ABC of Knowledge Management

Freely extracted from the NHS National Library for Health at http://www.library.nhs.uk/knowledgemanagement/ by Géraud Servin Creator: NHS National Library for Health: Knowledge Management Specialist Library Contributor: Caroline De Brún Publication Date: July 2005

Table of Contents

1WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?....................................................................................3

1.1What is knowledge management?......................................................................................................... 31.2What is knowledge?............................................................................................................................... 31.3Why do we need knowledge management?.......................................................................................... 31.4What does knowledge management involve?........................................................................................ 41.5Some “textbook” definitions of knowledge management....................................................................... 5

2PRINCIPLES AND PROCESSES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT..........................................6

2.1Right knowledge, right place, right time................................................................................................. 62.2Types of knowledge: explicit and tacit................................................................................................... 62.3Types of knowledge: old and new.......................................................................................................... 62.4Ways with knowledge: collecting and connecting.................................................................................. 72.5Ways with knowledge: people, processes and technology.................................................................... 8

3GENERAL CONCEPTS.................................................................................................................. 9

3.1A brief history of knowledge management............................................................................................. 93.2The “knowledge economy”................................................................................................................... 103.3Knowledge management in the public sector ...................................................................................... 10

4GETTING STARTED.....................................................................................................................12

4.2KM toolbox – inventory of tools and techniques................................................................................... 144.3After Action Reviews............................................................................................................................ 154.4Communities of Practice...................................................................................................................... 184.5Conducting a knowledge audit............................................................................................................. 224.6Developing a knowledge management strategy.................................................................................. 254.7Exit interviews...................................................................................................................................... 294.8Identifying and sharing best practices.................................................................................................. 314.9Knowledge centres.............................................................................................................................. 344.10Knowledge harvesting........................................................................................................................ 364.11Peer assists....................................................................................................................................... 394.12Social Network Analysis..................................................................................................................... 424.13Storytelling......................................................................................................................................... 444.14White Pages...................................................................................................................................... 48

5DEVELOPING THE KM ENVIRONMENT.....................................................................................51

5.1People.................................................................................................................................................. 515.2KM Processes...................................................................................................................................... 575.3KM Technology.................................................................................................................................... 59

6MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT..............................................64

6.1Why measure?..................................................................................................................................... 646.2What to measure? Common measurement approaches......................................................................646.3How to measure?................................................................................................................................ 66

7KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT GLOSSARY OF TERMS............................................................68

1 What is knowledge management?

1WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?

Knowledge management is based on the idea that an organisation’s most valuable resource is the knowledge ofits people. Therefore, the extent to which an organisation performs well, will depend, among other things, onhow effectively its people can create new knowledge, share knowledge around the organisation, and use thatknowledge to best effect.If you have read any of the huge array of knowledge management books and articles that are currently available,you are possibly feeling slightly bewildered. Perhaps you are wondering whether knowledge management is justthe latest fad and hoping that if you ignore it, it will eventually go away. Let’s be honest – knowledgemanagement is surrounded by a great deal of hype. But if you can put the hype to one side, you will find thatmany of the tools, techniques and processes of knowledge management actually make a great deal of commonsense, are already part of what you do, and can greatly help you in your job.

1.1What is knowledge management?

Many of us simply do not think in terms of managing knowledge, but we all do it. Each of us is a personal storeof knowledge with training, experiences, and informal networks of friends and colleagues, whom we seek outwhen we want to solve a problem or explore an opportunity. Essentially, we get things done and succeed byknowing an answer or knowing someone who does.Fundamentally, knowledge management is about applying the collective knowledge of the entire workforce toachieve specific organisational goals. The aim of knowledge management is not necessarily to manage allknowledge, just the knowledge that is most important to the organisation. It is about ensuring that people havethe knowledge they need, where they need it, when they need it – the right knowledge, in the right place, atthe right time.Knowledge management is unfortunately a misleading term – knowledge resides in people’s heads andmanaging it is not really possible or desirable. What we can do, and what the ideas behind knowledgemanagement are all about, is to establish an environment in which people are encouraged to create, learn,share, and use knowledge together for the benefit of the organisation, the people who work in it, and theorganisation’s customers (or in the case of the NHS, patients).

1.2What is knowledge?

Academics have debated the meaning of “knowledge” since the word was invented, but let’s not get into thathere. A dictionary definition is “the facts, feelings or experiences known by a person or group of people”(Collins English Dictionary). Knowledge is derived from information but it is richer and more meaningful thaninformation. It includes familiarity, awareness and understanding gained through experience or study, andresults from making comparisons, identifying consequences, and making connections. Some experts includewisdom and insight in their definitions of knowledge. In organisational terms, knowledge is generally thought ofas being “know how”, or “applied action”. The last point is an important one. Today’s organisations contain avast amount of knowledge and the NHS is certainly no exception. However, in applying knowledge managementprinciples and practices in our organisation, knowledge is not our end, but the means for further action. Whatwe are trying to do is to use our knowledge to get better at doing what we do, i.e. health care and health careimprovement.

1.3Why do we need knowledge management?

Knowledge management is based on the idea that an organisation’s most valuable resource is the knowledge ofits people. This is not a new idea – organisations have been managing “human resources” for years. What isnew is the focus on knowledge. This focus is being driven by the accelerated rate of change in today’sorganisations and in society as a whole. Knowledge management recognises that today nearly all jobs involve“knowledge work” and so all staff are “knowledge workers” to some degree or another – meaning that their job depends more on their knowledge than their manual skills. This means that creating, sharing and usingknowledge are among the most important activities of nearly every person in every organisation.It is easy to see the importance of knowledge in the health sector. As clinicians, managers and otherpractitioners, we all rely on what we know to do our jobs effectively. But....