What is Knowledge Management and How to Implement it Successfully?

Knowledge management is a structured approach to managing and utilizing all forms of organizational knowledge, including the intangible expertise and skills of its workforce.

What is Knowledge Management?

The multi-disciplinary approach of knowledge management involves utilizing various departments within an organization to achieve the primary objective of enhancing and maintaining efficiency in terms of knowledge. This encompasses not only retaining and growing existing talent and knowledge but also acquiring new ones. Additionally, knowledge management involves managing and coordinating training programs for employees to enhance their understanding and execution of tasks.

Importance of Knowledge Management

The acquisition and application of knowledge play a crucial role in the success of any organization. The competency of the employees directly impacts the overall performance of the business. Therefore, it is imperative for organizations to invest in the development of their employees' knowledge and skills.

A knowledgeable workforce is a valuable asset for any organization, and knowledge management is a powerful tool to achieve this. It is no surprise that organizations have recognized the importance of knowledge management and are implementing it to gain a competitive edge in the market. By aligning employee training with organizational objectives, knowledge management helps to build a workforce that is not only hard-working but also knowledgeable. In fact, many companies have reported a significant increase in productivity as a result of implementing knowledge management strategies.

Organizations in a growth phase require access to a dependable database of knowledge, making knowledge management crucial. Without it, employees may need to re-learn information and processes, resulting in inefficiency and increased costs.

Areas of Knowledge Management

There are primarily two areas of knowledge management, which are crucial for an organization.

These two areas are:

Explicit knowledge refers to skills or information that can be easily articulated, codified, and shared between individuals. This type of knowledge is also commonly referred to as formal or codified knowledge, and can be documented in manuals or instructions to facilitate transfer from one person to another.

Tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that is not easily expressed or transferred to others. Examples of tacit knowledge include aesthetic senses, body language, and innovative thinking, which are difficult to teach someone. Unlike explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge is often gained through experience and is deeply ingrained in an individual's skills and abilities.

Both types are further categorized into four different categories.

Factual knowledge is verifiable, observable, and measurable.

Conceptual knowledge, which is in regards to systems and perspectives

Methodological knowledge which deals with problem-solving and decision-making skills

Having a deep understanding of judgments, hypotheses, and expectations is crucial in gaining exceptional knowledge. This is where knowledge management comes in to aid lifelong learning within organizations that prioritize expertise and investments. Through effective knowledge management, companies can gather crucial information about their production processes and use it to enhance their products or services.

Organizations strive to gather knowledge not just for internal retention but also to share it with both existing and new employees. Check out this Knowledge Management video for more information.

Strategies of Knowledge Management

Organizations approach knowledge management through three stages: before, during, and after. As a crucial aspect of performance improvement and measurement, knowledge management strategies are constantly evolving. Active management, for example, involves encoding knowledge into a database and requiring decoding when retrieving information, a process known as codification.

One effective approach to knowledge management is to seek out expert colleagues as needed, which is commonly referred to as a pull strategy. Various organizations also utilize other methods to manage their knowledge.

Sharing knowledge is a fundamental concept that emphasizes the importance of updating and sharing information. It is an essential component of an employee's job description.

Different types of knowledge sharings are expected, like inter-project knowledge transfer, inter- and intra-organizational knowledge sharing.

2. Knowledge retention

Losing an employee means losing valuable knowledge and expertise that is unique to that individual. This can pose a challenge for remaining staff who may not be aware of the departed employee's specialized knowledge. To mitigate this, companies strive to retain knowledge by mapping competencies and identifying current and future knowledge gaps. To ensure a smooth transition, knowledge transfer initiatives are put in place prior to the employee's departure.

is also an essential part of knowledge transfer. By sharing stories of past experiences and successes, employees can pass on valuable insights and lessons learned to their replacements. This not only helps the new employee understand the company culture and history but also gives them a sense of connection and belonging. Additionally, storytelling can make the transfer of knowledge more engaging and memorable, increasing the chances of retention and application in the future.

By utilizing storytelling, tacit knowledge can be shared in a more effective and engaging way. Analogies and examples used in the stories make the information more relatable and easier to comprehend, allowing for a smoother transfer of knowledge between individuals. Additionally, storytelling can make the learning process more enjoyable and memorable, providing a lasting impact on the listener.

4. Mentoring

This is a knowledge management strategy that is used in almost every organization. In mentoring, a senior employee is allocated as a mentor to the new employee.

The ideal mentor for a new employee is someone who has previously worked in a similar role. The primary responsibility of the mentor is to provide practical training to the new employee and share their valuable experience, knowledge, and database. Mentoring has proven to be an effective method for knowledge management as the mentor, who has a thorough understanding of the organization, can selectively pass on their knowledge to their mentee.

are used to store, track, and manage electronic documents and images. These systems provide a central location for documents to be accessed and shared among multiple users, while also providing version control and security features. They can also improve efficiency by automating document workflows and reducing manual processes.

Organizations can utilize document systems, such as cloud drives, to securely store and manage important company data. This allows new employees to easily access and update their knowledge about the organization. Access to this information can also be restricted to certain employees based on their role or level of clearance.

Beyond document systems, there are various other knowledge management strategies available, including after-action reviews, communities of practice, knowledge mapping, best practice transfer, expert directions, expert systems, collaborative software, and knowledge brokers.

Many organizations have even developed different strategies of their own to manage their knowledge.

Working of knowledge management

Employees need to be well-informed about the business's best practices to make informed decisions. A culture of continuous learning and improvement is key to achieving this. Adopting knowledge management practices can enable this by allowing employees to not only develop and refine their current skills, but also by providing a framework for new employees to learn and catch up with their colleagues.

Following are three common ways by which knowledge management can be approached:

1. People-centric

This learning is based entirely on people, relations, and now people from different learning communities share knowledge.

2. Technology centric

This approach leverages technology to enhance knowledge transfer, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing across the organization and among employees.

3. Process centric

He is intrigued by how knowledge sharing is integrated into the organizational process and seeks to gain a deeper understanding of its implementation within the current structure.

Type of information to be captured in knowledge management

Different types of information are captured as a part of the knowledge management process. This includes but is not limited to:

1. Documents

Frequently asked questions of product, product templates, brochures, company handbooks, press release notes.

2. Data

Competitor information, presentation tips, product strategies, and product development, successful practices, the strategy of the product

3. Organizational data

Information about employee turnover, procurement sheets, financial information, office location, brand information, etc.

4. Organizational news

Information regarding future strategies, important dates, important updates, and promotions.

Advantages of knowledge management

Implementing knowledge management is crucial for any organization. Not only does it provide benefits for the organization itself, but it also helps to reduce future costs and serves as a valuable resource for new employees. Here are some of the advantages of knowledge management:

During this time, the responsibilities of the employee are divided among the remaining team members, but it is not an ideal situation. This is where passing the baton comes into play. Passing the baton means that the outgoing employee takes responsibility for training and mentoring their replacement, ensuring a smooth transition and reducing the impact of their departure on the organization. It also helps to preserve institutional knowledge and maintain continuity.

The incoming candidate will have the choice to either pick up where their predecessor left off or start from the beginning, depending on whether the organization has a knowledge management system in place. Opting for the latter option can save both the organization and the employee valuable time, allowing them to focus on other critical aspects of the business and accelerate progress.

Accessing information has become easier than ever with the implementation of knowledge management. By organizing knowledge in a systematic database, organizations can retrieve necessary information quickly and effortlessly.

Any new person who is not aware of the database can access it easily.

3. Avoid mistakes

By utilizing knowledge management, organizations can prevent the recurrence of mistakes by storing and referencing past information in a database. This ensures that history does not repeat itself when it comes to errors of the past. Furthermore, the best practices and successes that have been documented can also be replicated, contributing to ongoing improvement and success.

Newbies can access the old database and understand how they did things. Past lessons can be learned without living through the lesson and wasting time on it.

4. Decision making

Accessing the knowledge system's database allows employees to examine past decisions and their outcomes, providing valuable insights for making important choices. By analyzing multiple pieces of data, individuals can make informed decisions based on past successes and failures. In some cases, similar decisions may prove effective across various generations.

A CEO who presided over in the 1920s will not be available in 2020, and this is why the knowledge database collected in the 1920s will be useful in 2020.

5. Better service

Having a well-established knowledge management system in your organization can significantly enhance the efficiency and speed with which your employees and customer support team resolve customer issues. Creating a database of frequently asked questions can further aid your customer service team in providing prompt responses. By ensuring that your team members are satisfied and content, you can ultimately increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Standardization is key to efficiency. By documenting processes and storing information in a centralized database, you can ensure that everyone adheres to the same procedures and has a uniform understanding. This makes it easier to streamline operations and avoid confusion.

Challenges of Knowledge Management

Now that we have seen the benefits let us understand the challenges of knowledge management.

1. Security

Securing the knowledge management database is crucial for any organization, and it requires a well-protected database. The database is an essential tool for knowledge management, but it also poses a significant risk if it falls into the wrong hands. External threats are constantly looming, and safeguarding the database is a complex and challenging responsibility that must be taken seriously. The organization must take all necessary measures to protect its knowledge management database, as sensitive information and knowledge in the wrong hands can have devastating consequences for the entire company.

Collaboration and flexibility are crucial components in implementing new policies through knowledge management. Often, individuals develop a sense of comfort around existing policies, making it challenging to introduce changes. However, by encouraging collaboration and flexibility, organizations can ensure that the old and new knowledge bases are seamlessly integrated at all levels. This approach facilitates a smooth transition and ensures that everyone is on board with the new policies.

Employees find it very difficult to implement new policies and procedures. Learning new skills that are not there in the old database can be difficult for the employees.

3. Knowledge measurement

Rewritten: Tacit knowledge poses a challenge in measuring and transmitting, unlike its explicit counterpart. Given its intangible nature, assessing tacit knowledge among employees proves to be a difficult task, especially as it requires a combination of both tacit and explicit knowledge.

Storing knowledge within an organization is typically achieved through the establishment of a knowledge database that can be accessed by various team members. Although this is an effective way to share knowledge with others, managing and storing a large amount of information can pose a challenge.

Also, it will equally be difficult to access and go through the massive database.

5. Knowledge manager

It is crucial to have a dedicated individual with expertise in knowledge management to oversee the entire database. This person should possess a deep understanding of the organization's processes and have a foundational knowledge of knowledge management methods.

However, relying solely on one individual for the management of all data can be costly and inefficient.

57. Proper management of these documents is necessary to ensure easy accessibility and retrieval when needed. This includes organizing them in a systematic manner, assigning proper labels and tags, and implementing efficient storage solutions. Failure to do so can lead to loss of important information and hinder the organization's operations.

Thousands of GB of storage is required to store and maintain such a vast database.

7. Continuous improvement and upgrading

Maintaining a knowledge management database is a complex undertaking that requires ongoing attention. One crucial aspect of this task is ensuring the database's security is up-to-date, which typically involves updates at least once every six months to a year. Additionally, regularly reviewing the contents of the database, separating the relevant information from the outdated or unnecessary, can be a daunting task, particularly when dealing with a large volume of data. For large organizations, this challenge becomes even more significant, but even smaller organizations may find it challenging to keep up with the ongoing demands of database maintenance.

Conclusion

Knowledge management is an essential process in every organization. While the process of itself varies in every organization, the basic elements remain the same.

Passing, maintaining, and updating the knowledge remains the primary objective of knowledge management.