Knowledge Management Guide Understanding KM Implementing KMLearning from Experience A Guide to...

Knowledge Management GuideUnderstanding KM Implementing KM Learning from Experience

A Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management

for State DOTs

NCHRP Project 20-98FINAL PRESENTATION

PREPARED FOR NCHRP TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARDOF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

SPY POND PARTNERS, LLCARLINGTON, MAMAY 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SPONSORSHIP

This work was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, and was conducted in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.

DISCLAIMER: This is an uncorrected draft as submitted by the Contractor. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied herein are those of the Contractor. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Academies, or the program sponsors.


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What is Knowledge Management?

• “Knowledge Management” (KM) is an umbrella term for a variety of techniques for building, leveraging and sustaining the know-how and experience of an organization’s employees.


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Information ≠ Knowledge

• Information– Data and documents that have been given

value through analysis, interpretation or compilation in a meaningful form.

• Knowledge– The basis for a person’s ability to take

effective action or make an effective decision.


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How Do You Manage Knowledge?

• Build it: provide opportunities for employees to learn from their peers – both within and outside of the organization.

• Leverage it: make sure that individuals and project teams are learning from prior experience and are not re-inventing the wheel.

• Sustain it: retain critical capabilities and institutional memory as employees retire or transition to other jobs-either within or outside of the organization.


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KM Methods• Knowledge Capture (Codification)

– A technical expert can be interviewed and asked to summarize important lessons and techniques they have learned. These lessons and techniques can be recorded and made available to others.

• Knowledge Transfer (Person-to-Person)– A seasoned project manager can be asked to

mentor or collaborate with others as they tackle a task or project.


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Why Should DOTs Be Interested in KM?


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Why Should DOTs Be Interested in KM?

• A strong workforce is critical to success• DOTs are losing staff due to retirements

and downsizing• Today’s workforce is more mobile –

changing jobs more frequently• KM can reduce a DOT’s vulnerability to

loss of institutional knowledge and critical skill sets


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DOTs Can Use KM to…

• Build bench strength to improve agency effectiveness and resilience

• Strengthen a culture of learning and innovation – critical to respond to changing DOT role and new expectations

• Build new skills and capabilities to support needed organizational transformation to meet changing expectations


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An Agency-Wide KM Approach

• Strategic: Focus KM activities on the organization’s greatest risks and opportunities;

• Accountable: Expected outcomes are clearly defined and tracked; and

• Agile: The most appropriate and effective KM tools and techniques are applied to achieve the desired outcomes.


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Key Elements of Agency-Wide KM

• Leadership & Direction• Collaboration & Communities• Knowledge Codification & Dissemination• Succession & Talent Management


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Leadership & Direction

• Leadership…– Understands how KM supports business

goals– Shows support by designating a KM lead and

making resources available– Establishes expectations and requests regular

updates on progress


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Collaboration & Communities

• Collaboration is valued in the agency• Opportunities for knowledge sharing,

mentoring and problem solving are provided – online and face to face

• Newer employees are encouraged to learn from colleagues and know who to ask if they have a question


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Knowledge Codification & Dissemination

• Mission-critical, unique and at-risk knowledge is proactively identified and captured

• Lessons learned are captured when projects or other activities are completed

• As new activities are started, the knowledge base is used and applied


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Succession & Talent Management

• Emerging workforce knowledge gaps and risks are regularly reviewed

• Gaps and risks are actively addressed through recruiting, employee onboarding, training, and succession management activities

• Information about the skills and training of individual employees is made available to enable the organization to make best possible use of the available talent


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Implementing KM

Step 1:Assess Risks and Opportunities

Step 2: Develop a KM Strategy

Step 3: Create a KM Implementation Plan

Step 4: Monitor Results


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Step 1: Assess Risks and Opportunities

• Conduct a Knowledge Assessment to:– Identify current areas of vulnerability– Assess the agency’s current level of capability

and bench strength in key skill areas– Identify opportunities for expanding use of

existing techniques for knowledge transfer that are working well


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Step 1: Assess Risks and Opportunities

• Options:– Quick “litmus test” – Senior leadership workshop– In-depth knowledge assessment survey– Knowledge risk assessment

(see the KM Guide for details)


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• Purpose– Define what the agency hopes to accomplish

through KM techniques and how– Get key players in the organization engaged

and aligned – Provide an opportunity for the agency

leadership to establish accountability for moving forward


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• Activities– Form a working group with broad agency

representation– Establish goals for KM– Identify strategies to meet goals– Identify resources for first 6-12 months– Seek executive endorsement and resource

commitment


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• Sample Goals– Mitigate risks of knowledge loss associated with

pending retirements of experienced employees– Build institutional memory before people leave or

retire– Build bridges across “islands of knowledge” – Stimulate innovation – Strengthen agency adaptability and agility – Increase employee efficiency and effectiveness– Strengthen customer service


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• Include a balanced set of strategies

• Provide the motivation, means and opportunity for knowledge sharing


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Sample KM Strategy


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• Important to designate the right KM lead:– Champions KM across the organization– Works across organizational silos– Works well with information technology unit – Excellent communication and negotiation skills– Trusted by upper management– Can be located in: Research, Training, Human

Resources, Risk Management, Performance Management or Business Support Units


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• Purpose– Operationalize the strategy– Make sure that the right people are involved– Establish accountability framework


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• Activities– Identify KM activities to carry out the strategy– Identify metrics and evaluation methods– Develop a detailed plan for first set of initiatives– Develop a communication plan – Identify resource needs and develop a budget– Establish a schedule of milestones – Set up tracking and evaluation process


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• Tips– Start small – use pilots to test different

methods– Include activities for: startup planning, pilot,

evaluation, and evolution – Think about how to evaluate and report on

each activity from the start– Anticipate a mix of planned activities and

responsive services


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Selected KM Techniques

• Communities of Practice– Communities of

individuals with similar roles in the organization that meet periodically to brainstorm, problem-solve and share their experiences.

• Expertise Locators– Tracking specialized

expertise or skills and providing an online “yellow pages” of expertise in order to locate appropriate individuals in the organization.


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• Collaboration Platforms– Platforms for social

networking and forums that allow people to share views on related topics of interest - either in-house or external.

• Lessons Learned– Collecting, reviewing

and publishing lessons about successes and unanticipated outcomes that can be easily accessed and applied.


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• Continuity Books– Writing the “how to do

my job manual,” or the do’s and don’ts of various organizational processes, and making them available through a content management system

• Business Process Documentation– Mapping current

business processes to provide a common understanding of steps, inputs, outputs, and roles


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• Job Shadowing– A less experienced

employee follows a more experienced employee in the organization throughout the day, learning through observation

• Mentoring– A formal program to

link mentees (less experienced employees) with mentors (more experienced employees) in the organization


Roles and Responsibilities


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• Purpose– Provide accountability – necessary to sustain

KM– Identify what is working, what isn’t, what

needs improvement


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• Key Questions– Costs: What are we spending on KM support

activities? How much time is it consuming?– Outputs: What are we delivering or producing?– Exposure/Use: What is the “market

penetration” of the KM support activities? Who are we reaching?

– Outcomes: Is the effort having its intended impact? Are we accomplishing our goals?


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• Measurement Methods– Costs: Track time spent by the KM lead (and others) to

plan, facilitate and support KM activities.– Outputs: Maintain an activity log to track products and

services provided. – Exposure/Use: Use a combination of manual methods

such as meeting sign-in sheets, and automated methods built into systems (e.g., tracking of web page hits or document downloads).

– Outcomes: Use surveys or interviews with employees, or studies of specific business process efficiency changes. Collect both quantitative and qualitative information.


Sample Metrics


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Learning from Experience• See the KM Guide for:

– Transportation agencies with KM initiatives– KM references relevant to transportation

agencies– Sample implementation tools and templates


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Where to find the KM Guide• Print Version: http://

apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3666

• Web Version:– http://sites.spypondpartners.com/kmdemo/index.html

http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=3666



http://sites.spypondpartners.com/kmdemo/index.html

Knowledge Management Guide Understanding KM Implementing KMLearning from Experience A Guide to...

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