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Getting Started in Knowledge Management Strategies – A Practical Guide If following (previous article/name/page) you have decided that your firm needs its first Knowledge Management strategy or a new view on Knowledge Management (KM), this article aims to provide an overview of writing a KM strategy. Depending on the nature and size of your firm, you may need to establish a representative steering group to consider the following points, then pass the initial document through a review/approval group before finalising it. Your finalised KM strategy document may include an implementation plan and business plan. Set out the strategy document in whatever way suits you and your firm best, but you will probably want to consider the following points:- 1. Clarify business objectives What are your firm’s official objectives? If nothing is published, it may help to consider your firm’s implicit objectives under the following headings:- o Financial plan o Growth plan o Assets (people, knowledge, technology etc) o Market sectors o Demand profile (who is demanding your services and does your capacity match demand?) o Brand o Culture Gather input in a structured manner from key staff, clients and comparable organisations, regarding their focus in the coming year. Use an appropriate analytical technique if it assists understanding and communication with others, such as SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats); PEST (Political Economic Social Technological); or heatmap. 2. Assess your current level of knowledge activity and your resources Review what you currently do in relation to KM, how and why. Don’t spend time on a detailed knowledge audit at

KM strategies - getting started

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A practical guide to creating a KM strategy for a law firm. First published in Solicitors Journal.

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Page 1: KM strategies - getting started

Getting Started in Knowledge Management Strategies – A Practical Guide

If following (previous article/name/page) you have decided that your firm needs its first Knowledge Management strategy or a new view on Knowledge Management (KM), this article aims to provide an overview of writing a KM strategy.

Depending on the nature and size of your firm, you may need to establish a representative steering group to consider the following points, then pass the initial document through a review/approval group before finalising it. Your finalised KM strategy document may include an implementation plan and business plan.

Set out the strategy document in whatever way suits you and your firm best, but you will probably want to consider the following points:-

1. Clarify business objectives What are your firm’s official objectives? If nothing is published, it may help to

consider your firm’s implicit objectives under the following headings:-o Financial plano Growth plano Assets (people, knowledge, technology etc)o Market sectorso Demand profile (who is demanding your services and does your capacity

match demand?)o Brando Culture

Gather input in a structured manner from key staff, clients and comparable organisations, regarding their focus in the coming year.

Use an appropriate analytical technique if it assists understanding and communication with others, such as SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats); PEST (Political Economic Social Technological); or heatmap.

2. Assess your current level of knowledge activity and your resources Review what you currently do in relation to KM, how and why. Don’t spend time on

a detailed knowledge audit at this stage, although this could be an objective for the coming period.

Understand your current level of activity against comparable organisations and whether there is a maturity gap. This is for background information: your KM strategy supports your business’s strategy, not theirs.

3. Ask how your knowledge activity currently supports your business objectives Evaluate the effectiveness of your current programme of everyday work and

projects. Realign and refocus your knowledge activity to meet your business objectives. Where needs are being met, review whether knowledge activity could be

undertaken more effectively and efficiently.

Page 2: KM strategies - getting started

Don’t be afraid to sideline activities which are no longer meeting your business’s objectives.

Identify gaps and then assess the cost against return of options to fill those gaps.

4. Think about where you’d like to be ideally in 1, 3 and 5 years time in relation to knowledge activity

5. Make your strategy practical Make your strategy a living document, that you refer to regularly and adjust as

required. If your strategy must be in a particular style for your Executive Board, consider having an additional short, plain English “roadmap” for everyday use.

Make objectives SMART (Specific Measureable Achievable Realistic with a clear Timescale) and keep them simple.

Prepare a mini-business case for each change you wish to make, measure current performance, apply the change then re-measure performance to assess its success. Avoid rolling out too many changes at the same time or you will lose the source of the improvements.

When considering changeso Prioritise any quick wins and leverage any technology you already have.o Don’t waste precious resources on practice areas/partners that work well

without knowledge support: this can wait for more profitable times.o Don’t put off an important task looking for the perfect solution: implement

a good “work in progress” for the time being.

Once the strategy is written, try to refer to it whenever you start or complete a project, are asked to broaden your workload, or review your budget/departmental spend, so that you can keep your objectives in mind and focus on those tasks which promote your strategy. Establish a KM strategy review schedule, depending upon your objectives and the changing economic landscape. The KM strategy can provide the vision, but as the world changes, you will need to adapt your implementation programme.

Lastly, if you cannot find the time to write your strategy, write a short one-page “roadmap” or a rough draft. Something will be better than nothing. In its simplest form, your strategy just needs to say where you are now, where you want to go and how you are going to get there.

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Author profile

Hélène Russell of The Knowledge Business provides consultancy services in Knowledge Management to the legal sector and is also Founder of Knowledge Network West, the knowledge-sharing and networking group for KM professionals in the West.

Contact her on 07548 912 779, visit www.theknowledgebusiness.co.uk, follow her on twitter @heleneadby, or e-mail her at [email protected].

For the month of November, Helene is offering a free KM Healthcheck (usual cost £250) to the first 15 firms who apply quoting “SOL-JO-11”1.

1 Terms and conditions apply and are available on The Knowledge Business’s website www.theknowledgebusiness.co.uk