A well-designed knowledge organization is indispensable

You are convinced of the value of knowledge management and you know what a suitable system in this field can mean for you. But the selection of the right tool is not enough. Without paying attention to the design of the processes and the surrounding organization, the knowledge soon becomes obsolete and the investment can result in a disinvestment. How can you prevent this?

At an early stage of the project, discuss with the management which knowledge management organization is required. Implementation of knowledge management leads to an organizational change. Useful questions in this project are: what is the present situation with regard to knowledge management? How great a change is necessary in order to realize one centralized knowledge organization? How efficient are the proactive and reactive management processes? Do the employees’ job profiles change? Do the same employees continue to do the work or is a selection project started? Should the works council be involved in this change project?

The impact of the change will be the greatest in organizations where knowledge is managed decentrally: a lot will change, both organizationally and with respect to job content.

TOTE-M recommends that a Knowledge Management Master Class be organized in the analysis phase. Together with the management, consideration can then be given to the required organizational change and the approach that must be taken to achieve that change.