Mastering Organizational Knowledge Flow

Get your organization's expertise out of its silos and make it flow-with lessons from over a decade of experience Looking at knowledge management in a holistic way, Mastering Organizational Knowledge Flow: How to Make Knowledge Sharing Work puts the proper emphasis on non-technical issues. As knowledge is deeply connected to humans, the author moves away from the often overused and therefore burned-out term "knowledge management" to the better-suited term "knowledge flow management." Provides lessons learned and case studies from real experience Discusses key knowledge flow components, success factors and traps, and where to start Covering topics such as the power of scaling, internal marketing, measuring success, cultural aspects of sharing, and the role of Web2.0, Mastering Organizational Knowledge Flow: How to Make Knowledge Sharing Work allows you to stay up-to-date with today's knowledge flow management, and implement best practices to position your organization to take advantage of all of its assets.

Foreword: The Generations of Knowledge Management xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xix Chapter 1 The Human Touch 1 Why This Book? 2 Terminology and Definitions 7 Taking a Holistic View 10 Getting into the Flow 17 Case Study: ToolPool 18 Chapter 2 Getting Started 23 Project versus Initiative 23 Team Structures 27 Strategy and Assessment 28 Big Bang or Small 32 Chapter 3 Roles 39 Who Should Introduce and Drive Knowledge Flow Management? 40 Who Should Worry about Knowledge Flow Management? 43 Knowledge Intermediaries 50 Chapter 4 Basic Requirements for Successful Knowledge Flow Management 57 Passionate Initiative Support 57 Culture 61 Trust 64 Executive Support 68 Multiple Drivers 71 Chapter 5 Driving for Success 75 Internal Marketing: The Myth of Build It and They Will Come 75 The Pulse 83 Keep It Simple 85 Go Global: The Power of Scaling 86 Motivation 88 What If Your Knowledge Takes a Walk? 90 Chapter 6 Barriers 93 Barriers Hindering the Flow 94 Knowledge Is Power: How Long? 97 Sharing Knowledge Takes Effort 98 I Need Two More Weeks 101 Less Can Be More 104 Legal Limitations 107 Chapter 7 The Technology Trap 111 Asset or Pointer? 115 Tools: Not Only Technology 118 CoPs 118 Skills Management 119 “Knowledge Bases” 121 Portals 122 Open Space Technology 124 Search 125 Stories 126 Knowledge Transfer Sessions 127 Chapter 8 Measure and Analyze 131 Measure to Get What You Want 136 Measuring Quality 138 Analyze Your Initiative 140 Feed It Back 145 Chapter 9 Knowledge Flow Management: The Next Generation 149 The Role of Web 2.0++ 149 Social Media Internally 152 What about 2020? 153 Special Roles and Jobs 154 Stone Age: Creativity Leap through Communities 155 Technical Infrastructures 156 Chapter 10 Final Thoughts 163 Appendix A Key Success Factors 167 Appendix B Additional Resources 171 About the Author 173 Index 175