Knowledge management is a process that involves the definition, retention, structuring, and sharing of employee’s knowledge and experience within an organization. The primary goal of knowledge management within the organization is to retain knowledge in the organization and also improve the organization’s efficiency. 

Many times, knowledge management refers to training and learning the employees or customers of an organization. It involves a cycle in which knowledge is created, shared, structured, and audited so that the effectiveness of the collective knowledge in the organization is maximized. 

Knowledge management can completely transform the way an organization operates and can bring about continuous improvement. This is why it’s crucial for organizations. It is also a good prospect for students looking for internship opportunities. 

Why knowledge management is important

There are many reasons why organizations find knowledge management necessary. A primary reason is that it increases the efficiency of decision-making within an organization. 

Organizations want to ensure that all their employees can access the overall expertise that is held in the organization. This is why they built an intelligent workforce that can quickly make informed decisions to benefit the company. 

It is also effortless to foster innovation within an organization with knowledge management. This will ensure that your customers benefit more from your organization as your employees offer the best practices. It also reduces employee turnover drastically. 

Knowledge management is becoming increasingly important. With competition becoming stiffer in the marketplace, companies try to stay up and ahead by building their organization flexibly and intelligently. Every organization understands the importance of spotting problems from afar and providing appropriate innovations and information. 

According to managers at a paper writing service review, some of the reasons why companies start their knowledge management process are:

●      An acquisition or merger may bring about the need to codify knowledge and encourage different teams to share their knowledge and expertise. 

●      Key employees could be retiring, and this will raise the need to gain and retain their knowledge and expertise in others.

●      A recruitment drive could show that it is important to use knowledge management to help with training the new employees. 

Students’ Internship 

Students who take up internship positions in knowledge management will provide support for the numerous knowledge management projects already in process. As stated in some professional writing services, they will also support implementing new activities with the guidance of a Senior Program Associate. These interns will also help the opportunities for internal learning so that staff can ensure they are updated with current literature and can access both external and internal resources. They will also participate actively in the different knowledge-sharing groups, such as communities of practice. 

Some responsibilities of knowledge management students interns

Knowledge management cuts across all industries, and the intern’s responsibility is different across the sectors. For students looking to go into the health industry, the knowledge management interns will be responsible for the following:

●      Scanning and analyzing different kinds of literature that are relevant to the company they are interning at. They will share the analysis and significant findings with the programmatic, technical, and clinical staff. They are also responsible for writing the programmatic implications and summaries of results from new research. 

●      They are providing the support needed for regular journal clubs. According to custom essay writing, this includes selecting relevant articles, facilitating conversations, and developing questions to be discussed. 

●      They are responsible for Coordinating knowledge management working groups, communities of practice, and meeting other groups in the organization. 

●      They also create the catalogs and archives for technical publications, evaluate & research internal knowledge products, reports, and other things according to its standard. 

●      They also fulfill other assignments or duties that are assigned to them. 

Student learning objectives

Similar to the responsibilities for student interns, their learning objectives in knowledge management would vary from one industry to the other. In some cases, it could vary between different organizations based on the setup of each organization. For students interning in the healthcare industry, here are some of the learning objectives. 

●      To get a good understanding of literature that is relevant to

●      Essential topics such as maternal health, family planning, reproductive health, etc. 

●      To get a good experience of some of the challenges that affect institutional learning and the strategies deployed to combat these challenges. 

●      To hone your writing skills to reach and be able to communicate with different groups of audiences effectively.

●      To get first-hand practical experience and knowledge at the health organization and deepen their coordination and collaboration skills within the organization and beyond. 

Conclusion 

Knowledge management is vital within an organization to acquire, retain, and share knowledge. It also works across all industries, so students have the leeway to do their internship in knowledge management irrespective of their study. This article already discusses some of the things that you should know about knowledge management in 2021. 

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Note: Next Creative KM Certification class is coming up: Oct 16, 18, 23 and 25, 2023 (half days, 9-1 EST).  Based on the "Radical KM" methodology and taught by the author of the program, Stephanie Barnes. Details here...

Radical KM seeks to make knowledge management take a strategic view of knowledge work from the perspective of the knowledge worker. Sustainability comes from making space for creativity in our organisations, so that they are not just analytical, rational, and process-oriented factories, but creative, and innovative ecosystems. 

The value of knowledge management in the 21st century comes from learning, not from the databases and the documents of the 20th century, but from the experience of learning. It is necessary for knowledge management to take a more active role and to ask: what are the desired sustainable behaviours and is there a group of people who consistently exhibit many of them that we can learn from? How do we focus less on databases and documents and more on continuous learning?

Radical KM seeks answer these questions by putting creativity into our organisations, to make them whole, to help the people within them thrive in the times we live in: volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous times.

Our organisations have focused on the division of labour, the compartmentalisation of knowledge, and treating knowledge work like it is part of a production line. Anchoring our organisations in these industrial-age paradigms has left out space for creativity and does not suit desired knowledge-age requirements. People are not machines, knowledge work requires different behaviours to support it and be successful, it requires the behaviours that have been ignored in favour of efficiency and effectiveness. Making space for creativity is critical to our success in the 21st century and beyond.

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In today's business world, innovation is key to success. Innovation is often thought of as a one-time event. But innovation should be fostered and encouraged throughout the year. One way to do this is by implementing new techniques for knowledge management. Knowledge managers have been tasked with the responsibility of providing their employees with timely information on various topics that are pertinent to their work environment. To encourage innovation, they can use these 6 techniques: 

1. Incorporate brainstorming into meetings

Create a collaborative environment where people are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas with each other. Brainstorming sessions allow participants to come up with ideas without judgment from others. During brainstorming sessions, your team can solve problems by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable pieces. These can be done in person or via video conferencing.

Encourage people from every level in your organisation to speak up about what is working well and not so well within their work environment. This includes encouraging individuals who are not typically seen as leaders to participate in discussions during meetings.

Brainstorming sessions also allow people who might not typically speak up at meetings to feel more comfortable doing so because they know someone will listen and take note of their idea no matter how ‘out there’ it may seem at first.

2. Be a facilitator, not an evaluator

Establish goals and objectives with your team, holding them accountable for meeting those expectations. Guide employees to excel in your company’s objective and give them clear directions. Give feedback on their performance and progress towards these goals, instead of just giving criticism. Encourage new ideas by allowing employees to share their thoughts and concerns about meeting company objectives without fear of being judged in the moment.

Some knowledge managers believe that encouraging emotional intelligence is a way to encourage innovation in the workplace. It is essential for people to feel like they are having their thoughts and feelings validated, as well as being able to voice abstract ideas without fear of judgement or retaliation.

This will provide employees with new perspectives on problems they may not have even thought about before. Encouraging creativity through praise and recognition can also foster an environment where everyone feels like their contributions are valued, which helps propel innovation forward.

3. Invest in training for employees to learn and develop their existing skills

If you build on skills that your employees already know, they'll be more invested in the training and feel like it was a worthwhile investment of their time. Hold workshops periodically in various areas such as communication skills, customer service skills, value selling and more.

This is also a good way to train people who are new to an organisation or have transferred from another department because it will help them learn about how things work at your company without getting lost in too much jargon.

Innovation thrives when knowledge workers can share ideas with one another and collaborate efficiently across different departments within organisations. Knowledge management techniques such as these provide managers with tangible ways of fostering innovation by supporting collaboration among team members while providing tools for developing new approaches for day-to-day tasks.

4. Embrace failure — it's okay if some things don't work out as planned because you can always learn from them or try again later

Be a problem-solver. Create a culture that focuses on continuous improvement as opposed to doing something right once or having one-time success stories. Have whistleblowing systems in place to easily identify when things are going wrong.

This is the most important characteristic of an innovation-friendly manager. When employees come to you with problems or ideas for improvement, demonstrate that you're willing and able to provide assistance in solving these issues. Asking them questions about how they've already tried tackling their challenge will help give them confidence that you'll be receptive to their feedback. After all, it's vital not only to listen but also act on what we hear from others if we want our workplace culture to encourage new thinking and creativity.

5. Showcase the work of others in your company

Demonstrate to your employees the need for innovation by highlighting other people's work. For example, your company can start with developing an ‘Innovation of the Week’ series.

The Innovation of the Week can be a weekly feature for your company that highlights creative and innovative projects from within your organisation. The idea behind initiatives like these is that it helps each employee think about how they are adding value to their team or solving problems in new ways, as well as making them feel appreciated for their contributions.

Develop events that encourage knowledge sharing, such as holding monthly lunches where all employees can share what they've been working on so far. You can do quarterly presentations focused around one particular theme where everyone demonstrates what they know best.

6. Avoid the echo chamber — create a culture of dissent by encouraging people to challenge ideas

Encourage people to share their perspectives and insights. Create open forums where they're allowed, even encouraged, to challenge ideas and theories.

Encourage others to provide feedback on each other's work before it is finalised; this will help generate new ideas for the project or content at hand. You can incorporate members from other divisions in your company to get more perspectives.

Invite outside speakers who can offer different points of view from those that are currently represented by staff members within an organisation. If you seek out feedback from both inside and outside the organisation on how best to do things, this will give you a better idea of what is working in an area as well as what could be improved.

Encourage employees to take risks and explore new territories for ideas, products, or services. You can do this by allowing people time during the day to explore topics that interest them without any direct involvement in projects assigned by managers so that they may develop creative solutions.

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Knowledge management is an exciting career field for people who are looking to get into an industry which has a promising future and opportunities for career growth in the future. Knowledge management as a career path has become more popular in the 21st century simply because there is more knowledge to manage in this day and age. The amount of data and information which is swirling around the international data stratosphere is astronomical and needs to be managed in the day to day. Because knowledge management is a burgeoning career, there are many new opportunities which were not available until very recently.

What actually is knowledge management?

Knowledge management is known as the elongated process of curating and maintaining the exploitation of data and information (and the assets they provide). This process is done, and results are achieved for a singular organisation’s sole benefit. A lot of people who are involved in business operations and management processes are knowledge management involved professionals and might not actually realise it. For example, if you have been involved in a business acquisition, the dissemination of crude information, or other processes involving data management; you may be a knowledge management professional already.

Knowledge management is in a similar category to data and content managing careers with one simple but crucial difference; it is a lot more strategy driven. Knowledge management careers treat knowledge, data, and information as an ‘asset’, like you would treat a person, place, or piece of equipment. This important asset is now treated as crucial and something that must be consistently monitored, maintained, and curated for maximum use or benefit. Rebecca Moran, a business writer at Boomessays review and Ukservicesreviews, commented, “Knowledge management is often defined as the constant curation and application of proven methodology used to obtain and maintain knowledge, drive innovative processes, and assist an organisation in driving standards and performance up in tandem.” Without knowledge management, organisations become stale and irrelevant, quickly falling out with public favour and disseminating themselves through ignorance; piece by piece. 

So What Career Options are There in Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Assistant Role

A knowledge assistant role is primarily in charge of developing and maintaining support systems for knowledge management. Their primary responsibility is to develop tools such as training information and data analysis tools to assist knowledge management professionals in their roles and responsibilities. This is a stepping stone on the knowledge management ladder.

Knowledge Management Professional

This is the most senior role for someone in the knowledge management industry, and the normal ‘high point’ in someone’s career who has been pursuing this avenue of business for their whole career. This role involves a lot of people management of those underneath them who are managing the hands on activities of data and information management and curating the exploitation of this information.

Systems Analyst or Manager

This role is more involved in the technical aspect of knowledge and information management and requires more technical skills and prior education. This involves mainly development and maintenance of systems and security in the process.

Chief Knowledge Strategy Manager

This crucial role is solely in charge of the management of functions which surround knowledge management. Though this role involves some people management as well, it mostly concerns itself with data and information management. “This position is crucial in larger businesses because of the depth and breadth of the knowledge management which occurs in larger organisations. The person in this role is responsible for the direction of knowledge management processes in an organisation” says Courtney Sapien, a recruiter at Big Assignments and Academ advisor.

Director of Knowledge Management

The person in this role works at an executive level, usually in larger more spanning organisations involved in data and information management. This role focuses more on the financial and business operation processes which revolve around knowledge management, rather than the crude works of knowledge management and its process specifically. 

Chief Knowledge Officer in Charge

This role is found again in bigger organisations who require multiple people to be involved and in charge of knowledge management, and so this befits a large salary for the span of work it is involved in. This role is dedicated entirely to ensuring knowledge management processes go off without a hitch.

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Knowledge management is a complex model and has the ability to grow and change over periods of extensive stress and adjustment. People in business and company executives should be constantly aware of knowledge management due to the power that it holds in the modern business world. When examining the three-step process of knowledge management; it is important to look at and consider all three steps. The three steps are knowledge accumulation, integration, and finally, reconfiguration. This process is known for its natural ability to promote strategy and practicality over all else; simply because it is oriented around due process. It is also more practical and easier to apply than many other processes of its kind.

These three segments may seem complex if you just look at their names, but they are relatively simple to carry out and understand. This model for managing knowledge reflects a more strategic and practical perspective, as it is process-oriented and most applicable for leading organizations. Knowledge accumulation coupled with integration and reconfiguration ensures that this actually helps companies exchange knowledge to overcome challenging situations in the time of COVID-19. In this specific knowledge management model, organisational knowledge comes first. This is gathered and kept by the creation of fresh knowledge which is in turn collected from ‘intellectual capital’.  It is also collated by acquiring it from outside environments. This process, in turn, can allow those high up in the business to develop and understand the operation of a workplace which is effective. It can be effective in the following ways:

• The company can gather knowledge surrounding fresh products and service in their relevant industry.
• Company performance can be quote on quote ‘benchmarked’ alongside relevant competitors in the industry.
• The gathered feedback can be utilised to improve overall business performance.
• Teams can be used to manage, allocate, and understand resources.
• Training and education courses and programmed can be created and curated throughout this stage.
• Recruitment programmes and career pathways can be curated throughout this.
• Organisational events can be created

If we move to the second point, knowledge can be slowly combined into this process, which enhances the productivity and workings of the process as a whole. Emma Louise, a marketing manager at Draftbeyond and Lastminutewriting, noted that, “Systems within the organisation will improve as this knowledge is integrated internally, and various processes will become more efficient over time.” This process will causes those who are higher up in the business to develop the workplace below them to be effective in the following ways:

• Keeping an eye on organisational knowledge as a whole to keep products and services in line with the relevant regulations.
• The consistent assessment of knowledge within the industries and other requirements to keep up with the industry.
• Connecting shared knowledge within the business to improve other areas in the organisation as a whole.
• Understanding and portraying which areas of the business are crucial knowledge and competence areas, and which are not.
• Working with industry ‘experts’ to understand which areas of the business are working and which areas need work.

Lastly, the previously aforementioned knowledge in organisations must be constantly changed, adjusted, and re-shaped to fit the changing environment around the business. Although it would be nice if everything simply always stayed the same, that is not realistic! Lewis Kirby, a business writer at Writinity and Researchpapersuk, noted that, “The world is changing every day, and the business world more than most. No environment has changed as quickly as COVID-19, making this even more important during this period of time for businesses.” During this stage, the knowledge collected by organisations should be kept within the business and used to improve standing in relation to other competitors. Doing this will assists executive business people in developing their workplaces to be more effective in the below areas:

• Curating knowledgeable and educated partnerships with other members of their industries, in any stage.
• Sharing business goals and ideals with partners outside of the business to curate profitable and ideal partnerships.
• Growing and relating knowledge policies to be more than they are, and increasing them by the day.
• Connecting the systems of sharing knowledge and other shared processes with the relevant partners and people.
• Creating opportunities for connections such as big conferences, shared activities, and other ways for people to share knowledge more informally.

This piece has informally introduced a piece of business knowledge that has always been around but has not become as crucially relevant to business operation until very recently, when COVID-19 hit the world like a rock. Crises like this one change the course of history, and they change the way businesses operate, especially when it comes to the management and procurement of knowledge.

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