A Holistic, Agency-Wide Approach

This Guide emphasizes an agency-wide approach to KM that is driven by a strategic view, and draws on a wide variety of available KM techniques. An agency-wide approach to KM makes sure that:

• KM activities are focused on the organization’s greatest risks and opportunities;
• Expected outcomes are clearly defined and tracked; and
• The most appropriate and effective KM tools and techniques are applied to achieve the desired outcomes.

Some organizations view KM as primarily a staff development or succession planning activity that is within the purview of the Human Resources (HR) unit. For others, KM is synonymous with content management or business intelligence. They view KM as a function of the Information Technology (IT) unit – or perhaps as a library reference desk responsibility. These more narrow views of KM are not incorrect. However, organizations that pigeonhole KM as a single-dimensional function within a training or IT unit make two mistakes:
Mistake #1: not taking a strategic view of KM and
Mistake #2: only having a single tool in the KM toolbox.

What Does an Agency-Wide KM Approach Look Like?

An agency-wide approach to KM ideally includes the following four elements:

1. Leadership & Direction. Agency leadership makes the connection between KM and critical business goals. They show clear support for KM, designate a KM lead, articulate what outcomes they expect, and provide resources needed to accomplish these outcomes. They request regular updates on status and achievements.
2. Collaboration & Communities. The organization fosters a culture of collaboration and provides its employees with both online and face to face opportunities for knowledge sharing, mentoring and problem solving. Newer employees are able to quickly identify who to talk to when they have questions, and they are encouraged to learn from colleagues.
3. Knowledge Codification & Dissemination. Mission-critical, unique and at-risk knowledge is proactively identified and either documented and made available online, or transferred from person to person as appropriate. Standard operating procedures are put in place to capture lessons learned from completed activities and fully leverage the organization’s base of prior experience as new activities are undertaken.
4. Succession & Talent Management. Human Resources and Training functions work together with the management team to identify emerging workforce knowledge gaps and risks. They pursue a coherent and synergistic approach to addressing these gaps and risks through recruiting, employee onboarding (steps to orient new employees and help them adjust to the organization), training, and succession management activities. In addition, information about the skills and training of individual employees is made available to enable the organization to make best possible use of the available talent.

Where Do We Start?

The next section of this Guide takes you through a four-step process for implementing KM. This section can be used to identify specific areas where KM would benefit your organization, develop an initial implementation strategy, identify which specific techniques are suitable, and set up a process for monitoring results.