Personal Knowledge Management

It strikes me that for knowledge sharing to really work for us personally, we must make time to source, read, digest and ultimately use or learn from what we share and discover. Can knowledge managers convince others to make time to share and also absorb new knowledge, if we don't do it ourselves?

Sometimes I feel like I am sharing, sharing sharing; blogging, posting, saving, printing, bookmarking, sending all over the place, but seldom do I have time to go back to articles that I have favourited, bookmarked or printed and don't get me started on my KM book collection!! I regularly forward links and information that I have not read or digested myself, without comment other than 'fyi' or 'you may find this interesting'. The benefit in sharing information and knowledge comes from deep thinking and contemplation and in discussion, sharing viewpoints and learning from others.

Blogging provides a way for me to 'digest' and think about what I am reading, learning or practising. But it is difficult to find time and to allow myself this 'indulgence'. It is not easy to dedicate time on weekends and evenings to read work/study related information (out of Uni session) and it doesn't feel right reading at work, even though my employer would benefit greatly from my increased knowledge. I have colleagues who read about KM voraciously on their time to enable them to perform better in KM roles.

I have amassed a vast pile of paper articles, printed or cut out of magazines on knowledge management, information management and Intranets mainly over the last two years at work and through study, in addition to online articles saved on various computers and online services (Evernote, Google Drive, Delicious etc). I may have skimmed some of them, read a few (for Uni), but mainly they looked useful and were collected to read later.

 

This is the current pile of accumulated readings, I started sorting into categories and filing it (CoP, KMS, RM, Intranet etc) but it got a bit out of hand. This pile follows me to and from work occasionally as I attempt to 'conquer' it. 

Do you take time to read, research, digest and learn? Have you found a way to manage your personal knowledge management and continual learning? If so, how and when?

Knowledge from an app?

The Britannica and Merriam-Webster Apps for Windows 8. Knowledge at your fingertips?

Is it really?

Does the fact that it provides a multi-format, contextual experience make it a knowledge product or service or is it still just information that the reader is getting? Can you consume knowledge? I don't know - interested in others thoughts........

"With features like the Britannica Link Map, our goal was to provide an environment for users not just to consume knowledge, but to experience it, enjoy it, and make connections between related topics by gliding freely and easily from one to the next. For example, if you’re reading the article on Albert Einstein, you can click on Link Map and bring up a web of connections to phenomena such as relativity, space-time, the photoelectric effect, and the field of physics itself."

All sounds very cool but it reminds me of the question I ask myself every day - am I talking about information or knowledge? Through my uni study and in reading blogs, articles and books on knowledge management I have gained a greater understanding of the differences between data, information and knowledge (DIKW - data, information, knowledge, wisdom). However I also know that it is still debated and argued among the KM and IM professions among others, especially the information to knowledge part.

As I fulfil the role of an information manager (my predecessor's title) but my title is knowledge manager (first one in this org) this subject is dear to my heart. Is it just a fancy title they have given me to tick a box? Is the agency and (more importantly) it's leadership, really ready for Knowledge Management? How do I explain and demonstrate the difference and the benefits of good knowledge practise?

Do I actually do any knowledge management here or is it all really information management? My duty statement listed Gov2.0, web accessibility, FOI and records management compliance. These are all effectively IM duties and certainly it is sound information practises that are needed to get the systems and processes set up in order to move to the next level - KM. I can definitely see that KM is needed here. There is a distinct lack of responsibility in the overseeing of people, process, content and systems. Different teams or individuals introduce new systems or processes without consulting or informing others, bandaid solutions, lack of communication internally, lack of direction and clear procedures. We have silos, we have an upstairs and downstairs divide and we have people who are too busy! Many of these problems arise out of the size of the agency, it has worked this way for a long time, fairly successfully (or at least they have gotten away with it so far). Now it is growing, technology is changing, transparency and reporting requirements are increasing and we are becoming more accountable. Things need to change. There it is - change (is that what KM is going to be all about for me?)

Are we ready for KM?

We are considering implementing an online collaborative open source platform to replace the functions of some of our existing, more traditional platforms and systems over the next year or so. Effectively a knowledge management system (KMS).

We currently:

• have a very customised LotusNotes database as our main project management tool
• use e-mail to communicate with multiple project teams external to our organisation and internally
• use e-mail and word documents to create, share and save documents, reports and forms
• have a separate finance system and multiple excel spreadsheets in use across the organisation
• have an internal SharePoint Intranet
• and an EDRMS for records management
• and an external facing website (of course)

We have information overload, duplication of information, inefficient and unlcear processes, work-arounds, poor version control and full inboxes.

Of course for knowledge management (and information management) this is a nightmare. It is also difficult and inefficient for users - our staff. They have to think about what information goes where, when does it become a record, should it be saved into LotusNotes or to the Intranet (or both)? Which version with tracked changes is the latest?

Technology is at the stage where it is fairly easy and relatively affordable to solve many of these issues and allow us to communicate and collaborate within teams, across silos, internally and with external partners. Our staff travel so they need access to information on portable devices, wherever they are. Being able to locate all they need in one place and communicate across multiple channels at the same time would be ideal.

Behind this business need and the main driver are deeper issues. We need to standardise and document our processes, promote transparency, provide accurate reporting and accountability and measure impacts. Of course we still have to consider copyright, privacy, accessibility, record keeping and other compliance, good governance and regulatory requirements. See my last post on KM v RM.

So what is stopping us? Fear of change, a fear of failing and an unhealthy attachment to personal inboxes and file structures. A culture built around personal relationships, sharing on a 'need to know' basis, individual ways of doing things, freedom of individuals to choose how to manage a project, internal silos, cultural differences and technological barriers (overseas partners), information technology illiteracy, 30 years of having done it a 'certain way' and a lack of resources.

We desperately need to change but have no appetite for it and no energy or time to learn new ways of working. Do we wait another 20 years for the next generation who will demand these changes or do we go for it? I'll let you know how we go :-)

A leader who does not allow himself time to think may turn into a thoughtless leader. Likewise, an organisation that does not allow itself time to think may turn into a thoughtless organisation.
Anonymous.