Potential KM Initiatives
From Regional Knowledge Resource Kit
Return to How to facilitate an action planning workshop
Using this list
This is a list of some of the Potential KM Initiatives that a regional NRM body could adopt during the action planning workshop in Stage 4 of the Regional Knowledge Strategy process. Each initiative is described briefly followed by a list of objectives that it can help achieve. For further information and ideas see the resource library
Communities of practice
A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who come together to share and discuss topics or issues that interest them [1]. The topics could be focussed around issues that they deal with at work (eg. recruitment) or areas they are keen to develop their skills in (eg. Interviewing techniques, team building). CoPs are generally created to retain knowledge, share expertise or problem solve, and discuss new ideas to list a few.
Meets the following objectives
- Better ability to find answers to problems
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Learn from our successes/mistakes
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
Improving search - social search
When we search for information on the internet, the interesting stuff stays bookmarked in our favorites. Social search is a new way to share this interesting information with people across the world and allow other people to use the searched material. Social bookmarking sites are places where people store their search results and tag them using key words or categories. Members of a bookmarking site can then see how many people saved a particular article or link (by popularity) or the categories of information people have stored. So instead of starting a search from scratch, one can simply see what information others have on that topic by visiting a social bookmarking site.
Meets the following objectives
- Reduce impact of information overload
- Better ability to search for and find information
People directory
A people directory contains a list of all the people who work in an organization, with their current role, location and contact details. A people directory is a good tool to encourage people to talk to or collaborate with one another.
Meets the following objectives
- Better relationships and collaboration
After action reviews
An after action review is an opportunity to reflect on a project and assess what worked well and what improvements could be made for the future. It allows teams to learn from their successes and failures.
Meets the following objectives
- Better ability to find answers to problems
- Learn from our successes/mistakes
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
Peer assist
A peer assist is a good brainstorming or problem-solving technique. The team or an individual who is facing a challenge or a problem approach their colleagues or a diverse set of people from the organization to seek their advice and benefit from the knowledge and experience of others. See also the Peer Assist resource.
Meets the following objectives
- Better ability to find answers to problems
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Get more value from research, prioritise research needs
Most significant change
Most significant change is a technique that allows one to assess the impact of an initiative or project. It involves asking participants or beneficiaries to describe how the particular project or initiative impacted their lives. Read more about how to get started [2]
Meets the following objectives
- Learn from our successes/mistakes
- Get more value from research, prioritise research needs
Workspace design
Workspace design affects staff satisfaction, attraction, motivation and retention. It can also affect the level of knowledge and skills of workers, how innovative and creating they are, how they respond to business and technological change and how ergonomically well-suited the environment is for workers. [3] For tips on good office design, go to the Workplace forum or read this article [4]
Meets the following objectives
- Better ability to find answers to problems
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Attract and retain the best people
- Be innovative
Social network analysis
A social network is a map of the informal relationships between individuals, the analysis involves a study of these relationships. The social network will show how people are linked or can be linked to one another based on location, department, etc. This could be the first step to starting a collaboration project. Social network analysis is quite easy, as discussed here.
Meets the following objectives
- Get more value from research, prioritise research needs
- Better relationships and collaboration
Social network stimulation
Networks develop naturally within any group of people, given enough time. They cannot be created by mandate, but the conditions under which they arise can be encouraged. Social Network Stimulation is an initiative that can reveal current and possible future patterns of trusted relationships that will aid organisational planning and intervention design by management.
Meets the following objectives
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Be more innovative
- Get more value from research, prioritise research needs
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
Decision games
Decision games are an effective way of developing intuition and problem solving skills through systematic and smart practice. This technique involves identifying a critical or difficult situation that you face at work that requires a decision or judgement and thinking through the decision you might take and its implications. It can be done at an individual level or with a group of people to transfer knowledge across people.
Meets the following objectives
- Get more value from research, prioritise research needs
- Better relationships and collaboration
Collaboration toolkit
Collaboration involves the coming together of two or more people to work on a project based on a common interest or passion, domain experience, or skill as discussed here. Collaboration projects can be done both offline and online and can be done within a department or across departments. Collaboration involves using the expertise of a diverse group of people and sharing information across departments (to avoid reworking or redoing things that are already done or being done elsewhere.)
Meets the following objectives
- Better relationships and collaboration
Alumni
People who have previously worked in a particular position or department learn a lot through experience. These people could have moved on to other positions, departments or organizations comprise the Alumni. They are a rich source of knowledge and would form excellent mentors or coaches to help brainstorm or problem solve.
Meets the following objectives
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
- Attract and retain the best people
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Better ability to find answers to problems
Mentoring
Mentoring is an excellent coaching technique that allows the transfer of knowledge from a more experienced person (called the mentor) to a relatively new employee or an employee taking on a new role (called the mentee). The relationship facilitates learning and boosts people's confidence in their new role. Mentoring can happen at a one-to-one level or by involving the mentor in group activities such as world cafes, peers assists, or decision games.
Meets the following objectives
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
- Attract and retain the best people
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Better ability to find answers to problems
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is the chance to allow an individual to learn on the job. The apprentice usually shadows or follows a more experience person in the team and learns from them. It gives the supervisor a chance to assess whether the apprentice has the capability to execute a role and gives the apprentice a chance to understand the requirements of the role in a more practical sense.
Meets the following objectives
- Attract and retain the best people
Knowledge champions
Knowledge champions can be created within a department or across the organization. It best suits an individual who can support knowledge activities, advocate the the need for knowledge sharing among peers, and help people across the organization to link up for projects or activities (also called knowledge brokering). Read more about how to identify a knowledge champion and get started.
Meets the following objectives
- Better ability to find answers to problems
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Attract and retain the best people
- Be more innovative
- Better transfer our knowledge to and from stakeholders
Crucial conversations
Talking is an easy task. However, talking to people about issues or performance is not. It's delicate and tricky and often messy. Such conversations need to had and need to be carefully thought out. Having Crucial Conversations is a skill that almost everyone needs to learn and eventually master. The book Crucial Conversations offers some good tips on communication.
Meets the following objectives
- Better relationships and collaboration
- Attract and retain the best people
