Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is a hot topic everywhere. Still it is a dilemma, especially when one wants to implement it in the organisation. It is because generally people take it as a single system that could be chipped into the organisation as a unit or division. Knowledge management is not a system that could be brought or established and implement in the organisation straight forward. It is a process that has to be integrated with each division or department of the organisation, and awareness that has to be raised in each member of that organisation. In short, KM needs to be embedded in everyday organisational processes for it to work efficiently and for it to be successful. It provides the processes and structures to create, capture, analyze, and act on information. And, the emphasis of Knowledge Management should be on human know-how and how to exploit it to bring maximum benefits for the organization. Here are few things that should be considered for implementing KM:
prepare KM strategy
implement knowledge sharing tools for both tacit and explicit knowledge
document good practices and what did not work
map all the existing knowledge in the organisation - tacit and explicit
make knowledge sharing a policy of the organisation
KM is directly linked with people rather than technology. Technology is just a supportive tool for boosting KM. Effectiveness of the KM lies under the competence of the staff, institutional support and the motivations. And, KM is an ongoing process as Knowledge is constantly tested, updated, revised, and sometimes even obsolete.
The KM vision should be explained in organisational strategic terms rather than KM terms (examples are 'ICIMOD will explore upstream-downstream relationships and to validate the supply of ecosystem services, including freshwater and carbon sequestration, and to conserve and manage biodiversity as a natural heritage, a resource for livelihoods and for ecological resilience. ICIMOD aims to help mountain people facilitate the development of appropriate policies and innovative and equitable compensation mechanisms for ecosystem services', 'ICIMOD wants to develop regional capacity and reduce mountain poverty to ensure the increased economic resilience of mountain people. By exploring sustainable livelihood options and enhancing innovative rural income generation strategies. ICIMOD will generate, promote and customise knowledge on equitable socio-economic adaptation strategies and methods to allay the effects of socio-economic and environmental change. ICIMOD also aims to monitor and analyse the poverty situation and its main drivers, and to develop policy-relevant data'), and in a manner that generates enthusiasm, buy-in, and motivates managers to work together toward reaching common goals as it always adds value to the existing knowledge by pooling the expertise together, building the relationships and collaborating among the useful knowledge to achieve the goal of the organisation.Then, the challenge is to sort out the information within the organization that are valuable for obtaining the goal or moving towards the objectives of the organisation. And, KM should also secure the learning experiences of the individuals as when a person leaves an organization, she/he takes lots of knowledge about her/his job with her/him which are always valuable processes and procedures of the organisation. With all these and many more functions, KM adds a great value to the organizational efficiency achieving or moving towards its goals by
Facilitating better decisions and processes
Contributing to the intellectual capital of the organization
Eliminating redundant processes, streamlines operations, and enhances employee retention rates
Lastly, KM is done not only for capturing or storing the existing knowledge but should be tied up with the strategic objectives of the organisation and embedded in everyday life, and implement as a part policy of the organisation.
Knowledge management is a hot topic everywhere. Still it is a dilemma, especially when one wants to implement it in the organisation. It is because generally people take it as a single system that could be chipped into the organisation as a unit or division. Knowledge management is not a system that could be brought or established and implement in the organisation straight forward. It is a process that has to be integrated with each division or department of the organisation, and awareness that has to be raised in each member of that organisation. In short, KM needs to be embedded in everyday organisational processes for it to work efficiently and for it to be successful. It provides the processes and structures to create, capture, analyze, and act on information. And, the emphasis of Knowledge Management should be on human know-how and how to exploit it to bring maximum benefits for the organization. Here are few things that should be considered for implementing KM:
prepare KM strategy
implement knowledge sharing tools for both tacit and explicit knowledge
document good practices and what did not work
map all the existing knowledge in the organisation - tacit and explicit
make knowledge sharing a policy of the organisation
KM is directly linked with people rather than technology. Technology is just a supportive tool for boosting KM. Effectiveness of the KM lies under the competence of the staff, institutional support and the motivations. And, KM is an ongoing process as Knowledge is constantly tested, updated, revised, and sometimes even obsolete.
The KM vision should be explained in organisational strategic terms rather than KM terms (examples are 'ICIMOD will explore upstream-downstream relationships and to validate the supply of ecosystem services, including freshwater and carbon sequestration, and to conserve and manage biodiversity as a natural heritage, a resource for livelihoods and for ecological resilience. ICIMOD aims to help mountain people facilitate the development of appropriate policies and innovative and equitable compensation mechanisms for ecosystem services', 'ICIMOD wants to develop regional capacity and reduce mountain poverty to ensure the increased economic resilience of mountain people. By exploring sustainable livelihood options and enhancing innovative rural income generation strategies. ICIMOD will generate, promote and customise knowledge on equitable socio-economic adaptation strategies and methods to allay the effects of socio-economic and environmental change. ICIMOD also aims to monitor and analyse the poverty situation and its main drivers, and to develop policy-relevant data'), and in a manner that generates enthusiasm, buy-in, and motivates managers to work together toward reaching common goals as it always adds value to the existing knowledge by pooling the expertise together, building the relationships and collaborating among the useful knowledge to achieve the goal of the organisation.Then, the challenge is to sort out the information within the organization that are valuable for obtaining the goal or moving towards the objectives of the organisation. And, KM should also secure the learning experiences of the individuals as when a person leaves an organization, she/he takes lots of knowledge about her/his job with her/him which are always valuable processes and procedures of the organisation. With all these and many more functions, KM adds a great value to the organizational efficiency achieving or moving towards its goals by
Facilitating better decisions and processes
Contributing to the intellectual capital of the organization
Eliminating redundant processes, streamlines operations, and enhances employee retention rates
Lastly, KM is done not only for capturing or storing the existing knowledge but should be tied up with the strategic objectives of the organisation and embedded in everyday life, and implement as a part policy of the organisation.
