The Five Knowledge Management rules not to break

‘Knowledge Management’ as a term interests us particularly when it’s applied to enabling front-line staff to serve customers better. However, as a term it suffers from a broad definition, often ill-defined objectives and poor success rates. For example, American companies are set to spend $73 billion on KM software this year, even though historically 85% of them have not delivered successfully. Similarly we see our own clients either planning large KM spend, or not recognising the very large ‘hidden’ spend on KM already spread around their organisations.

But that doesn’t mean the problem should not be tackled. We know from several studies that ‘staff knowledge’ is key to customer satisfaction. Repeat calls and service failures are very costly in direct and reputational terms. Therefore, based on experience of previous projects we have come up with the five KM rules not to break.

Rule 1 - focus on the implementation not the technology

Knowledge Management is not a technology problem.  It encompasses:

• People & Culture
• Processes, operating models and controls
• Technology & Tools
• Content
• Continuous Improvement.

Each of these needs to be addressed if your KM project is to succeed. See this related article for details on any of the above.

Rule 2 - Business case should include specific metrics for business performance

The ROI (return on investment) of knowledge management will change according to the environment and business need. As an example in a large bank Knowledge Management could be used in a call centre environment to increase customer satisfaction and decrease in call handling time. In the same bank in the Operations Centre it can manifest itself by improved efficiency, effectiveness and innovation. In a sales area it may increase revenue generation through existing knowledge of a market or knowledge about a competitive environment and finally for support areas it can result in reduced costs (money saving through internal sharing) and reduced cycle times to onboard service providers.

Rule 3 – Be careful of using the label “Knowledge management”

As with any buzzword, the term can often overtake the real need, and confuse stakeholders and staff about the real objective. Knowledge management as a term can be applied to:

• Quick guides to help service staff handle customer calls better,
• Process and procedure manuals to help guide operations staff through complex transactions
• Archiving and repositories for compliance and legal documents
• Practical how-to guides for IT staff to build better systems
• Collaborative tools for sharing and exchanging ideas
• Many other examples

So which do you mean?

Rule 4 – Follow “outside-in” design principles

Knowledge systems are only useful if they are used. Recent experience has shown millions spent in organisations in documenting content only to have it seldom used by the staff it was created for. Many ‘head-office’ initiatives tend to focus on central controls and central tools, but not adapt these closely to the real needs of staff on the ground. Often decentralised content control is required – only local managers and team leaders really know what their staff need.

So - identify the “what’s in it for me”, not as a communications afterthought, but very early, as the basis for the design of the knowledge management initiative overall. One of our clients described this approach as producing a “working class system; by the people for the people”. Approaching KM with this design mindset and you will avoid many mistakes, ensuring benefits and adoption are strong.

Rule 5 - Don’t bite off more than you can chew

Although there are some sophisticated tools on the market there is no single silver bullet. Most change is managed at a business unit or project level therefore focusing on these problems it the best approach to gaining support. Prioritise activities according to business needs and benefits, and deliver to a common framework but in phases that prove benefits and allow you to learn and improve as you go. This way the business sees benefit and the solution will gain momentum.