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Awareness for KM at Management Level
Ratan Budhathoki - Friday 20 May 2005Dear all,
I am Ratan Budhathoki from Nepal, working at Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH), a national level NGO working in the water, sanitation and hygiene education sector in Nepal since 1992.
Thank you Jaap, initiating the second step of the E-conference again. Let me express my personnel understanding and opinions to your kick off questions:
1. Do managers have to be ‘knowledge champions’ or look after lessons learned and knowledge sharing?
I think, every manager may not be 'knowledge champion' and it is not necessary to be as well. But the managers should be familiar with the terminology of KM and its key componets (e.g. KVC Model). They should look after lessons learned and knowledge sharing and use the KVC to analyase and plan their future actions.
2. Can a KM workshop help or should KM be a regular topic in meetings? Is KM addressed in annual reports and is it linked to organisational goals?
KM workshop is necessary as ignition tool to create interest to the KM subject and importance of KM process at the initial stage. in next stage, once the cocept and importance of KM and its process is realized by the management level, then it should be reflected in regular meetings as well because KM has been considered as part of life cycle as mentioned in the first stage of E-conference. In our case so far KM has not been "explicitly" addressed in the annual report but the organization has realized the importance of KM and willing to improve its KM capacity.
3. How to get alignment between management priorities and KM opportunities and contributions? What would be a good KM pilot project for management to buy into?
To get alignment between management priorities and KM opportunities and contributions: I think firstly,
Management level should be involved in the process of learning about KM. The mangement level of the organization should be positive towards being a learning organization and creat an enabling environement for practicing KM within organization. Staff should get learning opportinities and KM initiatives should be incorprated into their Job description with sufficient trainings.
Secondly, the subject KM should be recognized by the sector organizations and donors. The understanding about KM should be similar from donors and other sector organizations.
If these things take place or get space then the linkages or alignment could be possible.
Looking forward to learn more from others about good pilot project for management.
Thank you
Awareness for KM
Viktor Markowski - Monday 23 May 2005Hi, I am Viktor, head of Information and Communication at IRC.
I want to thank Ratan for his excellent contribution. I think he mentioned a lot of the pre-conditions for KM to fly. It is crucial to get ownership within managerial levels for a knowledge management initiative. This can be done through shared learning, for example a workshop or training event. Such an activity will help develop a 'shared language' and a 'common understanding' of the topics involved.
Equally important is to demonstrate added value through KM activities. Those who participated in the E-conference last year will know my adagio: Knowledge to do what. When organising knowledge smarter leads to a faster response to questions or maybe even winning a tender, knowledge management demonstrates its relevance. It is important to find these opportunities and materialise on them.
Viktor
Awareness for KM at Management Level?
Peter J. Bury - Friday 27 May 2005Dear all
I joined a bit late. I'm involved in IRC's Resource Centre Development Programme, particularly in South Africa, Pakistan and South India. I also moderate an e-platform among RCD partners to promote exchange and joint learning.
So KM is at the centre of my attention! And its complex and challenging... !
My reaction to Jaap's introductory questions:
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Question 1. Do managers have to be ‘knowledge champions’ or look after lessons learned and knowledge sharing?
Managers should be fully aware of the importance of relevant and effective knowledge management (within their realm and with regards of their 'market'). They do not have to be 'champions' in the sense of knowing how-to do KM. But they definitely determine if KM is going to happen or not and therefore are key to provide a conducive environment and get the necessary external know-how on how-to if needed.
Should they look after (= warrant?) what lessons are being learned? Yes, of course! Should they promote knowledge sharing? Yes, of course, without it one cannot learn lessons!
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Question 2: Can a KM workshop help or should KM be a regular topic in meetings? Is KM addressed in annual reports and is it linked to organisational goals?
If know-how is not available, a KM concepts and approach workshop is key. But such workshops are only useful if followed up by integrating KM in appropriate day to day routines. Yes, status, progress and plans on KM should be dealt with in annual reports and plans. Yes, KM goals should be included in organisational goals.
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Question 3: How to get alignment between management priorities and KM opportunities and contributions? What would be a good KM pilot project for management to buy into?
I don't understand the first part of question 3. If management does not endorse and support KM, forget KM! A good pilot would include an awareness workshop [which would also highlight how KM is dealt with in the organisation currently: a SWOT] and a visit / exchange with a comparable organisation [dealing with similar types of KM] that has made and documented some experiences in this field.
Look forward to comments on this!
Let's try to keep it simple and lets formulate our thoughts as simple as possible: it helps KM!
Peter
