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It’s crucial that a holistic and integrated approach to Knowledge Management (KM) is taken; find out why below.
Author: Paul Whiffen Head of Knowledge Management at i3Works
I was very pleased to see the recent creation of Knowledge Principles for use across Government. Supported by Philip Rycroft (Head of UK Governance Group, Cabinet Office), the Knowledge Principles make a distinction between Knowledge and Information and complement the existing Information Principles.
Having been working in KM for almost 20 years, it’s become so clearly important to treat what we know as an organisational asset and then manage it accordingly. Taking this foundational perspective starts to unlock & enable the other principles included in the set including around environment & culture, and planning for knowledge sharing and learning for both organisations and individuals.
It’s crucial that a holistic and integrated approach to Knowledge Management (KM) is taken; the new Knowledge Principles make this point clear. I have encountered outlooks that view KM as being mainly or wholly about knowledge capture or communities or individual knowledge transfer. All these things, and more, are needed for a true and comprehensive approach to managing an organisation’s knowledge asset. More than once over the years I have been asked what’s my favourite part of KM, or which part I would miss the most if it wasn’t there. The truth is, it’s all important – it’s this holistic view point that creates a strategic approach, and if it’s well implemented, delivers an organisation that is properly managing what it knows.
In many ways, KM itself is not that complex – almost anyone can see the value in applying it. The harder challenge comes from implementing it within an organisation, largely due to the cultural implications. KM is simple, but not at all easy – the arrival of these new cross-Government Knowledge principles help to make the case and set the expectation for KM in the Public Sector.
