APQC的知识管理实施策略

Stage 1: Get Started

Learning where you are is the first important task along your path to knowledge management success. APQC shows you where to start and points you in the right direction.

If one or more of the following statements is true, your organization is likely ready to embark on Stage 1 of the journey.

Knowledge management has emerged as a topic of interest in your organization.
At least a few employees have explored the benefits of KM for your organization.
Someone has had a personal stake in developing interest in KM.
You or other members of the organization have learned about KM through participation in consortia or conferences.
The organization has created a high-level rationale or vision for pursuing KM.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR STAGE 1

So, what now? you might wonder. Fortunately, APQC has been here before with dozens of world-class companies and knows what it takes to initiate this complex process. Based on the organization's wealth of experience, APQC has summarized the key activities, as well as some helpful hints, of Stage 1.

As an insightful innovator and early promoter of KM, your tasks at this exciting stage are to define KM for others in your organization, share stories of how KM has helped other successful companies, and align KM use with current initiatives.

1. Make the concepts of KM real for others in your organization.
Create a clear, tangible picture of the benefits of KM as they relate to goals in your organization. Use simple definitions and simple language to explore real problems, opportunities, and the potential value that KM addresses.

2. Identify others to support the development of KM.
To find advocates of knowledge management, look around the organization for current activities that might already be related to KM. Look for smaller communities or groups that are currently sharing knowledge, and make connections with these people. Recruiting well-respected, influential people is always a good idea.

Next, consider which of the following phrases really gets your attention: Cost cutting? Improved efficiency? Pressure from competitors? Streamlined information access? Simplified processes? As an agent of change, find the greatest motivating value factor in your organization to influence others to support KM initiatives.

3. Look for windows of opportunity to introduce the benefits of KM.
Find where KM will be most valued by talking to people involved with strategic initiatives, internal consulting groups, or people inside the company with whom you've developed personal relationships. Then answer the following questions. What are their objectives? What issues are being addressed? How can KM help the organization meet those objectives and deal with those issues?

4. Capitalize on the Internet and enlist the IT department to provide tools and a balanced view of KM.

Make connections with your IT leaders to find out what KM possibilities are available with existing technology. Find out what capabilities realistic upgrades might provide. Remember that the IT department can truly be a catalyst for emerging KM support technologies.

ROADBLOCKS TO SUCCESS

Ignoring your corporate culture and history not addressing issues that might hinder KM
Attempting to sell an enterprisewide approach without building evidence first
Asking for a large budget before creating a compelling value proposition

Stage 2: Develop Strategy

If one or more of the following statements is true, welcome to Stage 2.

Your organization has established a KM exploratory group or steering committee for KM.
An executive sponsor in your organization supports further exploration of KM.
You are looking for successful, internal grassroots efforts already under way.
Your IT organization is interested in actively supporting KM initiatives.
You have stories of how knowledge sharing has helped your organization in the past.
You have identified pilots that allow you to demonstrate how KM will benefit your organization.
You have secured ownership, funding, and buy-in for pilots.

If most of your answers are "I wish!" you don’t have to stop. And if the tasks mentioned in any of these statements seem difficult to accomplish, APQC can guide you through the rough spots. We can even help you build the business rationale you need to secure funding for pilots. The overall objective of Stage 2 is to formulate a KM strategy that fits the business model. From there, business opportunities are identified and initialized as pilot initiatives. A task force takes charge of these activities on behalf of the organization.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR STAGE 2

At Stage 2, your organization has reached an important turning point. Perhaps a personal vision of capturing, sharing, and using information and knowledge has become an organizational exploration of business potential. With the support of an executive sponsor, you can now explore specifically how KM will work for your business. The key activities of Stage 2, and some helpful hints, are summarized for you here.

1. Form a KM task force.
Base this cross-functional team on the core group that has already formed around KM. The team members will identify opportunities for pilots and set the standards for methods to be used across all initiatives.

2. Select pilots or identify current initiatives that could work as pilots.
We recommend three pilots. You can select new strategic pilots or adopt current grassroots efforts already under way. Address issues that are important to your business, and design the pilots to show demonstrable, relevant results. Select pilot sponsors with the resources to help the initiative along.

3. Find the resources to support the pilot.
The most important resources are skilled staff members who can facilitate the initiative and who are authorized by management to focus their time on it. Other resources include IT applications that might need to be created or modified. They may be extensive媜r you may have them already.

Stage 3: Design and Launch KM Initiatives

You've already come a long way. You've formed a task force, identified and designed a pilot, and located resources. Now you're approaching Stage 3, that exciting point of launching successful pilots and gathering results.

If one or more of the following statements is true, you are at the midway point of your journey. Welcome to Stage 3.

Your organization has designed a pilot and implementation strategies.
You have launched communities of practice, an interactive KM Intranet site, or some other pilot initiative.
You have enlisted and trained pilot facilitators and leaders.
You have established pilot measures and indicators and developed a system for tracking and reporting results.
You have created strategies for learning from your KM initiatives.
You have mapped out strategies for expanding your pilot initiatives across the organization.

Stage 3 can be a rewarding time of new organizational growth and vitality. The overall objectives of Stage 3 are to conduct successful pilots, provide evidence of KM's business value, and capture lessons learned.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR STAGE 3

At stage 3, the benefits of capturing, sharing, and using information and knowledge have begun to take definite form. This is the time to harness the momentum from the first two stages and focus on details, such as a formal budget. Leadership now needs to see the potential for measurable gains and ROI from successful pilots.

1. Fund the pilots.
Assign a KM oversight group, such as a steering committee or cross-unit task force, to reallocate organizational resources, such as money and time, for KM initiatives. Every best-practice partner, including the World Bank, Chevron, HP Consulting, Xerox, and Siemens, reported having a KM task force to provide supervision and support for the reallocation of organizational resources.

2. Develop methodologies that can be replicated.
Avoid building knowledge collections without an active community to contribute to the effort. Combine knowledge providers and knowledge users in a seamless community of practitioners. Allow these active communities to form voluntarily from natural groupings that span boundaries; encourage participation with face-to-face networking and community-driven Web sites. Establish a process for screening, filtering, and validating shared knowledge from the sites before presenting it as organizational knowledge.

3. Capture lessons learned.
The oversight group must discuss lessons learned at regular meetings and provide a common space for sharing the results. To complete this most crucial last step, answer questions such as What made the pilots most successful? and Are the results worth investing in for expansion?

LOOKING AHEAD

After your company assesses the pilots, KM will continue along one of three paths, KM efforts will be expanded to new initiatives, existing initiatives will be improved, or the status quo will be maintained, in which case employees will likely revert to prior behavior.

Stage 4: Expand and Support

By now, you've gained quite a bit of expertise. You've launched pilots, gathered results, captured some important lessons, and decided to continue the KM journey. Stage 4 involves expanding KM initiatives throughout your organization, which necessitates rapid and highly visible growth.

If one or more of the following statements is true, you are steadily nearing the final stage of your journey. Welcome to Stage 4.

Other departments in the organization are expressing a demand for KM, based on pilot results.
You have begun to market KM throughout the organization.
You have made the entire organization aware of KM.
You have an expansion strategy in place for your KM initiatives.
You have identified the resources necessary for expanding your KM efforts.

The overall objectives of Stage 4 are to develop and market an expansion strategy and to effectively manage KM growth. Being given the green light to expand adds the pressure of meeting formal business evaluations and ROI justification. APQC can help you through this stage by sharing with you the experiences of companies who have already been there媋nd come through it successfully.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR STAGE 4

Getting through this highly visible stage requires meeting ROI demands and carefully managing KM growth. The good news is that KM is at this point well on its way to being considered a necessary organizational competency.

1. Develop an expansion strategy.
You can choose to apply the pilot selection criteria for programs in other departments or develop an all-at-once strategy to universally implement KM. Regardless of your approach, provide the appropriate resources, such as a group of core facilitators, CoP leaders, a corporate KM group, or a chief knowledge officer. Make sure the necessary technology is in place and that appropriate user support is available.

Deal with cultural challenges. Deal with language issues; software exists that can automatically translate shared information in global CoPs. You can deal with the "silo" mentality, for example, by obtaining active support from senior leadership.

2. Communicate and market the strategy.
Publicize KM initiatives throughout the organization. Some options include incorporating KM training into new-hire orientation; training managers and quality coordinators; holding an open house, knowledge fair, or regular meetings; or advertising on the intranet or through brochures and pamphlets.

3. Manage growth.
Control the confusion from the explosion of KM initiatives that normally happens at this stage. A consistent online policy can keep KM resources organized, consistent, and easily accessible. World Bank, for example, has a technology group that spends about 50 percent of its time on technology issues related to KM and managing information on the internal and external Web.

STAGE 4 SUCCESS

Appoint a central cross-functional KM group to create an expansion strategy, identify required resources, and alleviate confusion from rapid growth.
Resources to successfully support widespread KM initiatives must be conscripted or developed from other units.
Communicate the KM strategy using vigorous marketing.

LOOKING AHEAD

To progress to Stage 5, several best-practice advanced firms assessed their KM efforts and addressed weaknesses in their KM strategy. Chevron used an internal corporate KM group; World Bank engaged an outside team of KM practitioners; and Xerox embedded KM evaluation into its Xerox Management Model assessment process.

Stage 5: Institutionalize Knowledge Management

Here it is at last: Stage 5. It's a destination, a new beginning, a journey of its own. To fulfill the potential of this stage, your company must redefine its strategies, its organizational structure, and its performance assessments. Based on our experiences with guiding the companies who have reached this stage, APQC offers guidance to make this phase of your journey as smooth and productive as possible. We'll show you how other companies have successfully navigated this portion of the KM path and help you address the specific needs of your organization.

If one or more of the following statements is true, you are beginning to integrate KM throughout your organization. KM is on its way to becoming how you do business.

KM is directly linked to your business model.
KM initiatives are widely deployed throughout your organization.
All your managers and employees are trained to use your KM technologies.
You methodically assess your KM strategy, identify gaps, and outline methods to close the gaps.
You have a formal support structure in place to maintain KM.
You have rewards programs in alignment with your KM strategy.
Sharing knowledge is now the norm in your organization.

Stage 5 places you among a few select companies who have reached this stage of institutionalized KM. APQC can help you through this stage by sharing with you the experiences of companies who have already been there and are now successfully leveraging their KM capabilities. We'll help you make the most of your opportunities and avoid unnecessary pitfalls.

KEY ACTIVITIES FOR STAGE 5

At Stage 5, your organization is beginning to understand that KM is a business strategy not just a database and needs to be an integral part of your business model. KM at this point becomes a necessary organizational competency with unlimited potential to benefit every unit of your organization.

1. Embed KM in the business model.
This step is necessary to obtain CEO and senior executive support. You can accomplish this step by including KM in your mission statement, management model, or assessment process. Expect financial pressure to increase at this stage, and early barriers, such as functional silos, to disappear.

2. Realign the organization's structure and budget.
Reorganize budget and departmental responsibilities to accommodate the wide deployment of KM as a business strategy. World Bank, for example, shifted KM leadership to operations from the chief information officer, as KM evolved from a database to an all-encompassing strategy. The budget increased from $13 million to $57 million in two years and included a formal consolidation of budgets from activities that had been contributing to KM. You will find at this stage that organizational structure will, to some extent, naturally evolve to better fit this new way of working.

3. Monitor the health of KM.
Take the pulse of KM initiatives regularly. You can employ an external evaluation panel, conduct internal maturity evaluations, or include KM feedback on employee surveys.

4. Align performance evaluation and rewards with KM strategy.
Since performance appraisals are the basis for promotion and pay, including KM standards with reviews sends a dramatic message about its role. Institute recognition awards programs for people who exemplify the ideals of your KM strategy.

5. Balance an organizational KM framework with local control.
Link company wide business goals to KM activities to provide necessary consistency. At the same time, allow individual groups to develop KM resources that meet their specific needs. Allow business needs to drive your KM policy.

6. Continue the journey.
As your organization becomes a true knowledge-sharing enterprise, demand for knowledge processes will continue to increase, as will savings of time and money. Maintain senior leadership support to help your organization keep pace with demand.

LOOKING AHEAD

Critical success factors for continuing the KM journey include maintaining committed and involved leadership, forming a motivating and consistent vision, developing an evolutionary process (not a "big bang" approach), starting initiatives when and where people are ready, identifying role models, and communicating constantly and effectively about initiatives and business needs.