theartofservice

Knowledge Management has become a trendy term that has a lot of promise. Most of the publicity speaks about businesses reinventing themselves into learning organizations and knowledge-based companies and little can be produced as to the exact benefits from any particular implementation until the effort has been in place for a significant period of time. Sure – short terms benefits can be realized and this cannot be discredited, but the long-term benefits of knowledge management is the result of consistent and disciplined execution of the process over time.

What cannot be denied though is the value of knowledge in business. The presence of good knowledge is the basis for creating new strategies, modifying processes and policies, modernizing systems, and improving performance. But consider that knowledge is only raw material for building the products and services of a business like any manufactured product. The use of inferior raw material creates an inferior product.

Whether an organization is hoping to created a full fledge knowledge-based culture or not, the role of knowledge management professionals play a specific part in refining the raw materials of knowledge in the company to something usable. Their tools and techniques are numerous and cover several disciplines. In the truest sense, knowledge management professionals are only facilitators for knowledge sharing and usage. They serve to find ways to refine the knowledge produced and share those methods to the organization for them to adopt.

How knowledge management professionals are used depends on the company and the strategic direction for the role. In most cases, the functions already exist in the form of technical writers, editors, consultants, project managers, data base developers, or the like. Consider recognizing the knowledge management role of these functions. Encourage the refinement of knowledge in the business. The results may be advantageous.

Read Full Post »