Our Blog

Previously, we discussed the importance of retaining and transferring critical knowledge within an organization, particularly as the next generation of workers fills in roles left due to retirement or attrition.   As we noted, the first step in building a knowledge management program suited to the needs of your organization is to make a convincing case to management.  When this is achieved, a few more steps should take place in order to ensure success.

Today, an important concern facing many organizations, especially as the “baby boomers” approach retirement, is the loss of knowledge. As employees, who may have been doing their job for many years, leave companies, they take with them knowledge which is critical to the performance of their job. Often, these team members have what is referred to as tacit knowledge --  a form of knowledge which is more elusive, often unique to individuals, and not documented. It is knowledge which is gained by experience.

Using Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) to organize information, explore new ideas, balance your life, set goals, learn something new, solve problems and manage time better.  Have you thought about how you manage your personal knowledge?

Featured Guest Blogger:  Deb Nystrom of Reveln Consulting

As the technology age moves us along, innovation has been heralded as one of the few growth spaces left, and the power of community, think social media, is the other. 

Do they blend? 

Does creativity have a place in how this can happen?

Developing trust within an organization is crucial to its success, opening up the door for communication and ultimately, results. In order to drive out fear within an organization, trust must be developed and promoted. Are you willing to invest the time and resources to develop trust, ultimately improving your organization?

Knowledge Management structures are generally established to improve an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency. The “holy grail” to achieve these goals derives from an interplay of trust, communication, and integrity. Of these three, trust plays the foundational role -- laying the groundwork for open communication and programmatic integrity.

When an organization implements a new venture, one of the questions raised concerns the return on investment (ROI) of the program. One of the top five knowledge management practices to improve ROI, as discussed in our February 4 blog, is obtaining your leadership’s commitment. This is critical to the success of the knowledge management program within your organization.

    Want to make better decisions that will impact the success of your organization?  First, learn what qualities contribute to good decision making.  Then, determine what type of decision maker you are.  Finally, learn to adapt your style to the situation at hand, and call upon the strengths of others to achieve your goals.

Six disciplines exhibited by good decision makers:

An organization moving forward in implementing knowledge management tools and practices will soon begin to wonder about the return on investment (ROI) for their knowledge management efforts.  Are the outcomes of the program a worthwhile commitment of resources?

Each day, organizations pass information along through a series of networks in order to accomplish their objectives. These organizations also obtain new information about their success in obtaining these objectives, and retain information about what may or may not have worked in the past. As each day goes by, more and more information is accumulated as the organization continues to retain information vital to their success. This knowledge within an organization can make the difference between ultimate success or failure.