Why Develop a KM Implementation Plan?

The KM Strategy defines the goals for KM, outlines the types of initiatives that the agency wants to pursue, and designates a lead person to move it forward. A KM Implementation Plan provides more detail on how the strategy will be carried out. It provides an opportunity to identify specific activities, make sure that the right people are involved, and ensure that the necessary resources are made available to maximize their effectiveness.

How to Develop a KM Implementation Plan

The following steps can be followed to develop a KM implementation plan:

1. Identify KM activities to carry out the strategy.
2. Identify metrics and evaluation methods.
3. Develop a detailed plan for first set of initiatives.
4. Develop a communication plan to build and sustain awareness and engagement.
5. Identify resource needs: personnel, IT infrastructure, consultant support, etc.
6. Develop a budget.
7. Establish a schedule of milestones.
8. Set up periodic review and reporting cycles to track milestone completion and metrics.

Additional guidance for identifying and planning appropriate KM techniques is provided below. See the next section (Step 4) for guidance on defining metrics for KM.

KM Techniques

Capsule summaries of KM techniques that can be considered for implementation are provided below, organized by strategy type.

KM Leadership & Direction

Applicability: Agencies wanting to pursue a holistic KM approach.

Expected Results: Identify and address the agency’s priority risks and needs; target KM activities where they will have the greatest payoff.

Implementation Tip: Designating a KM lead is essential for making progress, but educating and involving a larger set of individuals in planning and implementation will ensure that KM takes root in the organization and has sustained impact.

Techniques:

• Strategic Planning and Policy Development. Periodic review and revision to the KM strategy and supporting agency policies.
• KM Education/Training. Education and training to build understanding of KM strategies and techniques.
• Knowledge Assessment. Information gathering to understand where critical knowledge resides, what gaps there are (areas where additional knowledge is needed), as well as how knowledge is currently shared within the organization. It may also include assessment of key risk areas associated with potential loss of critical expertise or institutional knowledge. The results of this assessment can be used to target and plan appropriate KM techniques.
• Knowledge Mapping/Social Network Analysis. Formal mapping and analysis of knowledge sources and flows; this may be part of a knowledge assessment or a separate effort. Knowledge maps may also be produced to facilitate access to knowledge resources – see, for example, NASA’s Knowledge Map at: http://km.nasa.gov/knowledge-map/.
• KM Metrics. Developing metrics to measure results of KM initiatives and tracking and reporting these metrics.

Table 2. Wisconsin DOT KM Tools Matrix

	Topic and Tasks	Brief Description	Might be Good for…		Resources
	Documenting Processes
	Writing down processes	Incumbent writes down steps in key tasks.	Stable, routine tasks; quick reference		Low
	Videotaping processes	Incumbent is videotaped performing key tasks.	Quick capture; including context		Low
	Formalizing process
	Formalizing process	Manually require steps be completed in certain way.	More complex tasks		Low
	Automating process	Automation requires steps be completed in certain way.	Highly complex tasks with many players		Med
	Expert decision system	Incorporates expert judgment. Provides decision.	Complex decisions that can be modeled		High
	Experiencing together
	Double filling key positions	New employee and retiring employee work together.	Critical positions with sole complex knowledge		Low
	Cross training	Train employees to do a range of overlapping work.	Positions with sole knowledge		Med
	Communities of practice	Employees with similar work regularly communicate.	Positions scattered throughout agency		Med
	Sharing experience
	Exit interviews	HR or supervisor asks questions of departing employee.	All departing employees		Med
	Expert interviews	Interviewer asks questions of knowledgeable employee.	Employees with extensive specific knowledge.		Med
	Last lectures	Departing employee gives open-ended talk.	Departing employees with extensive tacit knowledge.		Med
	Storytelling	Current employees share stories of challenges faced.	Current employees with extensive tacit knowledge.		High
	Developing leaders
	Rotation program	Selected employees work in one or more new areas.	Employees showing leadership promise.	High
	Leadership program	Selected employees receive agency exposure.	Employees showing leadership promise.	High
Source: Wisconsin DOT

Social Learning & Communities

Applicability: Agencies wanting to shift the culture of their organizations to foster innovation, collaboration and group problem solving.

Expected Results: Increased innovation, faster ramp-up time for new employees, less chance of “rookie mistakes,” improved organizational resilience, improved employee retention, less dependence on any single individual.

Implementation Tip: Collaboration and social networking tools have value, but face-to-face interaction is also essential for building the kinds of trust relationships required for productive collaboration.

Techniques:

• Communities of Practice. Communities of individuals with similar roles in the organization that meet periodically to brainstorm, problem-solve and share their experiences.
• Peer Reviews. A peer review process prior to initiation of a major project phase or initiative to ensure that lessons from prior efforts are considered.
• After Action Reviews. Holding a team meeting following completion of an initiative or major project phase to identify and document what went well, what could have been improved, and how to fix things to be sure that they don’t go wrong again. Some organizations also use Before- and During-Action Reviews to document lessons learned as they go and make corrective actions as needed.
• Expertise Locator System/Smart Org Charts. Tracking specialized expertise or skills and providing an online “yellow pages” of expertise in order to locate appropriate individuals in the organization.
• Social Networking and Collaboration Platforms. Platforms for social networking and forums that allow people to share views on related topics of interest - either in-house or external. These may include specific areas for onboarding of new employees to allow them to connect to peers and “learn the ropes” together.
• Recognition and Rewards for Collaboration. Recognition of collaboration and knowledge sharing behaviors in employee performance reviews, providing opportunities to showcase and reward collaborative efforts.

Knowledge Codification & Dissemination

Applicability: Agencies wanting to ensure that all employees have ready access to documentation about the “who, what, how, when and why” of key business processes. Codification and dissemination activities focus on the kind of knowledge that lends itself to capture and documentation – such as procedural knowledge, key lessons and past events.

Expected Results: Improved consistency of practice across the agency, lower chance of employees “reinventing the wheel,” greater awareness across the agency of effective techniques (or costly mistakes).

Implementation Tips: It is best to be selective about what is captured, and make sure that the effort required will have sufficient payoff in the future. Information products should be designed to facilitate future use (e.g., checklists, presentation slides) and opportunities for using them should be actively pursued.

Techniques:

• Lessons Learned Capture. Collecting, reviewing and publishing lessons that can be easily accessed and applied. These lessons can document both reasons for success as well as reasons for outcomes that varied from original expectations.
• Organizational Narratives/Storytelling. Capturing nuggets of wisdom through interviewing individuals before they retire and making them accessible/searchable via agency intranet sites or other information repositories.
• Continuity Books. Writing the “how to do my job manual,” or the do’s and don’ts of various organizational processes and making them available through a content management system.
• Knowledge Books. Conducting in-depth interviews with experts to distill and document unique knowledge that can’t be found in other available sources.
• Business Process Documentation/Automation. Systematically mapping current business processes to provide a common understanding of steps, inputs, outputs and roles. This can be helpful for complex processes, and those where multiple business units are involved. In some cases, it may be possible to take this a step further and automate processes via workflow management tools.
• Contractor Knowledge Transfer. Building in standard contract requirements for documentation of information sources, assumptions, products, lessons and other resources discovered as part of consultant or contractor projects.
• Content Management Systems and Knowledge Repositories. Providing electronic platforms for storing and retrieving content including procedure manuals, business process maps, training videos, presentations, photographs, and lessons learned documents. Ensuring that new (and existing) employees are made aware of these resources and encouraged to use them.
• Common Vocabulary/Content Classification. Developing standard key words and content classification methods to facilitate discovery of available content.
• Personalization/ Role-Based Subscriptions. Enabling employees to subscribe to newly added content based on their roles or specific areas of interest.

Succession & Talent Management

Applicability: Agencies looking to lessen the impacts of employee departures – targeting certain critical positions (e.g., a senior engineer within one year of retirement); or addressing more general needs (e.g., growing the next generation of leaders).

Expected Results: Smoother transitions as employees retire or transition to new jobs; improved availability of employees with skills to take on challenging technical or leadership positions.

Implementation Tip: It is best to be proactive about succession and talent management – don’t wait until key employees announce their retirement to take action.

Techniques:

• Talent Tracking. Defining knowledge, skills, and abilities for each position and tracking employee skill sets over time as they complete training and gain experience.
• Desk-side reviews. A successor sits down with the upcoming retiree at the retiree’s desk and listens as he/she shows notes, templates, shortcuts, or memory aids for performing his/her job.
• Job Shadowing. A less experienced employee follows a more experienced employee in the organization throughout the day, learning through observation.
• Job Rotation. An individual is moved to different parts of the organization in order to learn the “system” perspective.
• Mentoring. A formal program is set up that links mentees (less experienced employees) with mentors (more experienced employees) in the organization. The program may include guidelines and coaching for mentors in order to maximize effectiveness. Reverse mentoring can also be done for certain technology-related skills to allow a more experienced employee to learn from a newer employee.
• Succession Management. Targeting positions for succession management strategies including training, shadowing, double-filling positions, etc.
• Formal Phased Retirement Programs. As individuals are nearing retirement in the organization, have them reduce their time by partially retiring and spending time in training/educating their successors. (Note: double-filling positions may be prohibited in some states by law.)
• Retirees and Alumni Callbacks. Bringing back an organization’s retirees in various roles to bridge certain knowledge and skill gaps.
• Leadership training. Offering training and apprenticeship experiences to further development of future leaders of the organization.

Defining Roles and Responsibilities for KM Implementation

Roles and responsibilities for implementation will depend on the scope of planned KM activities. Some agencies may choose to focus their KM efforts on succession management, and have the HR department take the lead. Others may focus on capturing lessons learned as part of major projects, and have the Project Management Office lead. Agencies interested in potentially pursuing the full range of KM strategies will want to appoint a single individual (or small team) to handle the KM leadership and strategy activities. This individual or team can then initiate some KM techniques and play a support role on others. Table 3 illustrates what a logical mix of responsibilities might be, indicating lead or support involvement for the KM lead, HR, IT, Research/Library, and managers of major divisions and their constituent business units.

Table 3. Responsibility Chart for KM Elements

Agency-Wide KM Elements	KM Lead	Human Resources	IT	Research Library	Division Office Manager
KM Leadership & Direction
Strategic Planning & Policy Development
KM Education/Training
Knowledge Assessment
Knowledge Mapping/Social Network Analysis
KM Metrics
Social Learning & Communities
Communities of Practice
Peer Review
After Action Review
Social Networking and Collaboration Platforms
Expertise Locator/Smart Org Charts
Recognition and Reward for Collaboration
Knowledge Codification & Dissemination
Lessons Learned Repository
Organizational Narratives/Storytelling
Knowledge Books/Continuity Books
Business Process Documentation/Automation
Contractor Knowledge Transfer
Content Management/Portals/Wikis
Common Vocabulary/Content Classification
Personalization/Role-Based Subscriptions
Succession & Talent Management
Talent Tracking
Desk-side Reviews
Mentoring, Shadowing and Job Rotation
Phased Retirements
Leadership Training

Key: Lead Role Support Role

Additional Implementation Advice

Some additional tips to ensure successful KM implementation are:

• Start small – use pilots to test different methods and expand using the benefit of your experience.
• For each initiative, recognize that there will be a life cycle: startup planning, pilot, evaluation, and evolution.
• Think about how you will evaluate and report on each activity before you begin.
• When estimating time requirements for the KM lead, anticipate a mix of planned activities and responsive services based on requests and opportunities for value-added interventions.