©UFS Making KM “stick” and the tools to do it KM World 2009 “Resetting the Enterprise: Focusing on People, Talent & Knowledge”

©UFS

Making KM “stick”

and

the tools to do it

KM World 2009

“Resetting the Enterprise: Focusing on People, Talent & Knowledge”

KM World 2009 - Version 9/8/2009 2

Introductions

Robert Burns - Director, Knowledge Management ([email protected])

Phil Harms - Sr. Knowledge Management Consultant

MetLife – Business UnitBenefit Services Organization in MetLife’s US Business unit• KM has been deployed for 6 plus years

– Document Management– Intranet, Collaboration, and Innovation– Procedural documentation, job aids, and other job

related information


Agenda

• The Key to . . .

• Start With A Four Step Approach

• Plan For It - Start With Planning for Sustainable Success

– Strategic Alignment at Two Levels

• Commit To It - Building a KM Platform

– Portfolio: Tools Enable Strategically Aligned Solutions

• Ensure It – Governance

• Show It - Metrics


The Key to . . .

Making KM “stick” and the tools to do it.

It’s all about alignment for impact, but how?

. . . And what do the solutions look like?


Start With A Four Step Approach – A blueprint for using the tools

Approach – Plan for it

Metrics – Show it

Budget/Resources – Commit to it

Governance – Ensure it


Plan For It - Start With Planning for Sustainable Success

Problem 1: Conceptual buy-in for KM is achievable, but . . . it can be difficult to get buy-in on KM only initiatives

Problem 2: Leadership views KM process & tools as impressive, but … it can be a challenge getting the funding as you compete with all of the other business priorities

Solution: Focus on KM’s strategic alignment in two ways . . . Initiatives and Platform


Strategic Alignment - Integrate KM at Two Levels

Governance& Controls

SolutionsPortfolio

CostControls

Str

ateg

ic Alig

nmen

tB

enef

its

Enterprise Initiatives – Embedded KM Elements

LOB Initiatives – Embedded KM Elements

Business Unit Initiatives – Embedded KM Elements

KM Team& Partners

KM Platform


How to Integrate KM into Strategic Initiatives

• The Hook: Strategic initiatives already have highest priority and budgets. Where does KM fit into them?

• KM Is Foundational– Make KM a critical element of all initiatives, much like training and

quality management– Add KM into

o Project Management Office processes and toolso Strategic planning processes and toolso Key business processes, such as quality and learning & development

– Develop a KM checklist for projects to ensure integration

• Planning Cycle Integration– Annually, integrate KM into business initiative planning &

deployment– Also integrate with all related ongoing planning and deployment

processes


KM Checklist Objectives: A Tool for Strategic Integration

Build an understanding of importance/impact of KM on the business; macro & project levels

Advertise the KM Team & its services

Provide opportunities for KM Team to consult with project leads

Identify high-level scope for the KM elements that enable project success


Commit To It - Building a KM Platform

• The Hook: Connect governance, solutions, and costs to achieving strategic initiatives

• Fund the platform through the business’ strategic funding process

– Ensure the KM Platform can enable the achievement of strategic initiatives

– Continuously maintain, expand, and realign the KM Platform to meet business needs

– Acquire commitment for resources


Portfolio: Tools Enable Strategically Aligned Solutions

• The “Classics”

– DMS

– Intranet

– Reference Materials

– Support: processes, intake (group mailbox), on-line support

– Marketing: branding, road showsand communication plans

• The “Frontier”

– CoPs and 2.0 Tools (Blogs, Forums, FAQs, Wikis)

– Innovation Initiatives (APQC study recommended)

– Video/Demo (Captivate)

– Audio (Podcasts)


Document Management System

• The backbone of any Knowledge Management System is a strong DMS

• Business documents need to be accessible, protected and trusted by users.

– Stewardship model

– Controlled Access Permissions

– 1 “Gold” copy

• Challenges

– Can be the most expensive

– Can be hard to monitor


Intranet

• Create a web interface to access important tools, job aids and information

– Can integrate with the DMS by linking to new versions and giving audiences a web-interface for finding documentation

– Aggregate across multiple repositories

– After start-up cost, there is little or no cost for adding pages and content into the system

• Challenges– Ongoing system maintenance

– Need Governance model where content owners let intranet developers know when changes are needed


Reference Materials

• A designated team of Technical Writers that reach out to content or process owners to create documentation

– Pure Stewardship model

– Can store in DMS and access through intranet

• Challenges

– Need to advertise this service heavily

– Can have high and low volume seasons


Communities of Practice

• Group of individuals performing similar functions in different business units across the enterprise– Only cost is employee time commitment to

CoP– Great Knowledge Sharing tool in which the

entire enterprise can benefit from increased associate knowledge

• Challenges– Need to identify where opportunities for

CoPs stand– Need to identify situations where CoP will

“work”– Need right leadership to maintain

momentum


Innovation Initiatives

• Initiatives to gather ideas from the enterprise population for product or process improvements– Low cost and can create a multitude of

new ideas

• Challenges– Someone needs to comb the information

for new ideas

– A steering committee that selects and pursues ideas should be in place

– Understand the kind of innovation company you are (Innovating on your Own Terms – APQC/IBM 2007)


Podcasting

• Audio files created as process updates or leadership messages– Can be very effective in communicating

with sales force

– Set-up is very cheap; $15 computer microphone and free Audacity software

– More flexibility than All Employee meetings or Town Halls

– Can be housed in DMS and accessed through web

• Challenges– Finding willing and capable speakers

– Understanding audience time limits


Video/Demo

• Online presentations or walkthroughs running with video and audio

– Excellent training tool with higher engagement than e-mail or audio announcements

– We use Adobe Captivate which has full software required for creation& editing

• Challenges

– Cost of software

– Creation time to build professional appearing content


Ensure It - Governance • Representatives partnering with KM as the Stewards

– Structure multi-level, inclusive, and cross-organizational committees/teams, but keep it small– Make decisions and recommendations, set priorities, and champion KM – Create formal charter, roles & responsibilities, profiles

• Alignment– Representatives align and integrate

KM strategy with business strategy

• Focus– Ensure continuous focus on integrating

KM into the business strategy– Make adjustments to stay aligned

• Measure – Establish process to measure and show success – Track and report out results; adjust strategy

and tactics as needed


Show It - Metrics

• Metrics are essential to show success– How well is integrating KM

with business strategy working?• What is the impact?

– Two levels of metrics

• KM-Only metrics– Perception type: satisfaction,

perceived time saved, quality, etc.– Quantifiable type: Usage levels,

number of CoPs, number of innovations, etc.

• KM’s impact on business metrics– Show direct or indirect impact on business metrics

– What is KM’s share of the overall metric?


Summary: Making It Stick - Using the Four Step Approach

Continually refresh and create tools for the KM platform and portfolio by leveraging the integration of KM with business strategy

Approach – Plan for it

Metrics – Show it

Budget/Resources – Commit to it

Governance – Ensure it

Integrating KM into business strategy enables achieving sustainable success

The business owns and drives, KM is

the steward

Two types – KM Only & KM Impacts on Business

©UFS

Documents

©UFS Making KM “stick” and the tools to do it KM World 2009 “Resetting the Enterprise: Focusing on People, Talent & Knowledge”