Knowledge Management Processes

Knowledge Management Assessment

Fully embedding Knowledge Management (KM) is a change process, and the first step in the change is to determine out the current status - to see what is already being done, what works well, where the barriers and gaps are, and where the strengths are.

There are several levels of assessment you can carry out. You can use our self-assessment tool, available here. Alternatively you can commission an expert diagnostic assessment, based on structured in-depth interviews of a range of staff throughout the relevant part of the organization. The interview process takes each interviewee through open and closed questions around culture, people, process and technology facets of KM, using a standard protocol. The interview may be performed face to face, or by telephone if face to face is impossible.

We have run this assessment many times over the past for major organisations, or business units in major organisations, in the Oil, Engineering, Manufacturing and Retail, Mining, Utilities and Public Sectors. We therefore have a benchmarking database of 40 datapoints, which allows you to compare yourself against a range of peers, as in the plot below.

Example benchmarking plot against 15 criteria

This expert Assessment uses a 15-point model against which the current status is measured. The model is derived from a study of successful KM implementations in a wide range of industries, and on robust models of knowledge flow (such as the SECI model of Nonaka and Takeuchi). It measures the flow of learning from creation to re-use, and looks for enablers and barriers to that flow. The current status of each component is given a mark out of 5, or a color of red, yellow or green, depending on the level of need for change. In addition to the major elements of knowledge flow, the assessment looks at the key components of governance which need to be in place if KM is to deliver sustained benefit.

The responses, and the numerical rating, provide a picture of the KM strengths and weaknesses of the organization which can be benchmarked against KM competencies in other organisations. The KM Assessment will also identify a range of potential actions which can be taken to improve the flow of learning from experience through to response. The actions are listed and presented, based on their impact and difficulty of implementation (or impact and urgency) as shown below

Example action plot

Clients use the Assessment for several reasons - as input to a KM strategy, as input to a KM improvement plan, as a means of benchmarking progress, as a way of identifying "missing elements or knowledge bottlenecks, or as input for designing a holistic KM system.