Published May 2009
To accomplish this, knowledge management must focus on four areas:
1. Understanding who the knowledge sources are.
2. Measuring where and how knowledge flows.
3. Getting knowledge to flow more rapidly and freely.
4. Reinforcing knowledge with supportive relationships.
Once these four areas are working in harmony with one another and information is free-flowing, knowledge management will become the fluid and adaptable entity it needs to be to effectively address individuals’ multiple and shifting learning needs.
Who Knows What?
Identifying key knowledge resources can be challenging. Layoffs and mergers have shifted the balance and knowledge equilibrium within organizations. People who were once knowledge sources may no longer be there, and what was once a smooth operation is now a frantic scramble to get things done. The stream of information and knowledge has been interrupted, and people are floundering to find footing.
With these realities, organizations need to look deeper than the superficial level of typical knowledge brokers. People who are valuable knowledge resources to their colleagues at a grassroots level do not always make their expertise and service known to leadership. They often do what they do without accolades or acknowledgement from management. In their minds, they may simply be doing their jobs.
These grassroots knowledge sources serve a great purpose to the organization. They help spread knowledge and skills to colleagues, passing along information and data at critical moments and offering support and know-how to those in need. In Triple Creek’s survey, 69 percent of respondents said transferring valuable knowledge through mentoring is how they contribute to the success of their companies.
When asked to indicate the level of improvement across 10 different areas due to mentoring, the top-ranked area was “expanding my network.” Organizations lose out when they overlook or ignore these hidden resources, making it critical that they pinpoint who their knowledge-sharing superstars are and leverage them for greater use and visibility.
An emerging practice called “social network analysis,” sometimes referred to as “social mapping,” addresses this issue by identifying who people go to for information. Do they follow a chain of command when searching for information, or do they go to their co-worker down the hall?
By analyzing where people seek information, social network analysis often reveals hidden assets or people who are known as the go-to source by colleagues but who may not be on management’s radar. This allows organizations to tap into deep wells of knowledge and ready sources of information as they move forward with knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Once organizations identify who their knowledge sources are, they need to identify where and how information is flowing. Is there an information bottleneck around one person? Does information get lost in a black hole around a particular team? Does the flow of information run smoothly between certain colleagues?
