Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Case Study:When Tacit and Explicit Knowledge aren’t Enough
Steven WienekeWieneke & Wieneke, Inc.
elkawareness.com
February 18, 2014
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
When Tacit and Explicit Knowledge aren’t Enough
or
That’s why its called Knowledge Management
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Background
Midwest Manufacturer has successful commercial and military products.
• Manufacturer employees 1400 technical professionals plus marketing, sales, business support and manufacturing employees.
• Manufacturer has multiple locations for technical staff and manufacturing.
• The majority of technical professionals have 25 or more years of service.
• Groups of technical professionals have unique SharePoint repositories for their technical information, specifications and requirements.
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Opportunity
• Management decides to co-locate two stand alone organizations.
• Relocation prompts significant number of retirements and voluntary separations.
• Significant influx of technical professionals with a variety of related experience but not necessarily direct experience.
• Significant influx of new (technical) graduates.
• Unique SharePoint repositories are available but not easily accessed (or even known/found), not readily used/applied and not trusted sources.
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Relocation Outcome…
Years of Experience with Manufacturer Years of Experience with Manufacturer
Before Relocation After Relocation
25 Years 2 Years
Organization #1
Culture
Organization #2
Culture
Not Yet Assimilated Culturewith a Generation Gap
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Knowledge Management State prior to Intervention
• Survey to Harvest Knowledge during Exit Interviews.
• Purchased a Sematic Search Software to Index and Search Multiple Share Point Repositories.
• Revised Review (Mentoring) Process to Ensure Product Robustness.
• Sr. Executive Management wants a “Product Technical Memory”
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Knowledge Management State prior to Intervention
• Harvesting Knowledge during an Exit Interview
Pros ConsNone Insults Employee
Inappropriate environment to reflect on
and document one’s experience
Insufficient time to reflect on and document one’s
experience
NOT RECOMMENDED
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Knowledge Management State prior to Intervention • Sematic Search Software to Index and Search Multiple Share
Point RepositoriesPros Cons
Method for Expert/Mentor to find existing knowledge
Requires training and continual use to maintain proficiency
Sematic artificial intelligence expands search
Requires Expert/Mentor to formulate search and evaluate
relevance of results
Does not integrate with other software applications
Must know what files to indexInitial indexing is a time
consuming process
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Knowledge Management State prior to Intervention • Revised Review (Mentoring) Process to Ensure Product
Robustness.
Pros ConsProcess is essential in ensuring
product robustnessTiming of revised Process
training competes for resources to populate Technical Memory
Process can be easily enhanced by implementing active
knowledge methods with assessments
Some of the behavior resulting from this training will likely need to be unlearned once
assessments are implemented
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Intervention Goal – Move to Active Explicit Knowledge Structured for Assessments and Embedded in Workflow
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Intervention – Requires Shifting Several Pervasive Mental Models
• Shifting from Document Centric (passive) Model to Assessment Centric Model (active)
• Documenting Corrections to Documenting Preventions
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Intervention – Shifting from Document to Assessment Centric
Document Centric
Library Model
Assessment Centric
Knowledge Packets……more like paragraphs grouped into pages or chapters called Knowledge Sets or Assessments
Appraisal Model
Knowledge RECEIVER
Knowledge HOLDER delivers
Knowledge in Knowledge RECEIVER’S workflow
???Knowledge
SEEKER
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Assessment Centric
Dynamic, LivingVirtual Documents
“End-of-Life Cycle”Documents
Intervention – Shifting from Document to Assessment Centric
Document Centric
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Intervention – Shifting from Document to Assessment Centric
Document Centric Author Assessment Centric AuthorWrite down what I can recall
being relevantWho is the end user of this
assessment?
Free text What is being assessed? What is its current state?
Not Structured What is known (available) at the time of this assessment?
What is the actionable assessment continuum (Red, Yellow, Green)?
What is assessment remediation if not Preferred (Green)?
What is the context (Why’s, When's, Where's) for the assessment rules?
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Intervention – Shifting from Documenting Corrections to Documenting Preventions
Write down or storemy cell #…
248.000.0000
Example…
What “works” goes into Technical Memory
Number that Works Infinite
All Numbers that don’t Work Infinity
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
6. Purchase Commercial
Software
12. Manufacturer's
TechnicalMemory
11. CONFIGURE
5. Define Desired Software Functionality7. Establish Communities of Practices Design8. Define Practice Structure & Nomenclature 9. Identify Potential Classification Schemes
1. Identify Executive Sponsor2. Identify Business Owner3. Identify Knowledge Holders4. Select KAMs
13. IMPORT
10. Tactical Practice
Template
Major Implementation Steps…
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
CoP Workshops…
Focus:• Defining the breadth and
depth of CoP (define topics)• Exercises to recall what is
known (time to reflect)
Opportunity:• Confirm meaning of words• Build trust through shared
experience• Valued technical discussions
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Roll Out Plan…
Knowledge Asset Manager
Knowledge Holders
End Users
• Member of the Technical Memory Steering Committee
• Responsible for their team’s planning and implementation
• Responsible for assessment content and mentoring
• Responsible for an “Acceptable” or “Preferred” assessment Outcome
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Realizing the Value of Active Knowledge
• A live demo was held during the June 2013 Technical Memory Quarterly Communications Meeting.
• Two volunteers* evaluated a stamped sheet metal panel• Each Volunteer had 6 Concerns to address, each Concern
required assessing 3-4 stamped panel features• First volunteer referenced existing documentation• Second volunteer interacted with new structured practices
*Neither had sheet metal/stamping design experience
Stamped Part Assessment Challenge
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Realizing the Value of Active KnowledgeStamped Part Assessment Challenge after 40 minutes
• First Volunteer (existing Documents) -
Partially completed evaluation of Concern #2 (7 of 20 features)
• Second Volunteer (structured practices) -
Evaluated all 6 concerns (20 of 20 features)
• Additional observations:
• Second Volunteer had no experience reading prints
• Second Volunteer’s answers were accurate
• First Volunteer’s answers had a number of errors due to misinterpretations of existing documents
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Current Knowledge Management State• Manufacturer has a interactive Product Technical Memory• Identified 40 CoPs plus 10 temporary CoP (shared topics across
CoPs)• 25 Knowledge Asset Managers• 150 initial Knowledge Responsible People (knowledge holders)• 1400 End Users• Quarterly Technical Memory Communication Meetings• Next Steps:
• Continue Documenting Practices• Integrate Assessments with Review Process• Implement Assessment Signoff Process• Management Use Interactive Report Utility
Wieneke & Wieneke, Inc. / Copyright 2014 elkawareness.com
Visit elkawareness.com to learn about our game changing, knowledge-based business strategies.
Call us 248-535-0427
eMail: [email protected]
Questions?
elkawareness.com