Enhancing the likelihood of success

Feature

posted 1 Mar 2000 in Volume 3 Issue 6

Enhancing the likelihood of success

Knowledge management is an area characterised by a small number of successful projects and a large number of less successful ones. Here Paul Flew examines this phenomenon, and gives practical advice on the ways to reverse this trend.

Knowledge management. Two words that strike fear and distrust into the minds of managers across the land. An extreme statement indeed, but one that at least provides a worst-case scenario. If we accept this as a starting point, then we can pose a question: Why is this, and what can we do to change this view?

In the business arena, fear and distrust come from a perceived lack of benefit from resource investment. To overcome this, we must ensure that knowledge management projects are aimed at allaying these emotions by having achievable aims and by ultimately being successful. Indeed, this is valid for every new idea or technology.

The key lies in two areas; the ability to understand the technical basis for the idea, and the ability to translate this into a business success. Unfortunately, one often happens without the other i.e. either the presentation of technical ideas that are not geared towards a business viewpoint, or a presentation of the business benefits without a true understanding of the underlying technology.

This article presents some practical advice, based on personal experience, in order to provide a framework for more successful knowledge management projects. We begin with a discussion of expectation management, and the overall importance that setting the right expectation level has on the success of the project. Following this, a sample case study is offered, showing the importance of keeping track of the business side of the equation. Finally, we generalise the lessons learned from this into a project plan that will go towards addressing the view put forward in the first paragraph.

Manage the expectations

Over the last few decades great strides have been made in understanding the roles that knowledge and communication play in an organisation. Technology has developed, allowing much more efficient methods for disseminating knowledge and promoting collaboration between employees. Alongside this an equally important development has been taking place; the ability to analyse our knowledge assets. Unfortunately, this is often obscured by the dazzling light of technology, but is a vital tool in setting the correct expectation level for any knowledge management project.

Knowledge management schemes are often heralded as presenting a solution to internal knowledge management needs. This is an extremely dangerous direction to take. Without analysis of the current situation and quantifiable goals for the project, the chances of success are lessened by management's high level of expectation.

In order to provide clear goals, we must therefore start with an understanding of our current knowledge assets and use this as a baseline for any improvements. This will offer us a much more realistic approach to what benefits can be brought from a knowledge management system. Presenting a project with less attractive benefits may seem a particularly harsh way to begin, particularly given the aim of trying to quell fear and distrust. However, it is imperative that we start from a realistic baseline and have a strong idea of the likely end-point before attempting to demonstrate the very real benefits that the implementation of a structured knowledge management system can supply.

The importance of continued communication

So, how do we put this into practice? It is vital we ensure the business is driving the technology and not the other way around. There are now a large number of software packages available that look at various aspects of knowledge management, but however much the packages may promise, a successful knowledge management project will not emerge from the simple deployment of these ideas. Rather, it will result from the use of relevant tools to fulfil highlighted and quantifiable needs within an organisation.

In our case study we examine the experiences of a legal firm. This business is split between a number of sites, but has a good IT infrastructure and inter-site connections. A recent merger has practically doubled the firm's knowledge base, and the organisation is keen to look at knowledge management to ensure it is making the most of its potential.

Initially, the internally discussed project aims were based around the projected benefits of the deployment of a particular knowledge management package, in particular the potential to share knowledge throughout the organisation and promote collaboration amongst employees. Mergers are always good opportunities to promote the development of relationships among what previously may have been competing organisations. Knowledge management can, not only provide a framework for improving internal communication, but also enable communities of practice to emerge among employees working in similar fields.

However, before the project became too far advanced, an exercise was undertaken to assess the current situation. Detailed discussions revealed that finding information within an employee's own document archive was a significant problem. The on-line archive contained documents stretching back several years, but software limitations meant that the staff who had been with the company for more than a couple of years found that it could take around half an hour or more to uncover a particular document of interest. While in other fields information from a few years ago could be less relevant, in the legal field, by providing better access to these documents, a large amount of duplication could be eliminated and a great deal of time saved. It was also highlighted that having access to relevant up-to-the-minute news on a client or case could provide extra contextual information, potentially leading to more informed professional output.

Furthermore, the premise that a collaboration tool would be useful was found to be less sound when investigated further. The firm's structure is split into a number of functional groups and knowledge sharing between groups was not considered particularly relevant. Knowledge sharing within groups was pertinent, but the work exhibited a large degree of homogeneity. Any community of practice ran a high risk of either being too broad and appealing to too many people to be manageable, or so narrow that it would be relevant for only one or two employees. While fostering internal communication and relationships was a high priority, it was considered that at the time, there were far better ways of encouraging this.

By performing this knowledge audit it became apparent that the initial focus on collaboration was unlikely to present as many opportunities for success as a project focused on improving the internal and external knowledge-discovery capabilities of the organisation. Such a project would address the existing problem of finding documents and introduce a new service through the presentation of relevant news at the right time. Subsequently, the main focus of the project was altered from using collaboration to using knowledge-discovery examples to exhibit the benefits of investing in knowledge management systems.
A limited deployment pilot was introduced to a sample team of lawyers. This was initiated by a personal introductory session on the philosophy, use, and future development of the knowledge-discovery tool, to ensure that an understanding of the positioning of the tool was given along with the instructions for its use. After a two-week period, the employees findings were discussed, highlighting a number of time-saving success stories that arose from the ability to find information quickly and easily. The discussions also uncovered a large number of ideas about further usage outside the scope of the pilot that would further increase the benefit of a full deployment.

From the success of the pilot, a full knowledge-discovery system was implemented, and the work processes and cultural changes required to make best use of the system are currently under investigation.

A point highlighted by this case study is that, if the project had been left with vague technology-led aims, it is highly likely that the expectations raised by these would not have been satisfied. Moreover, the benefits of the deployed system would not be enough to consider taking it further. Through performing a review of the existing situation and structure, and gathering the views of the potential users it was possible to provide a set of more quantifiable aims. These aims, for example setting a target average time to retrieve information, were far more likely to provide real business benefit, and were more achievable. With a solid base to work from, it was possible to select a software package that would provide the correct tools for the job rather than letting the technology loose without a focused business aim.

Providing a structure for a successful outcome

We can now provide a template for a knowledge management deployment project that adheres to our philosophy of ensuring the business situation is fully understood first. This takes the form of a knowledge audit. Our project plan then becomes:

1) Knowledge audit - examining current business and electronic structures through discussions with employees and examination of documentation to present the current status of the organisation's knowledge management.

2) Toolkit development - assessing the results of the knowledge audit in order to highlight potential areas for improvement. An investigation of the features of the available tools can then take place alongside a check of the validity of the knowledge audit s findings to present a road map for any pilot deployment activity.

3) Feedback and deployment - regular evaluation of both the success of the new working practices and potential areas for improvement.

By performing a knowledge audit we can determine the areas of deficiency that can be improved upon in the short, medium, and long term. This will provide focus on the aspects that any tool should address, and hence ensure that the best tools are chosen to provide benefit from any evaluation undertaken.

In conclusion

Business and technology must exist in a master-slave relationship. The technology's assets must be understood and directed to provide benefit to the business, rather than existing purely for its own sake or being used for the wrong purpose: neither knowledge of the technology nor an understanding of a business area ripe for improvement is enough on its own.

A successful knowledge management project can only come from first understanding the organisation's current knowledge assets, and anticipating realistically what gains can be achieved by implementing new working practices and technology. Only when these successes occur on a wide scale will the technology of knowledge management be seen as a real benefit to the business, rather than an interesting research item.

Paul Flew is Managing Director of Future Edge Ltd., a consultancy specialising in Knowledge Management, Document Management and Data Analysis. He can be contacted at:
prf@futureedge.co.uk