Knowledge Management - Putting Learning into practice
Knowledge mobilisation is the part of knowledge management that involves taking what has been learned and using it to inform how work is done and services are delivered. This is something that people do automatically both during the work they are doing and after its conclusion when trying to learn from it. However while a lot of learning is generated at these points it is possible to set this aside when the project is finished and consider the learning to be part of the project that is now concluded. When done properly, learning should be an ongoing process that involves not just taking lessons from the things we do but also applying these lessons actively. The activities and exercises in this section show you ways to take what you have learned and improve what you and other people do.
Creating Knowledge Assets
The aftermath of a piece of work, especially a project or piece of improvement work, can be a good time to record your learning from that project as a knowledge asset, which can be used as a tool for the next time you or someone else works on something similar.
A knowledge asset is a packaged piece of information designed to transfer knowledge about a particular aspect of the work you have done or the work others might intend to do. A good knowledge asset is intuitive, can be picked up and used quickly, and transfers useful information. The key phases in creating a knowledge asset are as follows:
- Ensure there is an audience for the knowledge you wish to transfer.
- Clearly identify the knowledge you want to transfer and the purpose for transferring it.
- Identify who will own and update the knowledge asset.
- Gather together any material, and create a structure for your knowledge asset.
- Include context to make sure that users know the purpose of the asset and the circumstances in which it was created.
- Ensure that it is easily navigable and searchable
- Emphasise how this asset will connect to existing people and organisations and fits in with existing practice.
- Get people with expertise to look through your knowledge asset and make sure it is accurate and meets their needs.
- Publish and publicise the asset.
- Ensure version control to make sure the asset is properly updated on a regular basis.
When put together with care, and when their existence is publicised within and beyond your oganisation, your knowledge asset can inform practice and be part of the planning process for other people doing similar work to you.
Peer Assist
Peer Assist has already been mentioned in the Plan phase as a way of gathering expertise to learn before a project begins. When mobilising to begin the next phase of your PDSA cycle in the Act phase, peer assists can be useful again in two different ways.
First of all, the peer assist can be a good way to look for answers to issues that came up and were insoluble in the Do phase. While it might not have been possible to take extensive time to examine a problem at the time, there way now be time to seek expertise to update practice before the next cycle of the PDSA.
Additionally, as people who have now completed a cycle of the PDSA, the team now have a degree of expertise by experience. Should another team be planning a similar piece of work, they may be able to lend advice.
Communities of Practice
A community of practice is an ongoing group of individuals with a shared interest in an area of work. They act as resources for information, advice, and the sharing of knowledge about a subject that is independent of specific projects or even of specific organisations.
A community of practice often forms at the conclusion of a major piece of work as a way of keeping the information and the connections made during that work alive. These communities often extend beyond this, and may have members of similar projects join. They may also be a place where other projects are devised.
However they are formed, communities of practice have the following factors in common:
- They have an identity defined by the shared interest of participants. They may be in similar roles or have had similar experiences.
- They act as places for community members to interact and learn together through discussions and knowledge sharing. They may also be the source of future projects and actions.
- They work by sharing knowledge, developing stories and case studies of good practice, and gathering information about lessons learned. Many of them put together knowledge bases which can act as knowledge assets.
In assembling and managing these communities, an organiser needs to ask themselves a number of questions:
- Planning: does this community meet a need? Does it have a common purpose? Who are the core members?
- Creating: how will people be recruited to this community? Is its primary mode of interaction in person or virtual? Does it meet in a synchronous or asynchronous manner? What tools and infrastructure are supporting it?
- Building the knowledge base: how will you capture the knowledge of your group's members? How will you store and disseminate this knowledge? Do you have an alerting service or way of communicating with your members?
- Reviewing: How do you ensure that your community is still relevant? If it is not meeting the needs of its community what are the processes for changing it? If it is no longer active what are the processes of closing the community and preserving its information?
For more information about these techniques, to access toolkits relating to different knowledge management techniques, or to look into having the library facilitate a knowledge management session with your team, get in contact with the library.