People-focused knowledge management

Starting the Knowledge Management Practice
Enterprises pursue deliberate and systematic knowledge manage-
ment for clearcut reasons: they wish to make people — and the 
whole enterprise — act intelligently, operate more effectively, and
satisfy their stakeholders better. However, the practical issues of 
how to expand the knowledge management practice are more
complex.
When knowledge management practices are implemented in an
enterprise, they become part of a continued process that will be
ongoing for years. Initially, “bite-sized” targeted efforts with clear
bottom-line business goals should be pursued. These efforts should
later be complemented with other efforts that together will create
increasingly valuable capabilities for the enterprise. The nature of the
process to implement capabilities in evolving situations is the foun-
dation of a successful KM implementation process. A well-planned
introduction of KM practice normally requires that nine agenda items
are pursued up-front. In order of importance, these items are as
follows.
Create an environment of trust, ethical behavior, mutual respect,
support, and open communication about individual employees’
functions, roles, and importance of contribution — in part based
on individual responsibility and accountability.
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People-Focused Knowledge Management
Develop a broad vision of the knowledge management practice
and obtain buy-in from management. Champions must have a
flexible mental outline of how knowledge management might be
conducted and organized to support the enterprise. This vision
provides the guide for creating the needed capabilities and infra-
structure and for setting priorities. It should be documented in
brief discussion papers.
Pursue a targeted knowledge management focus determined
from knowledge landscape mapping and other insights and
based on priorities that align with enterprise objectives. Under-
take small and sharply focused initiatives with clear benefit
expectations. These initiatives should build cumulatively to
implement the broader knowledge management vision over time.
Build a small professional team and allow it to focus full time
on knowledge management. Designate one or a few highly com-
petent employees to work almost exclusively with implementa-
tion. Avoid the common mistake of giving them additional
responsibilities. This is difficult to do since these individuals 
tend to be some of the most valuable in the organization. The
practitioners must have good understanding of “knowledge” 
(in contrast to “information”), its role in conducting 
knowledge-intensive work in target situations, methods for diag-
nosing, eliciting, acquiring, transferring, and organizing knowl-
edge, and so on. These are often new professional areas for the
enterprise.
Install and agree on knowledge management impact and benefit