Knowledge Management & Transfer Model

Knowledge Management & Transfer Model
{Techniques and Forms}

Division of Personnel
Department of Administrative Service
State of New Hampshire

Introduction

This document is intended to help state agencies retain critical organizational knowledge. The goal of Knowledge Management is not to capture all knowledge, but rather manage the knowledge that is most important to the organization. It involves applying the collective knowledge and abilities of the entire workforce to achieve specific organizational objectives.

State agencies should feel free to adapt and use information and tools on the following pages as necessary within their organization.  It is provided to be a starting point for sharing knowledge and experience, allowing those who remain with the organization to continue providing quality service.

Capturing and sharing critical knowledge and expertise should be occurring continuously among employees. In many cases, however, it is not and this need becomes pressing when a valued employee is preparing to retire or change positions.  When an organization is considering implementing a knowledge transfer plan it is important to answer several

questions:
1. Is the organization going to fill the vacant position or reassign the duties?
2. Are all the duties of the position still important to the mission of the organization?
3. Is there a need to update the position description?
4. Will the position change, remain as is, or be eliminated once the employee leaves?

What is knowledge transfer?
David DeLong’s book “Lost Knowledge” describes knowledge as the “capacity for effective actions or decision-making in the context of organizational activity”.  Accordingly, lost knowledge would decrease this vital capacity and help undermine organizational effectiveness and performance.  The goal of transferring knowledge to others [known as Knowledge Transfer] is to:
1. Identify key positions and people where potential knowledge loss is most imminent.
2. Assess how critical the knowledge loss will be.
3. Develop a plan of action to ensure the capture of that critical knowledge and a plan of action to transfer it.

؟Why is knowledge transfer important
A significant percentage of the state’s workforce is nearing retirement age over the next ten years.  These employees have acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge about how things work, how to get things done and who to go to when problems arise.  Losing their expertise and experience could significantly reduce efficiency, resulting in costly mistakes, unexpected quality problems, or significant disruptions in services and/or performance.   In addition, faster turnover among younger employees and more competitive recruiting and compensation packages add significantly to the mounting concern about the state’s ability to sustain acceptable levels of performance.

What are the benefits of a knowledge transfer program?
Knowledge transfer [KT] programs prevent critical knowledge loss by focusing on key areas.  Some of the immediate benefits of KT programs are:
1. They provide reusable documentation of the knowledge required in certain positions or job roles.
2. They result in immediate learning and knowledge transfer when carried out by individuals who can either use the transferred knowledge themselves or have responsibility for hiring, training, mentoring, coaching or managing people within an organizational unit.
3. They reduce the impact of employee departure.
4. They integrate staffing, training, job and organization redesign, process improvements and other responses.
5. They aid in succession planning.
6. They prevent the loss of knowledge held only in employees’ heads when they leave the organization or retire.
7. They enhance career development. 

Generally Accepted Definitions for Knowledge Management and Transfer

Knowledge Management (KM) refers to practices used by organizations to find, create, and distribute knowledge for reuse, awareness, and learning across the organization. Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organizational objectives and are intended to lead to the achievement of specific outcomes such as shared intelligence, improved performance, or higher levels of innovation.

Knowledge Transfer (an aspect of Knowledge Management) has always existed in one form or another through on-the-job discussions with peers, apprenticeship, and maintenance of agency libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. Since the late twentieth century, technology has played a vital role in Knowledge Transfer through the creation of knowledge bases, expert systems, and other knowledge repositories.
To understand knowledge management and knowledge transfer, it is helpful to examine the differences between data, information, and knowledge.

Data is discrete, objective facts. Data is the raw material for creating information. By itself, data carries no judgment, interpretation or meaning.

Information is data that is organized, patterned and/or categorized. It has been sorted, analyzed and displayed, and is communicated through various means. Information changes the way a person perceives something, thus, affecting judgment or behavior.

Knowledge is what is known. It is richer and more meaningful than information. Knowledge is gained through experience, reasoning, intuition, and learning. Because knowledge is intuitive, it is difficult to structure, can be hard to capture on machines, and is a challenge to transfer. We often speak of a "knowledgeable person," and by that we mean someone who is well informed, and thoroughly versed in a given area. We expand our knowledge when others share theirs with us. We create new knowledge when we pool our knowledge together.

The Working Council of the Federal Chief Information Officers Council in its publication "Managing Knowledge at Work: An Overview of Knowledge Management" illustrates these differences in the simplest terms:

Data           = Unorganized Facts
Information           = Data + Context
Knowledge           = Information + Judgment

What is Tacit versus Explicit Knowledge?

A key distinction made by the majority of knowledge management practitioners is the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is often subconscious, internalized, and the individual may or may not be aware of what he or she knows and how he or she accomplishes particular results. At the opposite end of the spectrum is conscious or explicit knowledge - knowledge that the individual holds explicitly and consciously in mental focus, and may communicate to others. In the popular form of the distinction, tacit knowledge is what is in our heads, and explicit knowledge is what we have arranged into an organized system.

• Tacit knowledge is often difficult to access. People are not aware of the knowledge they possess or how valuable it may be to others. Tacit knowledge is considered more valuable because it provides context for people, places, ideas, and experiences. Effective transfer of tacit knowledge generally requires extensive personal contact and trust.

• Explicit knowledge is relatively easy to capture and store in databases and documents. It is shared with a high degree of accuracy. It may be either structured or unstructured:

► Structured - Individual elements are organized or diagramed in a particular way for future retrieval. It includes documents, databases, and spreadsheets.

► Unstructured - The information is not referenced for retrieval. Examples include e-mail messages, images, training courses, and audio and video selections.

Knowledge Transfer Practices
 

Developing and implementing a knowledge management/transfer plan

A knowledge transfer plan allows you, along with the employee, to target the knowledge and expertise that should be shared with the remaining staff.  It also allows you to evaluate how critical a task is to the mission of the organization.

In addition, having an employee complete a knowledge transfer tool provides a positive framework for the departing employee to look back over their career and document their accomplishments and worth to the organization.  It also provides a mechanism for the employee to give honest feedback on the necessity of actual tasks and activities.

State agencies should feel free to adapt and use information and tools on the following pages as necessary within your organization.  It is provided to be a starting point for sharing knowledge and experience, allowing those who remain with the organization to continue providing quality service.

Instructions For Completing A Knowledge Transfer Form
There are three simple steps to complete the worksheet:
1. Identify critical tasks and activities.
2. Define each task and activity.
3. Develop a knowledge transfer plan.

Set aside some quiet time to work through the steps. You may find it helpful to talk to coworkers and your manager as you answer the questions. Sometimes experienced employees don’t realize how much they know. Others can help uncover the pieces.

STEP 1: IDENTIFYING CRITICAL TASKS AND ACTIVITIES
There are probably some aspects of your work that only you know how to do. In this step you are developing a list of those tasks and activities. It isn’t necessary to go into detail. Let the questions below stimulate your thinking:

• What are you known for? What are you the “go to” person for?
• What do only you know how to do?
• If you left your position today, what wouldn’t get done because no one else knows how to do it or what to do?
• When you return from a vacation, what work is usually waiting for you because no one else knows how to do it?
• When you have to be away from work, what do you worry about (what work isn’t getting done or what work isn’t being done well)?
• What does your office rely on you for?

List the tasks and activities below, using as many blanks as necessary.
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________________________
10. ____________________________________________________________
Examples:
1. Customer complaints are not addressed. (Addressing customer complaints)
2. New initiatives lay on your desk until you return. (Developing new business processes)
3. Special requests are not processed. (Processing special request forms)
4. Computer glitches are not fixed. (Solving computer glitches)
5. G&C requests wait until you return.
6. You are the only person who can expedite purchase orders.
7.  You are the only person who knows all the vendors [Vendor Knowledge]
8.  You are the “go to person” to mediate internal disputes [Dispute Resolution]
STEP 2: DEFINE EACH TASK AND ACTIVITY
Complete this worksheet on each task or activity identified in Step 1. You will be identifying in more detail the essence of the knowledge and experience required to complete each task or activity. It is not necessary to inventory all your knowledge and experience. You are simply defining the particular task/activity in more detail. What information or experience do you need to have in order to carry out this responsibility or task? Focus especially on things only you know and that others need to learn.
Consider these areas to get you started:
• Knowing key contacts (customers, universities, other state agency contacts, federal government contacts, people who can walk a G&C request through the process, business contacts, etc.)
• Having strong relationships with key customers or coworkers
• Knowing logistics or locations (training rooms, field offices, etc.)
• Knowing past history (court cases, customer requests, business decisions, etc.)
• Knowing locations of critical files or information
• Knowing how to carry out a task or responsibility

There are many other areas. Think through the steps necessary to complete the task and work to uncover the parts that are critical to your success. What do you know that others need to learn from you in order to be able to serve your customers as well as you do?
Example
Task or Activity (from step 1):
Special requests are not processed
List the critical knowledge, experience, or skill needed for this task:
1. Knowing how to enter special requests into the computer system
2. Knowing how to assign special requests, based on each person’s experience
3. Knowing which information to ask customers for when they make a special request
4. Knowing the history of a customer’s special requests, and being able to judge what their true need is

See next page for blank form.

Critical knowledge and experience worksheet
Task or Activity from step #1:

List the critical knowledge, experience, or skill needed for this task:

Critical knowledge and experience worksheet
Task or Activity from step #1:

List the critical knowledge, experience, or skill needed for this task:

 
STEP 3: DEVELOPING A KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PLAN
Fill in the matrix below. Start by inserting all the critical tasks and activities you identified in Step 1. Answer the questions in the chart for each area. Use the detail you developed in Step 2 to help you think about the questions.
Complete the matrix with your manager. When working closely in an area, it is sometimes hard to judge the importance and impact of the tasks on the organization. He or she will help you confirm your perception of the current importance, availability and impact on the organization.
For the tasks identified as critical, work with your manager to develop a strategy for addressing that area.

Example
Critical
Tasks
From Step 1 in the worksheet. Importance
Low-Medium-High

Gauge the importance of the task identified Availability
Is this knowledge and expertise currently available from anyone else in our work area?
Yes, No, or Don’t Know
[if yes, who?] Impact
Low-Medium-High
[If the task is important and there is no one else who possesses the knowledge, impact is high.] Resources
What resources [files, people, web sites, references, etc.] exist to help others learn this task? Strategy
How do you plan to address this knowledge gap?  Who will learn it?
How and when?
Special requests aren’t processed High No.  Jane knows how to enter data, but the rest only I do. High Jane for database.  My special request files for format of info needed. Outline step-by-step process of handling special requests. 
Me – 7-31-09
Creating a matrix of each person’s expertise to help with assignment of special requests.
Me – 7-31-09

See next page for blank transfer plan form.

Knowledge Transfer Plan Worksheet
Critical Tasks
From Step 1 in the worksheet Importance
Low-Medium-High
Gauge the importance of the task identified Availability
Is this knowledge and expertise currently available from anyone else in our work area?
Yes, No, or Don’t Know
[if yes, who?] Impact
Low-Medium-High
[If the task is important and there is no one else who possesses the knowledge, impact is high.] Resources
What resources [files, people, web sites, references, etc.] exist to help others learn this task? Strategy
How do you plan to address this knowledge gap? 
Who will learn it?
How and when?

     
 
OVERVIEW OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT/TRANSFER STRATEGIES
There are many ways for an organization to identify, store, and transfer knowledge. Some strategies will work better in one organization than another. Some may not be appropriate for specific types of content. The challenge is to identify and develop complementary ways to further knowledge management and transfer in an organization.

Knowledge Management
A systematic approach to finding, understanding and
using knowledge to achieve organizational objectives.
Identifying & Collecting Knowledge  Storing Knowledge  Transferring Knowledge
1. Best Practices
2. Documenting Processes
3. Expert Interviews
4. Knowledge Audit
5. Knowledge Maps & Inventories 

+ 1. Document Repositories and Management Systems Databases 

+ 1. After Action Reviews
2. Communities of Practice
3. Co-op/Internships
4. Job Aids
5. Knowledge Fairs
6. Learning Games
7. Mentoring
8. On-the-Job Training
9. Storytelling
10. Training

After Action Reviews: These debriefings are a way to identify, analyze, and capture experiences, what worked well and what needs improvement, so others can learn from those experiences. For maximum impact, after action reviews should be done either immediately following an event or on a regular basis, with results shared quickly among those who would benefit from the knowledge gained.

Best Practices: The identification and use of processes and/or practices that result in excellent products or services. Best practices, sometimes called preferred practices, often generate ideas for improvements in other organizations or work units.

Co-op/Internships: Formal arrangements are established for an experienced person to pass along knowledge and skills to a novice. In New Hampshire State government, the Co-op/Intern Educational Placement Program serves as a recruiting tool for agencies. The program helps agencies meet their short-term staffing needs in critical skill areas. It also serves as a mechanism for students to obtain practical on-the-job experience and academic credit as part of their educational experience.

Communities of Practice: Groups of individuals who share knowledge about a common work practice over a period of time, though they are not part of a formally constituted work team. Communities of practice generally cut across traditional organizational boundaries. They enable individuals to acquire new knowledge faster. They may also be called Communities of Interest if the people share an interest in something but do not necessarily perform the work on a daily basis.

Documenting Processes: Developing a written or electronic record of a specific work process that includes the business case for the process, steps in the process, key dates, relationship to other processes that come before and after, key players and contact information, any required references and legal citations, back-up procedures, and copies of forms, software, data sets, and file names associated with the process.

Document Repositories: Collections of documents that can be viewed, retrieved, and interpreted by humans and automated software systems (e.g. statistical software packages). Document repositories add navigation and categorization services to stored information. Key word search capability is often provided to facilitate information retrieval.

Expert Interviews: Sessions where one or more people who are considered experts in a particular subject, program, policy, or process, etc. meet with others to share knowledge. Expert interviews can be used in many ways, including capturing knowledge of those scheduled to leave an organization, conducting lessons learned debriefings, and identifying job competencies.

Job Aids: These are tools that help people perform tasks accurately. They include things such as checklists, flow diagrams, reference tables, decision tree diagrams, etc. that provide specific, concrete information to the user and serve as a quick reference guide to performing a task. Job aids are not the actual tools used to perform tasks, such as computers, measuring tools, or telephones.

Knowledge Audits: Knowledge audits help an organization identify its knowledge assets, including what knowledge is needed and available. They provide information on how knowledge assets are produced and shared, and where there is a need for internal transfer of knowledge.

Knowledge Fairs: These events showcase information about an organization or a topic. They can be used internally, to provide a forum for sharing information, or externally, to educate customers or other stakeholders about important information.

Knowledge Maps and Inventories: These catalog information/knowledge available in an organization and where it is located. They point to information but do not contain it. An example is an Experts or Resource Directory that lists people with expert knowledge who can be contacted by others in need of that knowledge.

Learning Games: These structured learning activities are used to make learning fun and more effective, provide a review of material that has already been presented in order to strengthen learning, and evaluate how much learning has occurred.

Mentoring: In mentoring, an experienced, skilled person (mentor) is paired with a lesser skilled or experienced person (protégé), with the goal of developing or strengthening competencies of the protégé.

On-the-Job Training: Most organizations use some form of on-the-job training where an experienced employee teaches a new person how to perform job tasks. If this happens at random or with no consistent written materials or processes, it is called unstructured OJT. A system of structured OJT differs in that specific training processes are written; training materials and guides exist and are used consistently by all those who train; training is scheduled; records are kept of training sessions; and "trainers" are given training on how to do OJT, how to give feedback, and several other factors.

Storytelling: This involves the construction of fictional examples or the telling of real organizational stories to illustrate a point and effectively transfer knowledge. An organizational story is a detailed narrative of management actions, employee interactions, or other intra-organizational events that are communicated informally within the organization. When used well, story telling is a powerful transformational tool in organizations.

Training: Training encompasses a large variety of activities designed to facilitate learning (of knowledge, skills, and abilities or competencies) by those being trained. Methodologies can include: classroom instruction, simulations, role-plays, computer or web-based instruction, small and large group exercises, and more. It can be instructor-led or self-directed in nature.

Note:  Pages 17 through 41 of this model provide a description of the strategies listed on pages 14 through 16.  Each strategy contains a definition, benefits, when to use the strategy, how to use the strategy, and obstacles you may encounter when using the strategy.

Knowledge Management & Transfer Strategies

• Strategy
• Definitions
• Benefits
• When to Use
• How to Use
• Obstacles

After Action Reviews
Definition An After Action Review (AAR) is a discussion of a project or an activity that allows individuals involved to better learn what was done right and what could be done better the next time.
Benefits AARs identify and capture the things that went well and the things that could be improved so that team or work group members are aware of and can use the broader team/group's learning in their future projects or work activities. Results can also be shared with future teams or other work groups so they can learn from the experiences of others. AARs are excellent for making tacit knowledge explicit during the life of a project or activity. AARs are a useful tool for developing employees by providing constructive, directly actionable feedback in a non-threatening way. They give employees an opportunity to share their views and ideas.
When to Use The sessions should be done as soon as possible after the completion of the project or activities. They could also be done at any strategic point during a project. AARs simply need to have a beginning and an end, an identifiable purpose and some basis on which actions can be assessed.
How to Use There are three types of AARs. Although the fundamentals are similar and depending upon the event, an AAR can be Formal, Informal or Personal. All involve the exchange of observations and ideas. Both Formal and Informal AARs should be appropriately documented so lessons learned may be shared across functional and geographic boundaries, and so that implementation of improvements can be measured.

• Formal AAR. A formal AAR is more structured, requires planning and takes longer to conduct. The formal AAR usually occurs immediately or soon after an event is completed. It may also occur while the event is in-progress. A neutral third party should facilitate a formal AAR.
 
• Informal AAR. Informal AARs are less structured, require much less preparation and planning and can be conducted anywhere, anytime, for any event, by anyone. Examples: following a meeting or conference call; or as part of a safety briefing. Managers or other interested parties may facilitate their own informal AARs.

The amount of planning and preparation required for an AAR will vary based on the type of AAR conducted; however, the process for both informal and formal AARs has four steps:
Planning:
• Schedule the AAR
• Select a facilitator
• Notify participants
• Select AAR site
• Assemble AAR materials
• Establish the AAR agenda
Preparation:
• Review the expected outcomes for the project or event
• Identify key processes
• Prepare the AAR site
• Rehearse as required
Conduct:
• Seek maximum participation
• Maintain focus on AAR objectives
• Review key points learned
• Record the AAR
Follow up:
• Distribute the record of the AAR to all participants
• Publish lessons learned in an easily accessible location
• Prioritize actions
• Develop action plan to fix the problem (revise procedures; develop a new process, etc.)

• Personal AARs are a simple matter of personal reflection. For example, take a few minutes to reflect on something you did yesterday such as a client consultation, dealing with a complaint or making a specific telephone call. Ask yourself the four AAR questions below. What does that tell you about what you could do differently tomorrow?