Questions Answered
I’ve never heard of knowledge management before. Is it some kind of a buzzword or another trend that will fizzle out in two years?
While 'knowledge management' still seems like a fairly new term to many, it's not a short trend - though the term is often misused. In fact, it's been around as a field of management since the 1970's, and it was IT developments in the 1990's that really enabled its growth. Today, knowledge management is entirely practical and brings solid results.
‘Knowledge’ sounds a bit vague. Everyone wants to know our KPIs, so why spend time looking after something intangible?
Knowledge isn’t intangible — it’s actionable and it affects your KPIs, whether you realise it or not. In fact, knowledge capital is the most valuable thing an organisation has. Because results come and go, while experience stays and keeps raising your company’s value.
How will knowledge management practically help my team in their day-to-day work?
Most of your team’s daily frustrations are caused by a lack of clarity created by a lack of good systems. It’s a vicious cycle. KM breaks that cycle and replaces chaos with clarity.
What’s the most common misconception around knowledge management?
Knowledge management is often seen as something extra - something to do 'when you have time for it'. So, it gets pushed back again and again, until the confusion and chaos inevitably becomes unmanageable. The thing is, you'll never find the extra time - you need to make it part of your work. Once you understand that knowledge management solves the root cause of that confusion and chaos, the time you gain more than pays for the investment.
Why should I work with you?
Great question! Why should you invest in external advice?
Because you hate wasting time.
- You hate wasting time on avoidable mistakes. You want to build on the experience of those who have already done it before.
- You hate wasting time figuring out methods and tools. You want to know which ones work best for you.
- You hate wasting time on generic training and research. You want specific information tailored to your situation.
- You hate wasting time playing politics. You want a neutral and reliable advisor that puts your success first.
Will you just swoop in and fix our system for us?
It's always a collaborative process, so your team will need to cooperate. In my experience, that's never a problem. This is because knowledge management success is 70% about people (behaviours, mindset), 20% processes (agreements), and just 10% technology.