Automated knowledge management: building the organizational memory.

• Author: Hoisington, Ted
• Position: Management & Careers

A regional transportation agency has just hired an executive director. He is also new to the area, so while he understands the organization's mission, he doesn't know anything about key local players or the members of his own staff. He spends countless hours trying to learn this information, tying up the time of other staff members, who have to explain the background. Because he wants to protect himself and his organization, he delays decisions until he knows more.

A city has just hired a new director of economic development. She has also been recruited from another part of the country. This city, however, has automated its knowledge management. Before her first council meeting, she spends a morning reviewing the bios of the mayor and council members, how they voted on past economic development issues, and the history of the city's relationship with each. This gives her instant insight into who will be most helpful to the department's mission. She finds records of local private-sector executives who have contributed to past initiatives and notes them as potential future resources. She has much less need to tie up staff time to get up to speed. At her fingertips, from any location, is the history of all stakeholder events, actions, and decisions. She is confident almost from her first day on the job.

AUTOMATING CONNECTIONS

Most top executives at public-sector organizations cope with the first predicament rather than benefit from the second set of circumstances. Nearly everyone would agree that a readily available organizational memory vastly improves productivity and supports best management practices. They simply cannot figure out how to create a more accessible and efficient knowledge management environment. The issue raises important questions:

* Who will handle the transition to automated knowledge management?

* How disruptive and costly will it be?

* Does automated knowledge management require more overhead?

Success in automating knowledge management depends entirely on creating strategies and processes for using adequately powerful relationship management software. Before the organization ever adds or uses knowledge management automation, it must define its objectives. These might include categorizing which relationships and what knowledge about each relationship is worth preserving. Establishing a process is critical to success because it is very much related to the organization's mission and affects the staff's daily work routine.

...