State of Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds Awards Contract to Working KnowledgeCSP for Knowledge Management Strategy and Knowledge Management Framework Implementation

 

 

 

History is in the making regardless of the outcomes…and knowledge management can have a critical role to play in enabling the US to “create value from its knowledge” and achieve the desired outcomes.

 

 

 

Two questions to consider:

  1. How can KM play a role in enabling outcomes to meet or exceed negotiation expectations?
  2. How is the Trump administration leveraging the multi-dimensional lessons learned that resulted from negotiations across previous US administrations?

Past negotiations have a history of outcomes being different from expectations in engaging with North Korea.  At the risk of oversimplifying an approach to what are complex talks with an incredible number of moving parts across multiple spectrums (political, economic, military, intelligence, social, personal, other), I offer the following

“back to basics” consideration (if not already considered) … engaging using learning before, learning during, and learning after behavior techniques and tools to improve the desired outcomes as a fundamental part of the planning and conduct of the negotiations. This will likely be a long process.

  • Behavior/Technique – Learning Before/Peer Assist): “Learning before doing” is supported through the Peer Assist, a facilitated process which targets a specific challenge, imports knowledge from people outside the team, identifies possible approaches and new lines of inquiry, and promotes sharing of learning with each other through a facilitated meeting.  How is the administration leveraging past administration negotiations/outcomes/lessons learned to develop and vet a new negotiation strategy that is improved through this peer interaction and lessons learned research and sense making?
  • Behavior/Technique – Learning During /After Action Reviews:  A U.S. Army technique, After Action Reviews enable the to “learn while doing” by answering four questions immediately after each negotiation day: (1) What was supposed to happen? (2) What happened? (3) If different from expectations, why are they different? and (4) What can we learn and immediately apply?
  • Behavior/Technique – Learning After/Retrospects “Learning after Doing” is supported by a facilitated process called a Retrospect.  Immediately after the end of the negotiations or negotiation phases, conduct a retrospect. This encourages team members to look back at the negotiations to discover what went well and why and what could have been done differently, with a view to helping a different team repeat their success and avoid any pitfalls— “learning after doing.”  The retrospect focuses not on what went wrong and who did it, rather it focuses on what was learned and how this can be applied in future situations by future teams, so they will be successful.  It is a “process of inquiry, not inquisition.” What has been learned from previous negotiations and engagements with NOKO and more importantly what sense has been made from the lessons learned?

To be effective, these three processes for “systematic reflection” must be embedded in the negotiation planning and execution. It is outcome driven and is grounded in “performing and learning and performing.” 

Could achieving the outcomes desired be this straightforward? Not likely. And again, the administration may very well be following similar approaches.  I was thinking about this listening to the Sunday morning talk shows yesterday and reflecting on how the administration approaches challenge.  Just saying….it is worth considering if not already.

DoD & Federal Knowledge Management Symposium

Great Falls, Virginia – April 16, 2017 – Bill Kaplan, Working KnowledgeCSP Founder, will be speaking at the 2018 DoD and Federal Knowledge Management Symposium, on 16 May at 1400 (2:00PM) at the Baltimore Convention Center. Bill will be sharing practice based insights on Applying “Agile” in Developing KM Strategies and Implementing Frameworks.

This session will present and explain a practice based, “agile” based methodology for developing “fit for purpose,” operationally relevant KM strategies and implementing frameworks that (1) incorporate a KM pilot project “up front” as a primary source of learning and insight for strategy development and framework implementation, and (2) are based upon “Fast Learning”  fundamentals (part of the foundation for “agile”) that are introduced into the organization for sustainable KM success. A discussion about Agile KM applied to KM Strategy, Framework development, and knowledge transfer can be found here. Symposium registration is here.

Working KnowledgeCSP and Enterprise Knowledge are teaming with Ark Group Australia to deliver a comprehensive seminar on the practical application of Knowledge Management concepts, strategies, and practices.  These one-day seminars, to be delivered on March 7, 2017 in Melbourne and again on March 9 in Canberra will provide a detailed view of Knowledge Management best practices and case studies from two of the world’s most influential KM professionals.

Ark Group Australia is presenting ‘The Wheels of Knowledge Management,’ featuring Working KnowledgeCSP’s Bill Kaplan, and EK’s Zach Wahl.  Together, Bill and Zach will cover the breadth of KM People/Culture, Process, Enabling Technology, Content, and Structure/Governance from concept to strategy to practical implementation. 

Working KnowledgeCSP Founder and Principal Bill Kaplan noted, “An organization must have an idea, a concept, about where it wants to go with knowledge management, how it’s going to get there, and what it’s going to do to implement KM in a consistent, sustainable and measurable way to achieve better operational or business performance . . . that is the promise of knowledge management.” 

Zach Wahl, CEO of EK added, “Having teamed with Bill on a number of successful KM initiatives, I know we combine to provide a diverse, yet synergistic combination of expertise and experiences.  I’m excited to team with Working KnowledgeCSP in order to deliver this program.”

To learn more about the event and to register, please visit the Ark Group Australia site.

About Bill Kaplan and Working KnowledgeCSP

Bill has developed the Concept | Strategy | Practice (CSP) Model for developing a sustainable KM Strategy and Implementing Framework. In addition, he co-developed KMAgile, an agile based approach to rapidly develop a sustainable knowledge transfer capability for organizations who desire to invest significant resources up front while also developing and delivering a long term KM Strategy and Implementation Framework. A recipient of the 2016 Knowledge Management Leadership Award, Bill was recognized as one of the world’s 50 most influential Knowledge Management professionals at the 2016 Global Knowledge Management Congress and Awards in Mumbai, India.

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

About Zach Wahl and Enterprise Knowledge

Zach was recognized as one of the World’s 50 Most influential Knowledge Management professionals at the 2016 Global Knowledge Management Congress and Awards. Zach has served on the board of the Washington DC Knowledge Management Institute and as the Chairman of the Institute for International Research (IIR) Enterprise Web, Portals, and Collaborative Technologies conference. He also serves as faculty for the Knowledge Management Institute, providing training and consulting on taxonomy design and development.

Enterprise Knowledge (EK) is a services firm that integrates Knowledge Management, Information Management, Information Technology, and Agile Approaches to deliver comprehensive solutions.  Our mission is to form true partnerships with our clients, listening and collaborating to create tailored, practical, and results-oriented solutions that enable them to thrive and adapt to changing needs.

EK has been recognized by KMWorld as one of the 50 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management and by CIO Review as one of the 20 Most Promising KM Solution Providers. Our core services include strategy, design, and development of Knowledge and Information Management systems, with proven approaches for Taxonomy Design, Project Strategy and Road Mapping, Brand and Content Strategy, Change Management and Communication, and Agile Transformation and Facilitation. 


Great Falls, Virginia – October 25, 2017 –  Working KnowledgeCSP (WK), a recognized US and international provider of knowledge management solutions, announced a competitive contract award for Knowledge Management (KM) Consulting Services Contract from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Under the terms of the contract, Working KnowledgeCSP, and its teammate, Enterprise Knowledge, an Arlington, VA based KM technology consulting company, will support The Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General to formalize functional requirements, propose technical solutions, and to produce a detailed implementation plan for the development of a Knowledge Management System for The Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General.

Working KnowledgeCSP Founder, Bill Kaplan, said, “We’re proud to have been selected and excited about this international KM opportunity. Collaborating with The Global Fund on its KM efforts further expands our focus in supporting the knowledge management efforts of organizations with a mission to address global social, health, economic, and political challenges.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Based in Great Falls, VA (USA), Working KnowledgeCSP provides knowledge management consulting solutions to US public sector, US private sector, and international clients.  Working KnowledgeCSP began operations in 2009.

About The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing organization that aims to attract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.” A public–private partnership, the organization has its secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization began operations in January 2002.

 

A series of long-term consulting projects involving planning, launching, and sustaining high-performing communities of practice (CoP) reemphasized to me some of the basics necessary for sustainable CoP success. One of the leading contributors to CoP success and one of the leading contributors to marginalizing CoPs is how well one understands the concept of “shared value,” not only in the initial planning and launch of CoPs, but also in sustaining the CoPs.

CoPs generally require investment in the form of funding, resources, people, participation, and time not only from the CoP memberships, but also from the organization that “licenses” the CoPs to operate. CoPs also generally require a “value” assessment before either the organization or the (potential) members will actively support and participate in the CoP. Failure to develop a value proposition and create a concept for shared value will greatly increase the probability the CoP will be short-lived.

Shared Value recognizes that a fully supported and sustainable CoP, whether initiated top down or bottom up, must deliver the expectations of those that are responsible for its existence.  For the organization, it may be, for example, critical research or sharing of lessons learned in critical areas of knowledge need, or the creation of knowledge content for reuse borne from the research or interests of the CoP members. The results can be the development of policy or revised processes or practices. For the CoP members, it could be improvements in professional development, the opportunity to close gaps in organizational knowledge or work skills; and it could be the opportunity to explore areas of personal or shared interests with other members of the CoP. 

The point is that there must be overlap between the two sets of expectations – an area of “shared value” that enables both sets of participants to gain from the license to operate within the organization over a long period of time.

The concept of Shared Value is a key component of our Working KnowledgeCSP CoP Maturity Model released this month. The “value proposition” must be developed, defined, and articulated, and adapted through the life-cycle of the CoP. It supports the creation of a value statement and measures of success that are forward looking and used to guide the direction and efforts of the CoP.

Ideally, the CoP’s shared value concepts are embedded in the organization’s strategy and operations and the organization reaches out to the CoP to support mission and operations. If the CoP and the organization operate as depicted on the left side of the figure above, this likely will never happen. Long terms success, and value added, will likely occur when the CoP and the organization operate as depicted on the right-side of the figure above.

The figure below provides some high-level lessons learned and advice to consider in improving the value your CoP can provide both to the organization and to the CoP members and increase the probability of CoP success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Practice-Based KM Maturity Model is an integration of KM research, planning, and implementations borne not only from practical experience as a practicing CKO, but also many years of consulting experience.  Like the CoP Maturity Model I recently published, I researched many models (research, academic, et al) in the domain and was unable to find one that met my needs…so I created this “practice-based” matrix. It’s v1 and will evolve. I hope you find some value in it.

Working KnowledgeCSP LLC, a CVE verified service disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB) with specialty expertise in federal acquisition management support and services, announced today that the US Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Office of the Senior Procurement Executive (SPE), exercised option years for Acquisition Support on multiple Task Orders supporting the SPE and his staff. The team of Working KnowledgeCSP, Vysnova Partners, and Cadre Acquisition Group is comprised of three Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB).

The primary effort is focused on supporting DOT’s acquisition policy development, implementation, and acquisition measurement efforts. The major tasks will continue to be driven by changes in the acquisition process, dollar thresholds for review, guidance from OFPP and other directives. In addition, the team will continue to support DOT acquisition and rulemaking processes as well as updating DOT’s acquisition planning guides and manuals.

Working KnowledgeCSP is currently supporting an international client that wanted a KM solution, strategy and implementation framework, centered on a network of people, a community of practice (CoP).  I researched many models in the domain and was unable to find one that met my needs.

Consequently, I developed the Working KnowledgeCSP CoP Maturity Model, the evolution of previous work I began earlier last year.  The model evolved from our initial strategy for this client, mid pilot retrospects, CoP member interviews, senior leadership learned lessons, multiple lessons learned from our many clients’ culture & business and operational environments, and previous KM project work with a variety of federal, state, and international clients.

GREAT FALLS October 4, 2017

— Working KnowledgeCSP LLC has been selected for the 2017 Best of Great Falls Award in the Other Contractors category by the Great Falls Award Program.

Each year, the Great Falls Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Great Falls area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2017 Great Falls Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Great Falls Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Working KnowledgeCSP LLC

Working KnowledgeCSP solves our clients’ toughest knowledge challenges by providing comprehensive services for knowledge management assessments, co-delivering “fit for purpose” knowledge management strategies and frameworks; developing targeted knowledge management training and workshops; delivering KM tools and templates, and connecting our clients, when necessary, with the right enabling knowledge management technology.  

Working KnowledgeCSP is an internationally recognized source for practical and innovative knowledge management (KM) solutions that also focuses on facilitating the organization and personal behavior changes needed to make sustainable KM implementation a success.

We work with our clients in US federal, state, and local organizations, the private sector in a wide range of industry sectors, and international organizations, to integrate practical knowledge management concepts, strategies, and practices to enable our clients to “create value from their knowledge.”

About Great Falls Award Program

The Great Falls Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Great Falls area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Great Falls Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Great Falls Award Program

CONTACT:
Great Falls Award Program
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.thebestawards.org

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Public and private sector output of goods and services, nationally, and internationally, has been steadily rising supported by improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of an expanding workforce supported by enhanced technology, especially automation and the evolving field of artificial intelligence (AI). 

Within this expanding workforce are many highly paid jobs requiring a depth of experience that cannot be replaced by automation or AI. Most of these jobs are experience based and intertwined with necessary expertise around human interactions. As margins become tighter, as competition increases, and the generational nature of the workforce continues to change, these knowledge workers who jobs are hard to automate or duplicate with AI need to be used (leveraged) much more effectively.  In addition to leveraging the increasing value of adaptive technology and AI, organizations should not forget the value of leveraging the knowledge their workforce has …what they know about what they do…that will be hard to replace if nothing is done to capture and make sense out of it for future use/reuse.

Technology alone is not the answer.  The ability to effectively capture, adapt, transfer, and reuse the critical and relevant knowledge of this knowledge workforce continues to be essential to enable organizations to adapt to change in all its dimensions and to effectively “operate faster than the speed of change.”

The question then is, why aren’t more organizations focusing on their ability to capture, adapt, transfer, and reuse their critical and relevant knowledge in their strategic planning and as part of the strategic focus of their organizations. I know the standard reasons but there is much more to consider.  Lots of effort goes into leveraging the financial, technical, and information assets within the organization, why wouldn’t as much or more effort be invested in capturing and leveraging the knowledge of the organization as a strategic asset.

Just doesn’t make sense that “performing and learning” isn’t more broadly a focus.

A lot of the consulting solutions we provide involve improving the effectiveness of knowledge transfer (sharing) between people and across organizations; why it’s so hard to effectively transfer critical knowledge or that it’s less effective than it could be. 

Among a diverse group of factors, I will tell you that I believe that missing or poor “context” is at or near the top of the list.  Context provides insight to the knowledge being shared, how it was captured, how it has been used, and can be reused. Context puts a face on knowledge and lets you see inside.

The figure in this discussion “Understanding the Impact of ‘Friction’ on Knowledge Transfer” provides some insight I offer for your consideration on this subject. Let me suggest two concepts I have found to be useful and true: (1) a very simple, practical definition of knowledge (information + experience = knowledge) where information is explicit and codified and experience is tacit and personal, and (2) context provides the insight or perspective to make information actionable (to become knowledge).

Moving from top to bottom, from direct to more indirect knowledge transfer, the ability to access and leverage context decreases, creating friction around one’s ability to leverage knowledge for reuse. The most powerful, effective method for knowledge transfer is “tacit to tacit” (F2F),  This enables the direct transfer of high level concepts, complex subject matter, and the ability to quickly and effectively understand the details of the knowledge being sought and the knowledge being shared (transferred).  You can gain context either through a story, an interview, a process like targeted knowledge capture and transfer, and a collection of other direct knowledge transfer techniques. Your trust factor for this knowledge will likely be high.

Next is “tacit-explicit-tacit.” An example of this is when an organization captures knowledge around particular subject matter or experience and the captured knowledge is characterized (distilled) for display, retention, access, and reuse in the context of the organization that will be using this knowledge.  Knowledge distillation and characterization is a skill set not easily mastered so the outcomes and outputs from this effort can vary by organization.  Context may be available to understand and reuse this knowledge effectively and provide what is needed to create value from this knowledge.  The difference from F2F is there may not be the ability to immediately or ever ask questions about the knowledge to be reused. Much depends on the quality of the elicitation and sense making, and characterization for the quality of the context to enable you to create value from this knowledge. Your trust factor for reuse of this knowledge may likely be lower.

At the bottom is “explicit-explicit.” An example of this is when someone searches for specific knowledge in the form of, f or example, either artifacts or online content.  You can likely find something relevant and depending on the quality of the characterization of the content, you may find it useful.  What is also likely to happen is that the context you need to apply this knowledge in your situation will be missing; you will have no idea from where the knowledge came, or who provided this knowledge, or how to most effectively reuse it.  Your “trust” factor will likely be lower and you may decide that it is not credible for your reuse.

[Note: I believe that it’s interesting to point out that Communities of Practice (CoPs) effectively operate in all three levels – for a later discussion].

The “so what” is to understand the necessity of and value in ensuring that knowledge is effectively elicited, captured, made of sense of with great focus, and uniquely characterized for reuse in the context of the reusers of that knowledge so that individuals, teams, and organizations can create the greatest value from their knowledge.

 

Working KnowledgeCSP announces the launch  of “Our Contracts Manager – On Demand Contract Management Support” for small to medium size organizations who need supplemental, professional, experienced, and certified professional contracting resources to help them through an occasional or a short-term, temporary increase in contracting workload and don’t want to hire a full-time contracts manager. 

“Our Contracts Manager” is a great solution for the following types of business situations:

· A small, but growing business that does work or wants to perform work on government or commercial contracts but doesn’t have the budget or workload to justify a full-time contracts manager.

· A CEO, COO, or senior executive who does all the contracting and proposal work when either bidding on potential new contract work or managing the awarded contracts.

· A legal department handling your government contracts but you aren’t sure they have the requisite specialized expertise to navigate the federal acquisition regulations or to address the demands of government program managers and contracting officers.

Working KnowledgeCSP Founder Bill Kaplan explained, “As a small or medium size business who needs immediate and professional, temporary contract management support, you now don’t have to incur all the overhead and expenses of hiring a full-time employee. Whether you need help for 1 week or 1 month or longer, we can provide experienced, certified contract management professionals as supplemental staff to support your contract management workload and seamlessly integrate them into your business processes.

Working KnowledgeCSP can provide you the right knowledge and the right experience at the right time. “Our Contracts Manager” can provide support for the following representative contract management tasks:

· Review, draft, analyze and negotiate a broad range of sales and services agreements, amendments, non-disclosure and teaming agreements and related documents

· Review requests for proposals, requests for bids and other competitive solicitations; assist sales team in preparing responses to such bid requests

· Advice and counsel with respect to contract and compliance issues

· GWAC application and management

· Engage with external customers to negotiate contract terms

· Conduct research as required to provide guidance on contract compliance and legal/regulatory requirements

· Develop internal contracts policies and procedures

· Support in-house or external legal teams focused on government contracting.

For more information, contact Working KnowledgeCSP Contract Management Solutions at 571.934.7408 or [email protected].

Really looking forward to presenting two, hands-on, one day workshops with my friend and colleague Zach Wahl from Enterprise Knowledge.

Each The Wheels of Knowledge Management one-day comprehensive workshop focuses on a 360 degree in depth view of KM from “Concept” to “Strategy” to “Practical Implementation” including the finer points of KM enabling technology and content management to create a real capability for an organization to “Connect-Collect-Collaborate” as part of workflow at the individual, team, and organization levels.

Mark these dates:

Tuesday, 7 March 2017, Novotel on Collins, Melbourne, Australia  or Thursday, 9 March 2017, Novotel Canberra, Australia. @KMAustralia

Working Knowledge CSP LLC has been selected for the 2016 Best of Great Falls Award in the Knowledge Management category by the Great Falls Award Program.

Each year, the Great Falls Award Program identifies companies that  have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Great Falls area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2016 Great Falls Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Great Falls Award Program and data provided by third parties.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is an independent knowledge management consulting company.  Working KnowledgeCSP delivers practical understanding and application of Knowledge Management concepts, strategy, implementing practices to help clients “leverage what they know about what they do” to solve business and operational challenges affecting their organization’s performance and mission success.

About Great Falls Award Program

The Great Falls Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Great Falls area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Great Falls Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

Working KnowledgeCSP was recently honored with the 2016 Spectrum Award for Service Excellence, earning a 5 star rating!

CityBeatNews, the award sponsor, stated that their “…mission is to support businesses that provide excellence in customer satisfaction. We award and give voice to those exceptional companies. Spectrum Award Winners are rated using our exclusive research and proprietary algorithm. This allows us to provide independent ratings that remove bias and uniquely recognize businesses providing exceptional customer experiences.”

 

Learn more about Working KnowledgeCSP at www.workingknowledge-csp.com

So, you brought in KM consultants to help you to implement “KM” in your organization.  They have made the case, with your sponsorship, and presented their recommendations for your KM strategy and implementation framework.  But leadership just can’t or won’t implement. What? Really?

Here are some things to consider to better understand why the obvious may not be so obvious or the value of KM that is clear to you, may not be clear to others.

 

Is the KM Strategy proposed tied or grounded in the organization strategic plan or strategy?

Importance:  The strategic plan or strategy sets the direction and relative value of all initiatives and organization direction.  When used effectively, it is used to make decisions about investment and execution. Organizations serious about leveraging knowledge to create value will ensure that KM in some form or characterization is clear and unambiguous, communicating how leadership views the value of KM. Most importantly, if it’s not in the organization strategic plan or strategy, it likely won’t be a priority and likely won’t be seriously resourced.

 

Is the organization ready to move forward with a real and realistic focus on KM?

Importance: The KM strategy must recognize the realities of your organization’s business and operational environment (BOE) and knowledge management environment (KME) otherwise there is an immediate disconnect between goals and outcomes.  “Meet the client/organization where they are, not where you want them to be.”

How is the value of KM being messaged?

Importance: The value proposition or business case for KM must be simple and clear in the context and “speak” of your organization.  Theory is nice, but WIIFM is what drives acceptance of a KM initiative. KM value messages must be (1) tied to the culture and operational tempo of your organization and (2) be easily understood across the verticals and horizontals of the organization.

 

Is the demonstrated experience and expertise available to deliver a 360-degree KM solution?

Importance:  This is about investment risk, performance, and results.  While the KM business case may be clear, your organization (leadership) may not have the confidence that that those accountable for KM implementation have the experience and expertise to deliver the KM solution. There is always a clear difference between an academic solution and practical application.  The truth is that not everyone who creates a KM Strategy can plan, implement, and most importantly, implement to sustain the KM effort.

 

Does the KM effort appear to be a stand-alone effort, or is it addressing real, “in the workflow” business or operational knowledge challenges?

Importance:   The workforce, both management and technical, is very astute at recognizing the difference between “making their job harder” or “making their job easier.”   They are always wary of “another management initiative.” KM pilot projects, built into the everyday workflow of the organization, are the single most effective way to demonstrate the value of implementing KM concepts, strategies, and practices in an organization. Most importantly, pilot results must be tied to simple and unambiguous measures of success where the ability to effectively capture and reuse knowledge can make a measurable difference in the outcome. KM must be recognized as part of the way work gets done, not extra work.

I am proud to be a contributing author to Dr. Arthur Shelleys newest book, KNOWledge SUCCESSion: Sustained Capability Growth Through Strategic Projects . This book is for executives and developing professionals who face the challenges of delivering business benefits for today, while building the capabilities required for an increasingly changing future. The book provides a framework to discover how to leverage knowledge across and within projects and to deliberately leverage projects as the foundation for strategic development.

I am honored to be presenting these two, hands-on, one day workshops with my friend and colleague Zach Wahl from Enterprise Knowledge.

Each The Wheels of Knowledge Management one-day comprehensive workshop focuses on a 360 degree in depth view of KM from “Concept” to “Strategy” to “Practical Implementation” including the finer points of KM enabling technology and content management to create a real capability for an organization to “Connect-Collect-Collaborate” as part of workflow at the individual, team, and organization levels.

Mark these dates:

Tuesday, 7 March 2017, Novotel on Collins, Melbourne, Australia  or Thursday, 9 March 2017, Novotel Canberra, Australia.

There are pockets of effort around the world to begin to develop a Knowledge Management Body of Knowledge (KMBOK) but it doesn’t yet exist. The closest we have to real codification may be the 2015 version of ISO 9001 which has clause, 7.1.6, on organizational knowledge and its management.

You know from reading Part I of this discussion that real, meaningful certification involves a whole lot more than “training” and that “KM certification” as it is being sold and promoted today is a misnomer. 

So how will you know KM certification when you see it? I suggest that it will involve the process and content suggested above.

Would appreciate your thoughts on this? Make sense? What more is needed?

The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST), Office of the Senior Procurement Executive (OSPE), competitively awarded a one year plus four option year contract for Acquisition Policy support to the team of Working KnowledgeCSP, Vysnova Partners, and Cadre Acquisition Group. The successful team comprises three Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB). Cadre Acquisition Group is also a woman owned small business (WOSB). The principal consultants, Bill Kaplan (Working KnowledgeCSP), Dr. John Fallon (Vysnova), and Karen Bruce (Cadre) have over 80 years of combined Federal acquisition experience.

The primary effort is focused on supporting DOT’s acquisition policy development, implementation, and measurement efforts.  The major tasks will be driven by changes in the acquisition process, dollar thresholds for review, guidance from OFPP and other directives.In addition, the team will support DOT acquisition and rule making processes as well as updating the

Working KnowledgeCSP (www.workingknowledge-csp.com), a CVE verified service disabled veteran owned small business (SDVOSB) based in Great Falls, VA, is a knowledge management consulting company with an expanding profile in knowledge driven acquisition management solutions. We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Working KnowledgeCSP was founded in 2009 by Bill Kaplan, a 25 year Air Force veteran with over 40 years of public and private sector Federal acquisition management, procurement, and program management experience and 18 years of practical knowledge management experience.

The International Trade Council (ITC) recently endorsed Working KnowledgeCSP as an internationally “Accredited Service Provider.” This ITC Quality accreditation recognizes existing manufacturers, traders and service provider members of the Council who have been operating without complaint in the course of their business operations. The ITC Accreditation is registered with Government Trade Agencies from 119 countries.

Great Falls, Virginia – September 5, 2016 –  Working KnowledgeCSP (WK), a leading US and international provider of knowledge management solutions, announced it was competitively awarded a one year, €200,000 Knowledge Management Consulting Services Contract from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Under the contract, Working KnowledgeCSP, and its teammate, Enterprise Knowledge, will analyze the Bank’s knowledge management needs, internal knowledge creation and sharing processes, and the factors that impede the effective use of the Bank’s knowledge and expertise in support of its world-wide mission. As a result of the assessment, the Working KnowledgeCSP team will lead the development of a Knowledge Management Strategy and Implementing Framework through the design, development, and deployment of a carefully designed pilot phase.  The proposed knowledge management solution will be integrated with carefully selected enabling technology, tested, monitored, and evaluated.   The Working KnowledgeCSP team will report on the results of the pilot and propose a successive action plan to roll-out the approved knowledge management solution across the EBRD on a permanent basis.

Working KnowledgeCSP Founder, Bill Kaplan, said that “…our selection by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a real honor.  We understand the Bank’s mission and how critical it is.  We’re glad to be able to contribute to the Bank’s ability to ‘create value from its knowledge’ in its mission delivery.”

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Based in Great Falls, VA (USA), Working KnowledgeCSP provides knowledge management consulting solutions to US public sector, US private sector, and international clients.   In June 2016, Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP, was recognized as one of the world’s 50 most influential Knowledge Management professionals at the 2016 Global Knowledge Management Congress and Awards.  The Global KM Congress took place in Mumbai, India on 23 June, as part of the World Education Congress. For more information, contact Bill Kaplan, Founder and Principal Consultant, at 571.234.5942 or at [email protected].

The future relevance of your organization and the value you can provide to customers and stakeholders is determined by your organization’s ability to share knowledge!

Making knowledge sharing a sustainable part of success is a vital component of long term organization success, particularly in organizations comprised primarily of knowledge workers.

Knowledge sharing happens when knowledge is voluntarily passed from one person to another, whether it is done so formally or informally, as part of the work flow. When an organization’s culture is built on knowledge sharing, there is often a high level of trust among peers. Collaboration then improves and the ability to seek knowledge to solve problems increases, as does the ability to find solutions to new challenges and problems, and subsequently, the quality of decision making also improves as does customer support. Having current knowledge to share makes a big difference.

Achievements in your ability to “connect-collect-collaborate” through enabling technology and content management solutions that you put in place provide a solid and effective base not only for promoting, but also for sustaining knowledge sharing and embedding a sustainable knowledge sharing culture. As you likely know, enabling technology and content management solutions are important, but not a standalone capability that can singularly improve your ability to leverage knowledge to continuously improve performance and promote the change behavior required.

Although the value of knowledge sharing is clear to many, we know from our experience that it is the rare organization that promotes and successfully sustains a knowledge sharing culture. In many organizations, knowledge hoarding happens a lot more often than knowledge sharing does.  Very often a reason for this is the lack of a current, evolving knowledge base and a lack of continuity across KM implementation activities.  Another is the decision of leadership not to connect its technology capability with its knowledge sharing capability often through a perception that there isn’t time to connect both. This is true when KM is viewed as extra effort and not part of the work flow of the organization.

With enabling technology and content management tools, a workforce’s ability to find the knowledge needed will improve, but the knowledge found may not always be current, or even there to be found.  The ability to capture knowledge born from addressing new situations or challenges is also necessary.

This also requires an ability to make sense out of this knowledge, and then the ability to characterize this knowledge for reuse in the context of your organization.  Enabling technology and content management solutions provide the “capability” by making knowledge (content) searchable, findable, downloadable, and reusable. The challenge is how to ensure that there is constant source of (new) current knowledge reflective of the ongoing operations and learnings of your workforce so that the workforce can seek, find, use and share knowledge.

Workers will search for the knowledge needed, and if they find it, more often than not, they will continue to use the enabling tools and technology you provide to them. If not, they will, as a minimum, likely revert to storing what they think they need on their desk tops and hard drives, in effect marginalizing any efforts to date invested to change knowledge sharing and knowledge seeking behavior, even with their new tools and technology capabilities.

For consideration and comment.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Bill Kaplan, Working KnowledgeCSP Founder spoke at the Washington DC Chapter of the Knowledge Management Association (KMA) on 26 Aug.  The event was hosted by Enterprise Knowledge at their headquarters. 

Kaplan led a discussion around the topic “Practically Speaking, Does Professional Certification in Knowledge Management Exist…Yet?” . Kaplan said “An important point to understand is that anyone taking a certifcation course in KM must understand that KM certification doesn’t yet exist since there is no accepted KM body of knowledge but the training provided may be useful if you are new to the profession.  You just have to know what you are getting in the “certification” course and if you are willing to pay the fees just for the training.”

 

 

About KMA DC

The Knowledge Management Association – DC (KMA DC) is a professional association of knowledge management pratitoners who meet once monthly.  These face-to-face events events are where knowledge management professionals in the DC Metro area meet to hear stories, share successes (and failures), and network with fellow KM practitioners.to dsicuss topics of intrwest in KM.

About Enterprise Knowledge

Enterprise Knowledge, LLC is a consulting firm that helps organizations better capture, manage, present, and leverage their information.  We operate globally, throughout the public and private sectors to help organizations get the most out of their people and their information.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Working KnowledgeCSP Founder, Bill Kaplan, spoke at the 930gov 2016 conference on 24 Aug,  The conference was held at the Washington Convention Center and was sponsored by the Digital Government Insitute.  Mr. Kaplan was part of the “Voices of Prior CKOs” panel comprised of public and private sector Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs). Topics ranged from how the CKOs got into Knowedge Managament to the challenges of  KM “Certification” to KM lessons learned as a CKO

930gov is the end-of-year learning exchange for Government IT, Management, and Acquisition professionals. Mr.Kaplan has 40 years of acquisition management experience and 18 years experience as a KM practitoner.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP  was interviewed on Federal News Radio about KM and Presidential  Transition. Check out the interview on Federal News Radio and the discussion about the value of Knowledge Management and capturing and appying learned lessons in Presidential admiministration transitions.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSPis a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics. This interview discusses the Difference Between Knowledge Management and Knowledge Leadership.

More insight on this discussion can be found here.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics.This interview discusses the Competencies Required in a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO).

More insight on this discussion can be found here.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics. This interview discusses the Characteristics of Knowledge-Enabled High-Performing Organizations.

More insight can be found here.

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics. This interview discusses How Training Can Help Manage Organzational Knowledge.

More insight can be found here.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics. This interview addresses the challenges of, and mitigations for, workforce turnover and knowledge loss.

Addiional insight can be found here.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics.  This interview discusses our unique, agile approach to KM Strategy and KM Framework developement — Agile Knowledge Management (KM Agile).

There is a whitepaper here that provides additional insight.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

“The learning of one, becomes the learning of many.”

 

Much is written about what KM is, and is not. I have always viewed the value of KM from its ability to create value in an organization…”Creating Value from Knowledge.” KM is among other things a “business discipline, a concept, a strategy, a series of implementing practices.” It is always about context, application in context, solving business or operational challenges, and developing and defining better solutions based on “connection, collection, and collaboration.”

I was looking through the many groups that address KM and it occurs to me that they have this somewhat in common — “Knowledge Management is a process of continual renewal” where “the learning of one, becomes the learning of many.”

There are many situations where KM can add value.  Let’s take one .. the critical challenges and risks of workforce turnover and knowledge loss.  There are very many organizations that do not have a “consistent and disciplined framework” for “capturing, adapting, transferring, and reusing” the “critical and relevant knowledge” of their organizations. The impacts and risks of ignoring this challenge are well known.

Perhaps the code that needs to be broken is to view this challenge from the perspective of a process of continual renewal.  A question to ask might be: What are both leadership and workforce doing to continually update the knowledge of the organization as part of work flow so that when people leave, the knowledge that they possess, the critical and relevant knowledge, in the context of that organization, is made sense of and characterized for reuse so that “the learning of the one, becomes the learning of the many?”

eClerx Services Ltd asked me to join other world-wide KM experts to participate in their Knowledge Leadership interview series by doing some short interviews on KM topics. This interview discusses Measuring the Intangible Elements of Knowledge.

More on this discussion can be found in the following articles:

Measuring the Unmeasurable: Intellectual Capital (Part 1)

Measuring the Umeasurable:  10 Step Process (Part 2)

Measuring the Umeasurable:  (Business) Continuity Planning and the Need to Value Knowledge

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

To answer this question, it is important to have some context around what constitutes Professional Certification for a subject matter area or professional area of practice.  The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) provides a solid definition and explanation of “professional certification.” Integrating this understanding with other organizations who define professional certification provides some really good insight.

What is Professional Certification?

  • Professional certification is a designation earned by an individual identifying that they have demonstrated a standard level of skills, experience, and expertise within their field.  
  • Certifications are generally earned from a professional society with a certifying body, and are granted based on a combination of education, experience, and knowledge, rather than solely by passing an exam or just completing training.
  • The ongoing process of developing, administering, and maintaining the certification is done to international standards and requires ongoing continuing education.
  • There is an established Body of Knowledge for the subject matter area that is nationally and/or internationally recognized.
  • Sitting for the certification examination does not require that you take training from the certifying organization.

Is There Accredited KM Certification?

The Knowledge Management profession does not yet have a standardized, accredited, and recognized certification designation or certification provider that meets the above requirements. However, there is ongoing work internationally to make this a reality but it doesn’t exist yet. Compare this to the Program Management profession (PMP), the Accounting profession (CPA), or the Contract Management Profession (CPCM) and I believe you will understand the distinction.

In any of the above professions, you can sit for the certification exam without taking their training. While there are several KM training organizations that will “certify” an individual, none providing KM “certification” will allow you to only take their “certification” test.  Is the focus upon certification, or selling training?  It is necessary one understand this in order to consider the financial and time investment one wishes to make in KM “certification” and then to assess the value that this training and “certification” can provide. Having said that, if you are a new to the profession, this KM training may certainly be of value to you.

No Quick Path to Competence in KM

If you have been involved in KM for any length of time, you quickly realize there is no quick path to competence in Knowledge Management, certainly not only from taking a training course and being given a “certification” where there are neither education nor experience requirements.  Also, recognize that there are many different variations in KM curriculum and content all developed to deliver skills training, but they cannot deliver competence borne from training and experience.  The risk in taking generic training provided to “certify” one as a Knowledge Manager or Knowledge Practitioner is that the provider’s perspective on KM may or may not be relevant to your organization’s business and operational environment, KM context, or need. To truly gain value from the training, you need to know if the provider’s have real, current, practical experience in delivering KM solutions to solve business or operational challenges.  An academic introduction to KM concepts is very useful but it helps to have the ability to ask about the “how” and not just be presented with the “what.”

Here’s a question I always answer when looking for KM team members to support a project.  Give this some thought.  If you were the program manager or lead consultant in an organization, would you hire someone with a “certification” in KM if they didn’t have any practical and demonstrated experience delivering KM solutions in a business or operational environment and make them accountable for your KM program? If you were a consultant or consulting company, would you leave them in place with one of your clients to help deliver their KM solution?

Bottom line #1: If you are new to the field, training can be helpful and you should take it if it is a fit for you.  You will likely gain some insight and some value.  But view the “certification” as recognition that you completed KM training as prescribed by the training provider and their view of Knowledge Management.

Bottom Line #2: The real path to competence if you really want to understand KM concepts, strategies, and implementing practices, is to work with experienced professionals in the KM field to gain competence and experience through the practical application of KM in solving real business or operational problems.

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

I had the privilege of being invited to speak as part of the continuing “Knowledge Leader Series,” a collaborative effort between In-Kno-Win Consulting, the Mumbai, India KM Community, and the LASSIB Society.

I presented on “Creating Value and Showing ROI” in KM.  We discussed the Working KnowledgeCSP Concept|Strategy|Practice Model and how this model can help an organization focus upon:

  1. Easily stated and understood KM outcomes
  2. Tied to select measures of KM Success
  3. Tracked to existing strategic initiatives and measures of value.

Q&A was lively. I enjoyed the people and their passion for KM.

LASSIB SocietyPresentingMore on the model here: https://workingknowledge-csp.com/7-csp-model.html

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP has been awarded the 2016 Knowledge Management Leadership Award by the Global Knowledge Management Congress for leadership in and contributions to the field of Knowledge Management. 

William S. (Bill) Kaplan is the Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP and its Principal Consultant.  Working KnowledgeCSP is an international knowledge management consulting company headquartered in the Washington DC Metro area with clients spanning the private, US federal and state, and international sectors.

The third annual Global Knowledge Management Leadership Awards program focuses on individuals who can make a difference in the lives of others through the quality of their work and their ability to affect change.  

This award is the result of an intensely researched process undertaken by a research cell which is guided by a Global Advisory Council.  The research cell produces a shortlist of Individuals who are doing extraordinary work and possess a track record of achievement. The shortlist is then reviewed by a Jury comprised of senior professionals from across the globe.

The award was conferred at the Global Knowledge Management Congress in Mumbai on 23 June 2016.

When asked about being selected for this award, Mr. Kaplan said “This is a wonderful award and a great honor to have been both considered, then selected, and have been presented this award on a world stage.  Knowledge Management has the ability to change behavior and broadly improve performance at all level of an organization as the organization strives to deliver its mission.”Bill Kaplan receives GKM Award

 

About Working KnowledgeCSP

Working KnowledgeCSP is a knowledge management consulting company.  We operate internationally, within the public and private sectors, to help organizations “Create Value from their Knowledge.”  Through our client co-delivery model, we provide practical, experience based knowledge management solutions and training from the simple to the complex.

Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP, presented a strategic and critical thinking workshop to over 200 attendees at the NCMA Boston Chapter’s 55th Annual March 2016 Conference. One of several tracks at this conference, the conference provided contract management professionals with a varied background on topics to enhance their professional careers and self-development.

The workshop, and the conversations that took place, examined what comprises “Strategic and Critical Thinking,” and why it is an essential skill for contract management professionals.  Mr. Kaplan reviewed a critical thinking model that not only applies to the individual contract management professional, but also applies to the staff/team/peers with whom they work. When used as a part of the way contracting gets done, the results can very often be better contracting and project outcomes.

Bill Kaplan is 38 year member of the National Contract Management Association, a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM), an NCMA Fellow, and served two recent terms on the NCMA National Board of Directors.

See the presentation here.

Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP, a US based knowledge management consulting company, introduced KMAgile at the KM Middle East 2016 conference in Dubai on 30 March.  KMAgile is about building an organizational KM Strategy and capability while delivering measurable results quickly – often in about 12 weeks. 

Mr. Kaplan discussed how “agile” development methods, which are based on solid KM fundamentals, can be effectively applied to the development of KM strategies and implementing frameworks. Traditionally, Mr. Kaplan explained, KM Strategy development and implementation (non-agile) is tackled by introducing rigorous “waterfall” processes and sequential knowledge transfer. Organizations don’t want, nor do they always need, to spend extended periods of times developing a KM Strategy and Implementing Framework to gain the same results and outcomes. 

He also described a practical, “agile” based methodology for developing “fit for purpose” KM strategies and implementing frameworks that (1) incorporate a KM pilot project “up front” as a primary source of insight for strategy development and framework implementation focused on real-time business or operational challenges, and (2) are based upon “Fast Learning” fundamentals that need to be taught to the organization for long term KM success and are part of the foundation for KMAgile.  KMAgile relies on (1) direct communication and intense collaboration across an integrated team of subject matter experts, and (2) focuses on concurrent efforts with learning built into all phases and levels of the effort. 

Very often, he explained, this may be with incomplete “but enough” knowledge to proceed with strategy development relying on collaboration across multi-functional and integrated teams solving real business or operational challenges, and sharing tacit knowledge “as part of the way work is accomplished.” 

On day 2, Mr. Kaplan presented a half-day practical, hands-on workshop to continue the discussion begun in the KMAgile presentation in day 1. Attendees worked through “how” KMAgile can be applied in their organizations. Attendees:

  • Walked through the KMAgile methodology for developing “fit for purpose” and context-relevant KM strategies and implementing frameworks … to understand how and why it works
  • Practiced the identification and evaluation of quick win KM pilot projects … enabling them to apply this in practice
  • Learned about practice proven, “Fast Learning” techniques that deliver results in the short term while building knowledge sharing and transfer behaviors over time … enabling them to begin to apply these with their own teams
  • Received practical tips and techniques for performing the Agile KM  assessment and strategy development tasks … to be able to begin to understand how to apply these with own teams.

KM Middle East 2016 focused on knowledge management in action – best practices, emerging ideas, and time-tested techniques.  The conference focused on actionable ideas for creating and exchanging organization knowledge today and in the future.

Working KnowledgeCSP is based in the Washington DC Metro area. Mr. Kaplan is a 20 year KM practitioner.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) awarded Working KnowledgeCSP,a service disabled veteran owned knowledge management consulting business, a contract (option) to provide Phase I of an ETF enterprise Knowledge Management capability. Working KnowledgeCSP provided analysis and assessment of the ETF business/operational and knowledge management environments as a baseline for co-delivering with ETF a KM Strategy and KM Implementation Framework as part of a competitively awarded 2015 contract.

Working KnowledgeCSP (www.workingknowledge-csp.com), and its two subcontractors, Enterprise Knowledge (www.enterprise-knowledge.com) and Knowledge Strategy Solutions (www.knowledgestrategysolutions.com) will deliver, in the first part of Phase I, a business taxonomy and tagging structure with governance plan, taxonomy and tagging training, taxonomy migration to SharePoint, content migration plan, ongoing KM integration planning to include a communication strategy, and an analysis and assessment of ETF’s records management/data retention policies and procedures with recommendations to effectively link these policies and procedures to the KM Strategy and KM Framework implementation.

The original and longer term objective is to enable a corporate environment that fosters a desire for knowledge capture, retention, and reuse among the leadership and workforce that ensures its continual application, distribution, and creation as part of ETF workflow. ETF not only will be able to link their people and their knowledge together with an effective KM framework and KM enabling technologies, but also will be able to facilitate the collaborative behavior that sustains effective knowledge capture and reuse and the return on their KM investment.

According to Bill Kaplan, Founder of Working KnowledgeCSP, “Our team is very proud of the opportunity to be able to continue to support ETF and their mission.  As an evolving high performing and knowledge enabled state organization, ETF will be able to continue to build upon its recognized success in providing the highest quality benefits and services to its members and their families.

“It’s also important for state organizations, and all organizations for that matter, to recognize that building a high performing, knowledge enabled organization, is a multi-year journey that requires the leadership and organization foresight to take a patient, carefully considered long view of their knowledge management investment.”  

“The State of Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds should be commended for their insight to this challenge.  ETF recognizes they can best serve its members and their families through an improved ability to find the knowledge needed, when needed, to provide its members and their families with the best answers to make the most informed benefit decisions.  We’re proud to be part of the solution!”