What Drives the Need for KM in Organizations? (Video)

Video produced by Steve Nathans-Kelly

Even if you have the best KM program today, you have to ask, will it be the right one for tomorrow? Some organizations have done serious self-examinations in the face of industry upheavals, mergers, and/or acquisitions and catastrophes while others fire themselves annually so that they can look at their future from a different perspective. KM programs must continue to evolve, align with the business or focus of their organization, and improve the knowledge sharing among their employees.

At KMWorld, Collins Aerospace director, knowledge & change strategies, operations & quality Lynda Braksiek discussed recent APQC findings on what is driving organizational KM needs in this clip from her presentation at KMWorld 2019.

Citing research from APQC's Knowledge Base, Collins Aerospace director, knowledge & change strategies, operations & quality Lynda Braksiek noted that what is driving the need for KM on a regular basis is change. "Change is coming at us all the time. We need to ensure that when technology changes, when the globalization of the workforce, with changing career expectations occurs, we've got knowledge solutions in place to get that knowledge transferred faster, more efficiently, in the flow of people's work that they do every single day. Not something they have to go look for, but something they can grab as they are performing their process, as they are doing their job, so that it's the most efficient that it can possibly be."

Generational differences

There are three knowledge gaps, she added. "We do a lot of talking about generational differences and gaps and things like that. And while I think that's relevant and I think about it too, I also think I'm in the Generation X category. But I work very differently than maybe other people in Generation X because I have been exposed to technology where I work, right? So am I so different from a Millennial when I use my phone for everything and I'm constantly on technology? I don't know. So I try to look, and find people where they are in that moment and we need to help people get through from a novice perspective, early career people."

Knowledge transfer

"We also think about retirees a lot. I hear that on a regular basis, 'Oh my gosh! So and so is retiring. How do we get everything they know on paper in the next 30 days before they leave the company?' Well it's too late, first of all. It's too late. We need to think about knowledge transfer through an employee's lifecycle."

Leveraging the nex'pert group

Then there is the "nex'pert group," said Braksiek. "That's your next-level experts, who are those people who are stuck in the middle of their careers and are not considered quite the expert yet. So nobody's grappling for their knowledge. But, they are amazing teachers, amazing mentors. And are going to be your next-level experts, so let's get them ready to go and be that next-level expert. Before they reach that age of 'I'm within 5 years of of retirement,' right?"

Baksiek advised attendess to use these three groups of people together to go solve knowledge gaps.

To access the full session, go to A301. Re-Evaluating & Evolving Your KM Program

Videos of KMWorld 2019 awards presentations, keynotes, and many sessions can be found here.

Many speakers at KMWorld 2019 have also made their presentations available at www.kmworld.com/Conference/2019/Presentations.aspx.

SAVE THE DATE FOR KMWORLD 2020: NOVEMBER 16-19, 2020!