are more manageable chunks to work on than trying to change a whole culture at once.
Q3. What is the career path for someone in KM? How do you train and retain knowledge workers?
- Career path? Get some substantive knowledge of a front line function, then think/learn about KM practices.
- KM supports knowledge workers, and “knowledge workers” includes just about everyone
- Not sure there should be a pure KM career path. Should bounce back and forth from core biz to support aspects like KM.
- For knowledge workers “in the trenches” (community leadership) it is usually a ~2 year assignment.
- What I do see is an broad range of skills one can develop in KM that make you a more valuable person
- In my experience, KM groups tend to be small and relatively static. So not much growth in a traditional sense.
- How do you keep workers motivated in a static position
- re:motivation. Rotations through other depts. And make the work project oriented rather than steady-state.
- Field trips to other firms to learn their best practices and turn them into your next practices would b best learning
- If they R in steady-state, something is wrong w/ yr system & ripe for automation. Need 2 expand responsibilities/horizons
- How do you keep workers motivated in a static position
- career path for KMers is unpredictable – be adaptable, and build a good network for both giving and receiving
- Do you think it’s necessary to have worked front line function or just to have substantive knowl of it
- There’s no substitute 4 1st-hand experience. Then overlay that w/ objective info across functions.That’s a killer combo 4 KM
- In a KM role you gain front line exp very quickly, so we don’t require it for hiring as much as ability to learn
- Out of KM can go many ways-marketing, strategy, R&D-depends on industry and skills
- In the current climate, where travel maybe restricted, need to be creative on training methods. Virtual?
- <a href = “http://www.kmers.org”>Try KMers chat!</a>
Q4. How effectively does your organization make and execute decisions about KM? What helps or gets in the way?
- About to start internship at global org, understand that generational attitudes towards K sharing = big challenge. (generational *differences* in attitudes)
- My mental model is that younger generations more inclined to knowl sharing than older. True or false?
- Many new promotes take KM for granted and therefore support it b/c they’ve never known work life w/o it
- For us having a vocal, engaged Knowledge Champion helps tremendously
- fear of unknown has prevented us from really utilizing e2.0 tools – we might have to skip to 3.0!
- I like our approach: Communities have freedom to innovate; the KM team can help leverage the innovation across the rest.
- Does that always work? Does what is good for one community usually work for the others?
- of course not! But we have a pretty good track record of ID-ing the innov that can be leveraged.
- Does that always work? Does what is good for one community usually work for the others?
Join us for the next <a href = “http://www.kmers.org>#KMers</a> chat!
Participants:
- Mary Abraham at AboveandBeyondKM.com in New York City
- Lee Romero from Deloitte in Detroit
- Rob Swanwick. Been involved w/ KM since 2000. First as consultant, now as community organizer. Founder: http://twebevent.com
- Stan Garfield at Deloitte in Detroit
- Joe Raimondo, KM consultant in Princeton, bridging technology with approaches for innovation, monetization, and stewardship of IP.
- Ian Thorpe, Working on KM in UNICEF.
- Kate Bower, Northwestern grad student, studying KM & org change. 1st KM consulting experience launched this week.
- Jim McGee in Chicago – former CKO – technophile turned org designer – work at that intersection today
- Jeff Hester with Fluor Corp. in So. Cal. Part of our (small but effective) enterprise KM team since 2001.