Knowledge Management (KM) in Research Institutions

In a previous post I wrote about KM for Collaboration and Innovation, and in this post I pointed out that research areas are critical to new product creation and the speed to market for new products are essential to stay ahead of your competitors. KM plays a central role not only from the perspective of innovation by knowing what has been done and/or what is being done in other areas of research that can be utilized, but also from the collaboration and knowledge sharing among researchers contributing to the speed of new products to market.

At its core the nature of research is to nurture open access to extensive amounts of tacit knowledge (knowledge within the minds of people) and explicit knowledge (knowledge that is written down) by applying a model that reflects the natural of flow of knowledge. The model of Connect – Collect ---Reuse and Learn depicts a knowledge flow model that supports KM within research institutions and R&D functions within organizations. For KM to work within a research environment (as with other environments) a culture and structure that supports, rewards and proves the value KM can bring will encourage the continued use and adoption of the KM practice.

In addition the choice of IT tools (which is of secondary importance) should be brought in to the organization to automate the knowledge flow and its associated process. The KM tool(s) must support KM goals/strategies, provide a means to connect, collect, catalog, access, and reuse tacit and explicit knowledge. In addition the KM tool(s) must capture new learning to share across the organization, and provide search and retrieval mechanisms to bring pertinent knowledge to the user.

For those who are working in or interacting with research institutions and/or R&D departments I want to hear from you. I look forward to hearing your perspective on what KM is bringing to your world of research!

KM in Specific Industries

Over the next few weeks I will examine several industries in which knowledge management (KM) is making an impact. I will take a brief look at Customer Service Centers, Research Institutions, Talent Management, Legal Institutions and the Military. In this blog post I will take a look at what’s happening with KM as it pertains to Customer Service Centers.

Customer Service Centers are looking to leverage their knowledge assets, KM processes and tools in order to get knowledge to the customer service rep to convey to the customer or directly to the customer in a timely manner. The KM concepts of collaboration through live chat, content management and search as well as KM workflows and expertise locators to enable the “right” resources to solve customer problems are being deployed.

Used properly, knowledge assets with the proper KM tools will enable the customer service centers to not only answer customer questions and solve problems but also increase sales and customer satisfaction through an improved customer experience. KM being leveraged at Customer Service Centers achieve the following:

Lower service cost by reducing repeat calls, call handling/resolution times, and brings down the cost of agent training

Better Quality of Service, Customers are more likely to receive the right answers faster

Consistency in service, with the right KM processes, procedures and tools in place KM ensures that customers with the same question receive the same response, regardless of agent as well as interaction channel or mode

Speaking of tools, some of the tools being utilized for KM in Customer Service Centers include salesforce.com, Kana, and SharePoint. In considering the use of these tools organizations must understand first their knowledge management strategy, how such tools fit within the KM strategy as well as their specific requirements for using one or more of these tools. Keep in mind that if multiple tools are being used to deliver on the KM Strategy your organization should look at ways to integrate the tools in order to deliver consistency in response and service to the customer.

For those organizations leveraging KM or want to utilize KM as part of your Customer Service Center solution I want to hear from you. I look forward to knowing more about what is happening at your Customer Service Centers.

KM Blog in Review 2011

It has been an interesting year for me as a knowledge management consultant and educator, I had the pleasure of working with a leading on-line financial brokerage company, teaching knowledge management at the Knowledge Systems Institute, in particularly knowledge management within healthcare, developing KM processes and tools for my latest venture Tacitware as well as presenting at the KM World Taxonomy Boot Camp.

Along the way I presented several topics in this blog for discussion and comment. I would like to thank all those who have made comments and have taken the time to stop by and read the postings. I sincerely hope that each posting stimulated some thought and that by reading it you were able to take something away in which you can apply to grow your own KM practice and/or enhance your understanding of KM.

The topics I presented ranged from knowledge management at your organization to details about taxonomies and search engine optimization and content management to the challenge of capturing tacit knowledge and wondering “where have my experts gone”. I also presented the seven steps of the Knowledge Acquisition Unified Framework (KAUF), which is a comprehensive and repeatable KM process for capturing knowledge. I rounded out my postings with talking about social media and its role in collaboration, KM for collaboration and innovation, KM trends for 2012 and my personal favorite “Drinking the KM Kool-Aid”.

Although I do not post as many blog entries as others, I will continue to post information that I believe will add value and stimulate conversation. I wish everyone the best year ever in 2012 and I look forward to hearing from everyone throughout the year!

What’s Hot in KM for 2012!

As we close out the year and start to look forward to the new challenges of 2012 I want to take a look at what will be Hot in Knowledge Management (KM). In other words what will be the trends in KM as we enter into and progress through the year 2012? Here are a few trends in what I believe will be relevant in KM through the next year:

-          KM in the Cloud: Leveraging and continuing to evolve cloud environments and mobile devices to capture, collaborate, and share knowledge

-         KM in HR: As the baby boomers retire and the workforce becomes more transitional human resource departments and organizations will leverage knowledge management to capture relevant worker knowledge before it leaves; understand who are the key knowledge holders and where new knowledge for innovation will come from

-          KM in Customer Relationship Management and Service: Customer facing organizations across all industries (Financial, Retail, Insurance, Healthcare, etc.) will look to knowledge management in order to get knowledge to the customer service rep or directly to the consumer in a timely (close to real-time) manner in order to make better decisions, improve the customer experience and increase revenue

If you know of other KM trends for 2012 and/or want to comment on the ones I have posted, feel free.

I look forward to hearing from you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Drinking the KM "Kool-Aid"

Many organizations have begun to understand the value and promise Knowledge Management (KM) can bring to their workforce. Delivering innovation through collaboration and sharing remain the cornerstones of KM. However, once your organization has established its KM Strategy, and/or rolled out it's initial KM offering (i.e., KM System, KM Process, Tools, etc.) what happens next? What happens next is the adoption process. Whether its a new process, procedure, or system; getting your workforce to leverage and use it in the course of executing activities and delivering on their task will be essential to your KM program's success. In order to achieve this there must be processes and vehicles in place to allow, encourage and reward staff members as they work within this new paradigm. It will not be easy. As with anything new it will take some time for adoption to occur. To move this along there must be KM supporters, mentors, and/or evangelist at all levels of the corporate infrastructure to encourage the workforce to "drink the KM Kool-Aid". In other words buy in and practice KM in all aspects of performing tasks and activities.
Developing an organizational culture of knowledge sharing, collaboration and lifelong learning should be the goals of any KM program. Organizations such as Fluor Corporation have been successful in infusing KM within it's culture. From human resource activities, to leveraging knowledge for strategic purposes to engaging with clients, Fluor remains an example of how KM can be leveraged effectively at an organization. Drinking the "KM Kool-Aid" is a slow and deliberate activity grounded in a basic KM process of Connect-->Collect-->Catalog-->Reuse-->Learn and Innovate. When practiced effectively this process will be a cornerstone to enabling the adoption of Knowledge Management throughout your organization. I am very interested in hearing comments on this subject as well as examples of how your organization has or suggestions or will adopt KM.