STEP 3: Pick the Right Tool for the Job
One of the biggest mistakes a company or CIO makes at the outset of a KM initiative is to get carried away with the technology. "If KM is just handed over to IT, it ensures failure. The CIO's role is to make sure the technology end of a KM initiative does what the company needs it to," according to Born's Wright.
Before the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in Washington, DC, went forward with plans for a knowledge management system, officials took a look at their technology and realised something new was needed. The FHWA ran primarily on an Oracle platform, which worked well for database management but didn't deal well with the kind of unstructured, research-based data targeted for organisation, says Mike Burk, the FHWA's chief knowledge officer.
The FHWA's employees worked primarily within Novell's GroupWise system and did most of their business via e-mail. Burk knew that employees wouldn't constantly monitor the site for new information updates, but they did check their e-mail regularly. He worked with the FHWA's CIO to link the existing Oracle-based system with the agency's Web site; they set up automatic e-mail updates that notified employees whenever new information had been placed in the Web site's knowledge base.
Burk's approach is uncommon, says Mark Horwitch, head of Bain & Company's knowledge management practice in Chicago. "The danger with KM is that most companies jump in without thinking through major questions," Horwitch says. "Look at the processes and information requirements that you need to succeed. Is the solution really a complex IT tool, or are you just underusing tools you already have? It's a lot easier and cheaper if you look from the top down."
In addition to a top-down view, organisations need to select KM tools that will complement how employees work rather than distract them. During the games at the Naval War College, participants defaulted to tools they were comfortable with such as Microsoft NetMeeting and Instant Messenger instead of using the collaborative KM tools Rossi implemented. The Naval War College skipped the 2002 war games in order to put more analytical rigour into its KM program. "We are clearing the slate and looking at tools we know we need instead of tools we'd like to use," Rossi says.
To make sure next year's participants don't get overwhelmed by the technology, Rossi plans to get the participant list early and involve all the players in building the game program. When they come to play next summer, he hopes everyone will be up to speed.
According to Born's Wright, a key role for CIOs is to make sure every employee gets hands-on training with KM systems. If no one knows how to use new tools, even the best KM project will fall flat on its face, he says. CIOs can also integrate change management efforts into a KM project by recruiting thought leaders within each department. The thought leaders can ferret out frustrations, resistance and department-specific needs for a KM system, which will help IT make the system as user-friendly as possible.
At California Casualty Management, a San Mateo-based insurance company, CIO Vasu Kadambi is looking into starting the IT rollout of a KM portal that will deliver sales, underwriting and claims information quickly to customer service representatives. Although he'll be immersed in the technology rollout, Kadambi is not in charge of the overall KM project. In his view, the CIO's job in KM is to ensure that the technology doesn't derail employees so that effective information sharing can take place. "My role is to help people get the information they need," he says. "Technology just helps the process of gathering information."
Those who have successfully tackled KM projects have taken a systematic approach. "Knowledge management is not a walk in the park," Nir says. "It can be overwhelming, so make sure you look at it one step at a time." That's not to say you have to be a business genius in order for your KM project to succeed. To ensure the best odds, take a big-picture view by first defining KM in terms of a business objective. Once that challenge is met, your company will be in a much better position to determine which of its intellectual assets are worth organising, managing and sharing. Take a look at the people and processes that will be affected by KM and address any relevant issues accordingly. And then it's up to the CIO to evaluate current technology and recommend and implement new systems as needed.
While there's no way to guarantee the ultimate success of any knowledge management project, organisations will have a better chance of maximising their investment if they take projects one step at a time.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.