Addressing the need for organisations to harness and use their knowledge to its full potential, IS Partners has introduced a streamlined Knowledge Management (KM) implementation methodology.
Melanie Sutton, Knowledge Management Consultant at IS Partners, explains that through a KM programme approach, an environment is created through which knowledge can flow freely across the organisation.
It consists of a number of phases through which the elements of the KM framework are implemented. The elements are inter-relational and based on a structured hierarchy.
Culture and behaviour form the foundation of any KM initiative, says Sutton. This element of the implementation methodology focuses on people who, ultimately, are the key to the success of any KM initiative. It also shapes the processes by which new knowledge is created, legitimised and distributed across an organisation.
The Knowledge Skill and Competence stage of the implementation defines a personal competency plan for individuals to develop the critical skills required to become an effective knowledge worker. “This will support the KM enabled process and KM initiatives,” she says.
The next stage focuses on embedding knowledge processes within typical business processes to ensure that KM activities are not perceived as “more work”.
The organisation's ability to identify, store, access, classify and manage their explicit assets, such as research material, methodologies, patents and processes, also needs to be identified, Sutton says.
While knowledge comprises the major asset that drives strategic growth, innovation applies knowledge to realise its commercial potential. “This element of the implementation methodology forms organisational structures and systems that encourage creative solutions to difficult problems, and developing these innovations into economically feasible applications,” she adds.
The need for Knowledge Portals will also be identified to seamlessly provide content and connections to data, information, people, partners, clients and knowledge within and external to the organisation. An enabling platform must further allow people to extract the information they want and allow them to contribute to the system, in order to execute on the KM programme.
“The programme, ultimately, must be aligned to, support and enable the delivery of the business strategy, and focus on the organisation's core competencies leveraged across the organisation,” she says.
Share