Knowledge Management (KM) is the continual capture and reuse of the intellectual capital of an organisation for competitive advantage and cost avoidance.
Many people see KM as just an information system. But it is much more.
Effective knowledge management strategies require a complete business framework. Most importantly, top level sponsorship, culture, formal and informal organisation structures, and reward systems must all support knowledge management, and collaboration and teamwork must be prized. All of these are as important as processes or databases.
Early knowledge management systems were implemented on the basis that they are good for the company, so people must and will use them. This approach does not appeal to the sort of people who have the best ideas. It also will fail to tap into tacit knowledge, which may be the most valuable. It is not easy to make people share, when knowledge appears to be their personal competitive edge in times of job uncertainty.
If you know there is value locked up in your people’s heads and you need it to be available to the rest of the organisation, talk to Stratege about implementing KM.