Feature

Effective knowledge management

Knowledge management is effective only if it is aligned with the business strategy of the organisation and becomes an integral part of its culture, writes Sudipta Dev

The benefits of knowledge management (KM) cannot be debated, but the creation of a knowledge portal is only the beginning of a stream of challenges. Making it a part of the organisational culture is perhaps the toughest of all. For many individuals, hoarding knowledge is power, and it is not so easy for them to imbibe the true spirit of knowledge-sharing. There are others who take pride in being individualistic, and are not willing to learn from the experiences of others. Effective knowledge management is about leveraging the collective ability of knowledge workers for business gain. For most organisations, a successful KM initiative apparently means reducing the time to market; cross-departmental effectiveness and workforce motivation are other key factors.

Knowledge management, which is a repository of tacit and explicit knowledge in an organisation, is an integral part of a company’s strategy. Effective knowledge management would include people, processes and strategy, with the human factor and culture comprising the maximum percentage; technology is an enabler. For Pradeep Waychal, Head of Corporate Quality and Delivery Innovation at Patni Computer Systems, KM is a set of processes, tools and structures that aim to leverage collective abilities of the organisation’s knowledge workers in a business situation. Doing it effectively means effective knowledge management. Waychal points out that a KM initiative should:

• Reduce dependence on individuals.
• Reduce cycle time: Standardise and speed up customer/Request for Information responses.
• Re-use solutions across projects/initiatives.
• Integrate SBU level repositories into organisation-wide repositories (break functional silos).

Aligning with the company’s strategy

Experts agree that there is no point in having a KM initiative if it does not give an impetus to the business. It has to align with the company’s business strategy and reduce the time to market. Says Ranjit Dhuru, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aftek Infosys, “It is necessary that there is a free flow of knowledge within the organisation. This helps in people building on the knowledge available and not wasting their time in generating what already exists. Easy exchange of knowledge fosters innovation. Since information is well documented and handy, the response time improves which in turn improves customer service.”

It is necessary that there is a free flow of knowledge within the organisation Ranjit Dhuru Chief Executive Officer Aftek Infosys

Dhuru also believes that KM enhances employee retention rates since it is now easier for the management to spot and appreciate people who make a difference. This leads to customer satisfaction and teamwork by employees—above all, innovative ideas are encouraged.

Every week, we getreports on the number of people who have used theinformation, how it has helped, etc. George Varghese Head - Marketing and Alliances Pharma/ITeS SAS India

For most companies, effective knowledge management is all about cutting the time to market. When a sales proposal, which would normally take two weeks to prepare, could be done in just a couple of hours by dipping into the company’s knowledge repository.

The fact that they do not have to start from scratch is a strong motivation factor. George Varghese, Head Marketing and Alliances, Pharma/ITeS, SAS India, points out that in his organisation from the strategy perspective, it is essential to dip into the KM repository, whether pre-sales or marketing. For example, when SAS 9 was launched, the sales and marketing personnel had to refer to the KM repository to use words such as usability, interopability, etc. At SAS, there is an ‘owner’ for the KM system in each office globally. The system is divided into two sections—the CDI (common document index) for sales and marketing people; and the Tool Pool for technical personnel.

KM ensures cross-departmental effectiveness by preventing duplication of work. It also enables high level of collaboration for global virtual teams. It is a powerful tool for employee motivation. And this works in two ways. Explains Prameela Kalive, Head Corporate Strategy and Marketing, Zensar Technologies, “On one hand, it makes a significant difference to the user’s work and time. On the other, the fact that somebody has closed a big deal because of him makes a big difference to the contributor, who also gets acknowledged by the organisation.” At Zensar, the KM system has made a significant difference to the sales team, who use the Zen Vault. K-Zen is for the technical team.

The people aspect

Imbibing the culture of knowledge-sharing in the organisation is not always an easy task, and requires concerted efforts by the top management, the KM team, HR, communication people and all those who genuinely believe in the concept. Waychal agrees that some people do not believe in others’ capability and solutions, and prefer to go for their own solutions. “If you have any such people or your organisation culture grooms this behaviour, it will be a challenge,” he says, adding that if that is not the case, the following should be done to ensure that knowledge gets used:

• Build your knowledge base that will cater to the organisation/business needs.
• Purge outdated knowledge.
• Have the right taxonomy, search engine and technical solution.

The fact that somebody has closed a big deal because of him makes a big difference to the contributor, who also gets acknowledged by the organisation Prameela Kalive Head - Corporate Strategy and Marketing Zensar Technologies

It is not always easy to convince people to contribute to the repository and/or use it, concedes Kalive. They feel that they know their job the best, but when they witness the value-add, their attitude changes. The key factors are:

• What is in it for me?
• What difference does it make?
• If I refuse to do, how will it affect me?

Kalive believes that the best strategy is a mixture of the ‘carrot, rose and stick’ approaches: Incentivising sharing of knowledge—reward factor (the carrot); giving credit to people—correct visibility (the rose); and making it a part of the quality process (the stick).

Most organisations have rewards and incentives in place for both contributors and users of the KM system. At Zensar, it is linked to the performance appraisal. SAS also rewards the maximum users and contributors with certificates (and sometimes a voucher for two in a good hotel). Dhuru agrees that one of the best ways to encourage or motivate the employees is by giving them incentives. He, however, warns that making employees participate with the sole intention of incentives deteriorates the quality of information contributed. “So there has to be a benchmark for the info shared. If you position yourself as an organisation that values tacit knowledge, people will find KM as a reward than a compulsion,” comments Dhuru.

Marketing KM

KM is a set of processes, tools and structures that aim to leverage collective abilities of the organisation’s knowledge workers in a business situation Pradeep Waychal Head - Corporate Quality and Delivery Innovation Patni Computer Systems

In-house marketing is essential looking at the whole company as a customer base. People should be made aware what the system can do for them. Waychal reminds that when Patni bagged the Best KM solution award in Paris in 2003, the judge’s remark was, “Good to see knowledge management marketed to the users, and not force-fed or left to a committed few.”

For evangelising knowledge management, most organisations have their own KM champs. For example, Zensar did ‘road shows’ in the organisation and let people nominate themselves. Twenty-five knowledge champs were chosen from different functions, and they drive the initiative in the company.

Patni has devised a formal role for KM champions whose job is to evangelise knowledge management in each business unit. Those who are selected should have specific skills and background. They should be excellent communicators, good collaborators and people’s persons. Being self-driven and motivated, they should have the attitude to let others succeed. Strong creative, conceptual and analytical abilities are other notable qualities.

At SAS, all employees are expected to champion knowledge management. “The ‘owner’ is the pivot point for information dissimilation and gathering. Every country has an owner. Every week, we get reports on the number of people who have used the information, how it has helped, etc. We also have quarterly conferences on KM. For the APAC region, we meet at Singapore,” opines Varghese.

While most organisations have benefited from the KM system, not all have a system in place to calculate the exact ROI. A few have adopted the methodology of attaching a value to each question and, every download shows how much value it has provided. Most, however, still consider it as an act of faith, and there is no exact measurement of the ROI.

sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com