Pick 3

Stan Garfield has many great posts on Knowledge Management, this is one of my favorites (LinkedIn Pulse).   He talks about creating a list of top 3 objectives to address KM challenges at your organization.  I have used this approach successfully as a consultant and also as a KM organizational lead.

Which 3?

The first thing you need to do is study the culture of your organization.   You have to learn about your culture and understand your industry and the workforce demographics.   This is no small exercise and should take at least 1-3 months depending on the size of your organization.

The best way to find this information is to read about the history of your organization and set up a series of interviews.   You should meet with as many people in the organization as possible ranging from CEO to the custodian.  The best stories I have ever heard were after hours from the custodial staff.

Most of the time I take notes but when I am talking to a member of the C-suite,  I bring information about the value of KM and some common pain points.

Common themes will start to emerge..     Here are three examples.

1. Older workforce has a lot of subject matter expertise with no time or inclination to share knowledge.
2. Operational costs for knowledge tools have increased 3x,  we aren’t sure of cost / benefit.
3. We spend a lot of time looking for information.

Build Stories

Once you have your 3 areas of focus build narratives around these that you can talk about.   This is the very start of your practice.  As written it seems simple but I promise it is a lot of hard work and effort.   You will benefit in many ways as you meet people and learn about your company.   Even if you have been with your company for many years, there is always something new to learn.

Let me know if you have questions!