Knowledge Management - Creating a Sustainable Yellow Pages System
How do I"know who knows" None of us can personally know more than around 250 people, yet we want our companies to be smart, learning organisations where it's easy to locate the ideal person to speak to. However, these systems may be fraught with difficulty in their implementation, and often end up as obsolete, glorified intranet telephone directories. This article, drawn from a bestselling knowledge management fieldbook by its author, identifies ten important steps involved in creating and sustaining a successful, employee-owned yellow pages system.
The tips below will be drawn from the book"Learning to Fly - Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organisations" (Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell), and sets out ten important steps to creating a yellow pages systems that actually works, and has the favorable buy-in of its user community - which is to sayits clients.
1 Maintain a clean and distinctive vision. Be cautious about what it is you're attempting to achieve and prevent compromise. Tired of becoming"all things to all men" - particularly those from the HR and IT departments! Everybody will need a piece of this action - do not lose sight of the overarching goal of your own body - which makes it simple to find people who you don't already know.
2 Strive for individual ownership and upkeep. Create a process whereby only the individuals concerned can make and update their entries. This may drive a far deeper feeling of ownership across the populace.
3 Strike a balance between casual and formal content. Encourage people to share non-work info about themselves in addition to valuable company information. , "what is your favourite film?" .
4 Support the photographs wherever possible. Nothing is more powerful and private than a photograph. It speaks volumes about the person, raises the curiosity rates of others and generates personal ownership of their content. If possible encourage individuals to incorporate an informal photograph. The security-pass-rabbit-in-the-headlights shots seldom show people in their very best light! Better to have a picture which says more about the individual and what motivates them.
5 Ensure that your product design is flexible and inclusive. Realize that different folks relate to templates, pushes and construction in various ways.
6 Start using a customer-facing pilot. Critical mass is all important, so begin with a bunch of people who have a natural need to be more observable to internal customers. This might include things like encouraging functions, existing communities or networks, or perhaps business areas with fresh leadership.
7 Deliver through local fans. Centrally-driven push isn?t consistently the best method to engage the workforce. Tap into local enthusiasts and champions if possible? They will understand how best to"sell" the concept locally.
8 Utilize success stories as an advertising tool. Reinforce the usefulness of the knowledge directory at each opportunity. Publicize any examples or successes widely, and ancient, to reinforce your project. This is a culture change project, and culture change happens one story at a time!
9 Encourage use, but lead by example instead of edict. Avoid mandating the population and use of this information directory. People will provide much better quality content should they feel they are volunteering the data. In the end of the day, you can?t actually conscript understanding - you can only ever volunteer it.
And let?s face it, there is little point in finding the one person with expertise or experience that you need, when you call them on the phone, they're unwilling to talk!
10 Embed into individuals procedures. Search for process and intranet"hooks" that may initiate and sustain the use of your information directory (e.g. recruiting or induction of new staff, the launching of new networks, any reference on an intranet site which mentions a individual's name can become associate with their personal page.
The tips below will be drawn from the book"Learning to Fly - Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organisations" (Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell), and sets out ten important steps to creating a yellow pages systems that actually works, and has the favorable buy-in of its user community - which is to sayits clients.
1 Maintain a clean and distinctive vision. Be cautious about what it is you're attempting to achieve and prevent compromise. Tired of becoming"all things to all men" - particularly those from the HR and IT departments! Everybody will need a piece of this action - do not lose sight of the overarching goal of your own body - which makes it simple to find people who you don't already know.
2 Strive for individual ownership and upkeep. Create a process whereby only the individuals concerned can make and update their entries. This may drive a far deeper feeling of ownership across the populace.
3 Strike a balance between casual and formal content. Encourage people to share non-work info about themselves in addition to valuable company information. , "what is your favourite film?" .
4 Support the photographs wherever possible. Nothing is more powerful and private than a photograph. It speaks volumes about the person, raises the curiosity rates of others and generates personal ownership of their content. If possible encourage individuals to incorporate an informal photograph. The security-pass-rabbit-in-the-headlights shots seldom show people in their very best light! Better to have a picture which says more about the individual and what motivates them.
5 Ensure that your product design is flexible and inclusive. Realize that different folks relate to templates, pushes and construction in various ways.
6 Start using a customer-facing pilot. Critical mass is all important, so begin with a bunch of people who have a natural need to be more observable to internal customers. This might include things like encouraging functions, existing communities or networks, or perhaps business areas with fresh leadership.
7 Deliver through local fans. Centrally-driven push isn?t consistently the best method to engage the workforce. Tap into local enthusiasts and champions if possible? They will understand how best to"sell" the concept locally.
8 Utilize success stories as an advertising tool. Reinforce the usefulness of the knowledge directory at each opportunity. Publicize any examples or successes widely, and ancient, to reinforce your project. This is a culture change project, and culture change happens one story at a time!
9 Encourage use, but lead by example instead of edict. Avoid mandating the population and use of this information directory. People will provide much better quality content should they feel they are volunteering the data. In the end of the day, you can?t actually conscript understanding - you can only ever volunteer it.
And let?s face it, there is little point in finding the one person with expertise or experience that you need, when you call them on the phone, they're unwilling to talk!
10 Embed into individuals procedures. Search for process and intranet"hooks" that may initiate and sustain the use of your information directory (e.g. recruiting or induction of new staff, the launching of new networks, any reference on an intranet site which mentions a individual's name can become associate with their personal page.
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