8. Improving Knowledge Management

Chapter 8 deals with improving knowledge management on several levels. It explains how we develop and manage our personal knowledge, using tools - filing cabinets and e-mail archives - and, more importantly, skills like effective reading or concise note-taking and personal networking. Routes to improvement are suggested, including development of a personal KM map by reviewing matters such as what we need to learn and how we obtain, document and share information. The text offers a comprehensive guide to actions for improvement and lists some vital questions to answer in order to make KM more effective on a personal level and within an organisation.

Improving KM in organisations is a more complex matter because only the formally stored information may be easily accessible. A lot of knowledge will be in the heads of people who are not always available. It is helpful to convert this tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Some people, however, share knowledge more freely than others. Therefore it is important to encourage a sharing culture – efficiency is improved and many improvements derive from knowledge shared through informal conversations between colleagues. Without those exchanges much time can be lost in ‘re-inventing the wheel.’

Providing conditions that encourage staff to communicate and share knowledge is essential. The text includes some suggestions for this. A basic recommendation is to use simple approaches that support staff by building on familiar work routines, rather than opting for complex models tied to sophisticated imported IT infrastructure. Good communication is essential and staff can be enthused by having opportunities to see KM at work.

Chapter 8 outlines the roles that personal knowledge maps, organisational KM scans and the Knowledge Value Chain can play in improving KM. It also mentions the benefits of using a small team to develop a KM strategy and offers a detailed appraisal and many useful suggestions for getting this process under way.

In its concluding pages the chapter looks at knowledge networks in the WSS sector and compares them with the strategic alliances and inter-company networks now becoming increasingly popular in the private sector. While the aims of these commercially oriented operations are quite different from knowledge networks in the WSS sector they are seen to offer important lessons. Chapter 8 describes the central features and their validity for WSS networks. A number of the larger and well known WSS sector networks are mentioned and the chapter closes with a list of key suggestions for making networks successful.