Are we continuing to build for the future without really looking back?

Today a large number of product companies focus on ensuring their products are revolutionary and are game-changers - something that the larger universe desires. For these product companies there are a large number of investors who are backing their idea and pending financial viability there is a good consensus that the market would respond. However, how desirable is the product - that's the big question.

If you look at the above, there are three important criteria for every solution at the heart of innovation. Reference from The Sweet Spot for Innovation | Medium.

• A desirable solution, one that your customer really needs
• A feasible solution, building on the strengths of your current operational capabilities
• A viable (profitable solution), with a sustainable business model.

If we relate KM as a product to the above and run a survey, then most of our user's would call out 'desirability' as critical. So, is the COO of every company trying to mimic its competition and build advanced KM products aligned to this, is the larger question. The answer is most leaders do what is important for the business and hence are designing their KM products with a balance of the organizations' core operational strength, its mix of existing people, processes, and technology.

Further, as the organization grows, so does its nature of business change, and so do our practices & processes evolve to ensure we are contributing to community and society. Does KM remain the same, or does it evolve?  That might be something interesting to think about.

If you are looking at the below graphic, you could do some sense-making with the above design thinking, product-based mindset. Then we need to develop a model that imbibes 80% of our existing operational construct of the org + 20% builds new capabilities for the future.

Below is a simplistic technique where one can combine the existing people practices, current processes, and build for the future.

Automate where behaviours are known, not just repeatable practices & processes

1. Make downloaded material interlinked with the KM system so it expires every X week and the user must download again
2. Give insights to the user on areas where they utilized KM systems
3. Make KM the 1st entry point in the day

Backup in-line with the defined km policy

1. A KM audit to be done and in-line with KM policy and content for archival defined
2. Past project artifacts are archived before a resource is tagged to a new project  

Combine KM practices with existing people practices & org-wide processes

1. Make KM a mandatory section in leadership reviews so its habitual to the leaders
2. Managers get variable pay salary only for completing all pending reviews on KM portal

Divide how KM is accessible and introduce right steps for governance

1. Make all organizational announcements mandatory accessible through the KM portal
2. On entry user's provide justification and on exit must rate downloaded information 

Eliminate old practices and introduce new ways of thinking

1. Make all artifacts viewable only if linked to active users for managing content quality
2. Conduct certificates for exit employs to be granted against declared artifact checklist  

In-Summary

The ABCDE technique will ensure we can link the below five success factors and ensure KM as a Product is well acknowledged as below.

1. Exist in the “Natural Flow” of our Processes (Automate)
2. Increase Discovery to Real-time Information (Backup)
3. Improve Cross-Functional Decision-Making (Combine)
4. Enhance Enterprise Collaboration (Divide)
5. Show Value Through KM measures linked to key business objectives (Eliminate)

Knowledge Management: Key Questions and Answers

Do you understand the difference between information and knowledge? In a business context, information gathering happens at all levels of an organization. It can include everything from customer interactions to internal company meetings. On the other hand, knowledge is what every member of an organization understands and uses in their everyday activities. 75% of companies realize that knowledge management is crucial for their success. Let's look at knowledge management and its benefits to your workplace. 

What is Knowledge Management? 

So, what is knowledge management? IBM defines knowledge management as a way to identify, organize, store and share information. A knowledge management system is a platform that gathers business information to help streamline operations such as:

- Recruitment
- Training, and
- Communication

Additionally, knowledge management can foster better:

- Transparency
- Accountability, and
- Collaboration

Each of which helps improve employee satisfaction and retention.   

What are the Goals of Knowledge Management? 

Knowledge management serves several key goals in an enterprise. The goals of a knowledge management system are to: 

• Keep knowledge in an easily-accessible form
• Share knowledge with the right people at the right time
• Break down information silos 
• Maintain knowledge if valuable employees leave the company
• Create a culture of continuous learning 

What are the Benefits of Knowledge Management? 

The main benefit of knowledge management is efficient business operations. A knowledge management system makes a business more agile because it: 

• Improves the quality of business data
• Boosts collaboration within your team
• Identifies skill and competency gaps for training opportunities
• Enables faster decision-making at all levels 
• Increases data security for intellectual property 
• Creates standardized business processes 

What are the Challenges of Knowledge Management? 

Like every business process, knowledge management can present challenges to an organization. Here are four of the top challenges organizations face when it comes to knowledge management:

• Some employees may hoard their knowledge to maintain their positions in the company
• Knowledge sharing is not a priority for employees because of their existing workloads
• Knowledge management systems need proper configuration with the right permissions. The aim is to protect sensitive business information
• A knowledge management framework takes more time and human resources to update and maintain

What are the Types of Knowledge in an Organization? 

Three main types of organizational knowledge drive your knowledge management process: 

1. Explicit knowledge

Documented information like policies, product specifications, service functionality, and other business-generated content.

2. Implicit or embedded knowledge

Information about business processes such as:
- Recruitment or merit systems
- Routines
- Manuals, and 
- Organizational culture

3. Tacit knowledge

This is practical know-how about business operations gained through experience. This includes subject matter expertise held by certain employees.

Practically speaking, these types of knowledge come from: 

• Organizational documents like reports, business records, and market research 
• Structural information such as:
  • Company hierarchy charts
  • Handbooks
  • Presentation formats workflows
  • Best practices, and 
  • Business strategies
• Group data like mentorship programs, project teams, and training groups
• Individual knowledge like customer inquiries, notebooks, or even a team member’s memory

Knowledge Management Use Cases

A knowledge management framework finds value in the following business processes: 

Onboarding

New team members can quickly search and find what they need on a centralized knowledge management system. This significantly reduces training time and increases competence levels. 

Customer support

Customer service teams can find quick references and answers for inquiries. 

Internal communications

Teams can seek out knowledge directly from the system and save emails and chats for priority queries. 

Inventory updates

All departments get notified of product changes like prices, upgrades, or shortages. 

What is the Knowledge Management Process? 

To manage knowledge in your organization, first you must understand how knowledge arises in business and how to make it work for you. 

The ideal knowledge management process has six steps: 

1. Knowledge discovery

Figure out your organization's implicit, explicit and tacit sources of knowledge.  

2. Knowledge auditing

Check that all your information is relevant, up-to-date, and error-free. 

3. Knowledge structuring

Organize your information into a searchable, accessible knowledge management database. 

4. Knowledge sharing

Grant your team secure access to your knowledge management system. Encourage them to contribute and share their knowledge on the platform and create an incentive program to promote the sharing process. 

5. Knowledge application

Reward team members who use the knowledge to improve their performance. 

6. Knowledge creation

Keep gathering and updating your knowledge management system according to the outlined steps. 

What are Knowledge Management Tools? 

Anything that captures business information and generates insights is a knowledge management tool. That qualifies your basic spreadsheets as one. However, knowledge management tools can be highly specialized to match your industry. The most common tools include: 

• Content management systems (CMS) for online publishing
• Intranets for sharing business information securely within an organization 
• Data warehouses that use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to aggregate and analyze data
• Feedback databases for project management communications 
• Document management systems for hosting all digital business documents 

Conclusion 

Your knowledge management process depends on your company's size and structure. Smaller companies can build a goldmine of business data and scale up over time. Larger companies can put in place a system for digital transformation and business forecasting. Implement a knowledge management strategy to improve your business outcomes today!

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How many followers do you have on social media? Today, the 'social construct' has made us reason that having many followers on social media is a good measure of knowledge. On the contrary do you relate to your firm's 'social software' as a means for sharing your experiences that is of interest to others such that in-time they can learn from your explicit knowledge, have you given it a thought within your organization?

I am sure many of us are Following our favorite bloggers on professional networks; a place where the leader makes it a point to be consistent to share their thoughts around contemporary topics of interest; share relevant examples to make it relatable. They are moving from being an artist in their realm to becoming a conversational leader. 

Over a period, you as a reader makes it a habit to crave for that daily breakfast post. Intentionally what your mind is teaching you is to practice subconsciously some of their Lessons Learnt; you are now engaged with their 'Content' they are sharing and feel 'Connected'. Did you know you are practicing the 3C's of Knowledge Management, although you're not in sight of your organization?

So, as leaders are we missing out on critical knowledge that can aid in advancing our organizational social capital. If you now connect you know that there is a need to move from just being someone who from being an 'Artist' to becoming a 'Conversational Leader' someone who collaborates and helps their followers to share their experiences in a safe zone and feel acknowledged that truly the network is growing as one tribe.

As defined by educator Carolyn Baldwin, conversational leadership is “the leader’s intentional use of conversation as a core process to cultivate the collective intelligence needed to create business and social value.” 

The next question as leaders are we serving our calling to truly move from predator and sharing our knowledge to enable our followers to truly see us as instructors coaching us to become trainers?

Source: Facebook 'Just for Fun' Fanclub . The bitter truth : You start practicing to truly 'network' rather than 'artwork' something that not only we begin to enjoy but over time others follow us for learning our techniques, our tips and in-time become trainers.

In-Summary: So as leaders let us enjoy wearing our K-Hats and truly ensure we leverage organizational & community resources to produce greater strategic value. We ACE-IT !

A - Start with being an Artist and live our culture contrary to sharing falsehoods
C - We 'Connect' with our teams and truly become a 'Conversational Leader'.
E - We make our teams feel 'Engaged' to encourage critical knowledge-flow.
I - We coach our followers as 'Instructors' and are open to KM 'People approaches'.
T - We as leaders invest in individuals becoming 'trainers' and in-turn our network of followers grows to learn from our art; and ensure "KM is being Followed".

In contrast to knowledge management systems that use information technology (IT) to create, manage, store, share, and reuse knowledge, the healthcare industry faces unique challenges. Those include system complexity, medical errors, significant growth in medical knowledge, and increased healthcare costs. Thanks to knowledge management, experts and hospitals can apply worldwide techniques to satisfy medical needs. Knowledge may be used effectively to help future generations learn from past mistakes and build inventive solutions.

Healthcare is a knowledge-based business. Treating each patient's specific symptoms requires tremendous information and competence. The United States has the most prominent health industry, with 784,626 businesses. Patient care accounts for $1.068 trillion, or 64% of all healthcare revenue in the United States.

According to health statistics, healthcare is the largest source of employment in the country, employing one out of every eight Americans. These individuals must be trained to start a new job or transfer to clinics or hospitals. They must continue to be trained as treatments and procedures improve throughout their careers.

The tools, support, and expertise that health organizations have at their disposal determine the quality of treatment they provide. Using a knowledge management system fosters a culture of ongoing collaboration and innovation in the healthcare profession. Suppose a culture of information sharing is established in the healthcare industry. In that case, employees are more likely to participate in continual learning and education.

Benefits of having a Knowledge Base in healthcare 

Enhance Operating Efficiency

Calls are shorter for hospital call agents who have access to reliable, up-to-date information. It saves time searching and reduces patient wait times. With consistent client experiences, an effective knowledge management system like PHPKB optimizes operational efficiencies throughout customer service (frontline and back-office). A branded dashboard, feedback, and reporting metrics allow convenient management supervision.

1. Using private internal conversation and material exchange assists staff in providing better service.
2. Assists with the upkeep of current compliance forms and procedures throughout the firm.
3. Lowers the total operating costs.

Making Informed Decisions

Healthcare workers are continually bombarded with new information, yet they struggle to locate it appropriately. If healthcare workers can instantly access organized information from anywhere, at any time, it can genuinely save lives. 

The doctor can rapidly search for and identify symptoms, treatments, and other helpful information using innovative and meticulously decision trees in healthcare call centers, which could forever change patients' lives. 

Doctors, for example, may see up to 50 people every day. Individual appointments rarely allow for tracking down and consulting with additional doctors.

Fewer Errors

As employees leave or are laid off, their knowledge of procedures and current best practices is lost, increasing the number of errors. A blunder might result in tragedy or a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the healthcare industry. 

Hospitals can use healthcare knowledge management technologies to standardize all operations and give easily accessible training. Doctors, nurses, and medical technicians can access procedures anytime, anywhere if the knowledge-sharing solution offers a sophisticated search and mobile interface.

Secure collaboration

Different professionals can learn from each other thanks to a knowledge-sharing system. Medical data from various sources can be converted to an electronic format and used by clinicians to improve therapy. 

Knowledge management aims to standardize all procedures and increase access to professional education. A knowledge-sharing solution is precious in the medical profession, where errors are costly and life-threatening.

On the other hand, the digital transformation poses new risks to patients' privacy, the doctor-patient relationship, and doctor-patient confidentiality. So, how do medical professionals communicate and benefit from one another's previous and current instances without jeopardizing their professional associations? While keeping the patient private, a knowledge management solution allows healthcare providers to document and discuss symptoms and any other information that may be useful.

In this manner, potentially life-saving information is not kept secret while safeguarding patients' privacy.

Creates organizations that are learning

The use of Knowledge management necessitates the creation of a data-driven continuous-learning environment that promotes experience-based organizational learning. In a learning organization, individuals are consistently learning to see the whole together, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are developed, where collective aspiration is set free, and where individuals are continually learning to generate the results they truly desire. 

Over the last two decades, organizational research has identified three critical variables for organizational learning and adaptability: a supportive learning environment, actual learning processes and practices, and reinforcement-oriented leadership behavior. 

Employees can evaluate our successes and failings regularly as we attempt to improve. This process fosters a learning-by-doing culture based on data-driven assessments of performance and outcomes. Learning from mistakes allows you to gain knowledge that you may utilize to improve care and operations over time.

Avoiding malpractice

Medical misconduct is costly in a variety of ways. Health care professionals will be able to participate in knowledge sharing in a way that has never been done before, thanks to a standardized knowledge management system of new findings and direct experiences.

Health informatics and information management systems would reduce fatal misdiagnoses and streamline medical decision-making at this level. A clinician may search for and use the findings of a study conducted worldwide to effectively diagnose a patient who would otherwise have been misdiagnosed and mistreated in minutes. 

This information could be fetched easily by building up repeatable processes and a library of medical information.

Conclusion

Like every other aspect of their culture, the healthcare community is more technologically connected than ever before. Healthcare companies will publish their discoveries on a never-before-seen scale by uniting global medical findings and making them searchable with straightforward tools. Health care systems will combine their results and provide new patient treatment by utilizing knowledge base tools.

Effective knowledge management system for call centers necessitates organization and must be user-friendly while also reducing the administrative burden on asset managers. The tools, support, and expertise that health organizations have at their disposal determine the quality of treatment they provide.

A knowledge management tool can bring together communities of practice, foster public health innovation, and boost the healthcare system's overall efficiency.

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To many skilled professional certifications are the key to improving their competency getting recognized; advancing their careers as their gain experience and grow into a new role; finally become experts.

However, if one were to look at the above there are four keywords as below

• Skill : the ability to do something that comes from training, experience, or practice
• Competency : possession of sufficient knowledge or skill
• Experience : skill or knowledge that you get by doing something
• Expert : one with the special skill or knowledge representing mastery of a particular subject

Many a time we relate knowledge on-the-job to experience and discount the other aspects. However, it is important to realize that executing a job over a period does not necessarily qualify you as an expert.

So to become an expert how does one hone themselves; a simple technique is a 'cheat sheet' which is a written or graphic aid (as below) that can be referred to enable oneself to be effective in terms of developing your core-competencies, as they say practice makes a man perfect. The below depicts some 'Must-Do Tips' that can help you grow in your credibility.

Over a period, you would start perfecting some of these techniques and that is where you start advancing in your own understanding and investing in more self-learning; training on-the-job and mentoring to name a few. The folly that most of us make as we advance in building our own core competencies on our subject, we fail to combine the below:

• declarative knowledge refers to facts or information stored in the memory
• procedural knowledge refers to the knowledge of how to perform a specific skill or task

If you now go back to the first para and you reflect on competencies to advancing oneself, you now understand that it is a particular set of core competencies that make oneself recognized and credible as an expert for a particular role.

Summary : Every professional field has their own competency-based framework that is based on combination of procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge. It is important we develop a 'cheat sheet' and monitor how we are progressing to build our core competencies that help us advance as professionals and gain credibility known for our expertise contrary to just our experience over the years as skilled professionals.