Making decisions about a knowledge management strategy that will deliver improved sales, innovation or delivery performance requires an appreciation of the value that can be created by this kind of improvement initiative. Companies frequently diminish the value by arguing about what knowledge managment is or is not. Knowledge sharing that produces business results is ineluctably tied to business process. In fact, I would assert that knowledge management has no real relevance outside of business process.
To improve the performance of a process you need to understand the individual worksteps plus the information and skills that are required to be execute effectively. Ask yourself: Is all the information required to do the job provisioned to the employee or do they have to do research in order to complete the task? If research is required, are their job aids that can help them accomplish the task? Is training available for people who don't have enough experience. Knowledge Management seeks to provision the employee with all the information, content, perspective, and learning required to create value. Mapping critical content to a business process enables knowledge workers to increase productivity and improve the quality of their work.
At Coherence Group we combine access to knowledge, learning and methods to enable knowledge workers. This requires adjustment to some business processes. It also requires an implementation of electronic support systems that help get employees find and apply the information they need to effectively execute their jobs.
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