Knowledge Management Processes

Knowledge Management Processes

The knowledge processes described here are all very similar in that they rely on dialogue to extract and exchange knowledge between individuals and teams. Dialogue is a question-and-answer process by which people exchange knowledge. Dialogue is crucial to developing common understanding. It is hard to imagine effective knowledge exchange without some form of dialogue.

The main factors determining which process to use are as follows.

• How many teams (or individual experts) have got this knowledge? Is it just one, or are there several? How big are these teams? Is it just one person who has the knowledge, such as a company expert? Is the team small enough to have a discussion in a single room? Or is the team too big or too busy, so that you need to interview them one at a time?
• How many teams need the knowledge? Is it just one team, with an immediate knowledge need? Can you transfer knowledge directly to the knowledge customer, or do you need to use a facilitator or interviewer to capture and package the knowledge? The answers to these questions will determine which process you use, as shown below