Communities are an integral part of knowledge management in any organization bringing together people, processes, and technologies to capture, manage, find, and share knowledge. The purpose is to enable the community members to collaborate, get upskilled, making their day to day work easier and how.

Here are some of the key outcomes from well-driven Communities:

1 - Increased output:
Well run communities enable people to spend less time looking for information or recreating already existing information.

2 - Innovation:
Communities lead to increased collaboration and exchanging of ideas driving Innovation in the organization.

3 - Enhanced client value:
Communities enable employees to stay updated on the latest trend and technologies helping them to build and apply new skills to drive client value impact.

4 - Harvesting Content:
Communities play a key role in harvesting content from its members and enable the members to leverage existing assets and resources in ongoing projects.

Well driven and moderated Communities can be a key differentiator of how your workforce can expand into the next wave of innovation leading to better selling and delivering.

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This week two different people said to me: I do not know what you do. Fortunately, these were not coworkers or members of the KM community, but close friends. Answering that I work in “knowledge management” was not enough. By this time, they know this. Both of them had jokingly said at some point in our friendship that “I should manage their knowledge” which I am sure sounded very funny in their minds!

It dawned on me—what is it about KM that is so clear to KM workers but so elusive to others?

So when I overheard a group of people talking about building a ship while sailing it, my ears perked up. I love a good sailing metaphor! KM does sometimes feel like building a ship while also sailing in it. By this I don’t mean that I know how to build a ship. I do not. And if I were not on the ship, it would likely still be floating. In fact, the ship is full of highly educated and passionate people! So a floating ship, with smart and passionate people, who know what they are doing, and me—one person who doesn’t even know how to build a ship. What am I doing?

For me, being a KM worker has entailed figuring out where I can bring value to the shipbuilding and sailing process—across a complex system, with competent stakeholders, and amidst organizational ebbs and flows and finite resources. I’m part of a community of shipbuilders and sailors, but I help my fellow shipbuilders do what they are doing or co-create ways to do it better one step at a time. I help connect people from the bow with others at the stern. I can gather insights from one side of the ship and bring them to another. I help welcome the newcomer, while also sharing the wisdom of oldtimers. I can work with the crew to be attentive to our interconnections, relationships, and boundaries. And I can share with the crew just how they are working—how many connections they have, how many lessons they have learned, how much they have generated, captured, and shared with each other. I can also reflect with the crew about the kind of crew that we are.

Along our voyage together, I (and other KM workers) must shift what we bring to the shipbuilding or sailing process to meet new needs and forge across uncharted waters. Maybe I am taking this too far!

It seems like everyday at sea is new day with new and exciting opportunities. And doing this as part of a global community of shipbuilders and sailors—whether that is with fellows at IBP or GHKC or with members from our internal MSH Technical Exchange Networks (recently highlighted in KM World)—is what I truly value as a KM worker.

I am not sure if KM workers as both part of a cadre of shipbuilders and sailors makes sense, but I like it!