Best Practices? No. Awareness? Yes.
In his post http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2008/08/05.html#a2212 well-known Dave Pollard offered a thought provoking inventory of "12 tools that will soon go the way of fax and CDs". Dave has this to say about item 3, the elusive "tool" known as Best Practices: It's natural that people want to hear what the leading companies and individuals in any area of business endeavour are doing, but the sad truth is that most "best practices" are so devoid of context, of the knowledge and history that explains why they are so effective, that they essentially become unactionable.
Indeed each organization - in fact each department within it, whether by way of geography or function - is a unique mix of purpose, history, resources, individual approaches, and many similar factors. It is impossible to generalize how an enterprise unit ought to go about information and knowledge management (IKM). What is possible is to gauge the level of awareness among managers and team members as to the suitability of the practices being followed now or potential new practices to be followed in future.
Over the years, I have used many questions to shed light on the approach an organization takes to IKM. In this and the next nine posts, I illustrate the nature of such questions in hopes they may help readers who are interested in the attention paid to the way knowledge workers go about IKM. There is no implication that a "correct" answer exists - the intention is strictly to encourage conscious assessment of actions habitually taken (or not).
IKM Awareness Checklist 1 of 10: Policy
1a. Is there a Chief Knowledge Officer or similar position with central responsibility for IKM polices and practices - or is ownership (with funding) decentralized to the local level?
1b. Are there documented procedures to follow for finding and storing information - or do individuals follow personal practices tailored to their own work?
1c. Are new employees given training in the appropriate inhouse or external resources, search methods, and tools such as document management systems - or is there a mentoring function to handle that aspect of each job? Is it assumed that new team members are already well versed due to previous experience - or does the department take in new hires fresh from formal education?
1d. Is an overall assessment of IKM practices undertaken from time to time - or are such practices considered in evaluations of departmental or individual performance?
1e. Do position descriptions specifically mention expectations as to research and communication - or is it implicit that knowledge workers are assumed to perform professionally in that regard?
Next in the series: Corporate Memory
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