While designing and implementing KM solutions can be tricky, the hardest part is getting people to actually use them. People are busy, and most are not thrilled by change. And unlike transitioning to a new ERP system, for example, KM adoption is often voluntary. This leaves KM teams in the unenviable position of marketers who must coax and persuade employees to adjust how they organize, exchange, access, and reuse knowledge in the course of their work.
When it comes to selling employees on KM and getting them to participate, every organization is different. That said, there are a few mistakes I see over and over. Below are the 5 missteps I see most often and advice for avoiding each.
1. Setting vague goals.
If I had a dollar for every time a KM leader tells me they want to build a knowledge-sharing or learning culture, I’d be a rich woman. Don’t get me wrong: Culture is an essential driver that KM stakeholders ignore at their peril. But many organizations haven’t sufficiently defined what terms like knowledge-sharing culture even mean, much less the steps to get there. Lofty goals can obscure a lack of clarity about what KM adoption looks like and how to measure success.
These kinds of goals often cascade down from executives who are invested in breaking down operational siloes and building a culture of innovation, reciprocity, and continuous learning. The problems come when those in charge of KM fail to translate high-level vision into tactical objectives and milestones. It’s hard to get business groups and end users to adopt KM if you can’t articulate exactly what you want them to do and why.
Make sure you understand what leaders really want when they talk about culture change and which aspects of the business they hope to influence. For example, is the underlying goal to improve bench strength for key positions, quickly upskill employees, or identify best practices that can be used across projects? Once you understand the purpose, you can lay out a set of measures to track and communicate progress. To get started, see:
- Defining a Value Proposition and Business Case for Your KM Program
- Understanding Knowledge Management Measurement
- APQC’s KM Measurement Alignment Worksheet and How to Use APQC’s KM Measurement Alignment Worksheet
2. Assuming if you build it, they will come.
Just because you’re buzzed about launching your KM program, adding a new KM approach, or migrating to a new technology does not mean end users will share your enthusiasm. Even if you think the changes are seamless and their value self-evident, you’ll still need to coach employees through the shift. People are naturally change adverse—even if the changes benefit them in the long run—and that’s especially true after the upheaval of the last two years. Getting people to work differently requires a clearly defined business rationale (see above) and a multi-faceted change management strategy.
The first tool I would recommend here is APQC’s KM Strategic Planning Template. For each KM project or goal, this helps you lay out the key activities and milestones, required roles and skills, investment requirements, and expected outcomes. As you get further into the planning process,
APQC’s Knowledge Management Implementation Roadmap can help you operationalize the KM strategy by creating tactical plans for governance, communications, change management, and more. Together, these two tools help you think through the practicalities of what you’re trying to accomplish and the people, process, and technology support needed to make it happen.
3. Blanketing people with cookie-cutter messaging.
Most employees get hundreds of messages every day. We all ruthlessly prioritize this influx of information to stay sane. In other words: Just because you sent an email does not mean anyone read it, much less absorbed it and took the requested actions.
To be effective, KM communications should emphasize “What’s in it for me?” from the end-user perspective. People need to know how participating in KM will help them save time, innovate faster, or deliver higher-quality service to their customers. This usually requires microtargeting so that the messages align with recipients’ job roles, how they are expected to participate, and the outcomes they can expect. A success story of how KM has helped others in similar roles or situations can be particularly powerful.
APQC’s Communicating About KM report is a great resource to learn about all aspects of KM branding, messaging, and distribution. It also has information about creating a multi-platform KM communication plan to build awareness, commitment, engagement, and adoption within each target audience.
I also highly recommend our new podcast, Using Psychology to Improve Knowledge Management with Leland Holmquest. Leland is a communications and change management lead at Microsoft with great advice about using people’s underlying motivations to drive KM adoption.
4. Ignoring the “last mile” of change management.
No matter how great your change management strategy is, your KM core team cannot fully understand the needs of every stakeholder group, nor provide personalized handholding to everyone who needs it. This is where KM champions, advocates, or “super users” within the business come in. Whether full time, part time, or volunteer, these embedded resources ensure employees are aware of KM and presented with relevant KM opportunities and resources. They share KM updates in their department meetings, explain to colleagues how KM can support them in their specific roles, provide hands-on coaching, and relay end-user feedback up to the core team.
If the KM team is going it alone, without fostering a network out in the business, that’s a strategic error. For more information on these roles and how to create them, see:
- Embed KM Support Roles in the Business
- Prioritize KM Roles in the Business Over Expanding the KM Core Team
- KM Champions at Mercer
5. Declaring victory.
Perhaps the most common mistake we see with KM adoption is treating it as a project with a finish line. Even if KM is firmly established, participation will slowly erode unless the organization has a sustained approach to convey ongoing changes, keep the KM value proposition top of mind, and reinforce desired behaviors. Efforts to boost KM engagement look different in mature KM programs, but they never go away. And when they do, that’s usually a warning sign of bigger problems on the horizon.
The Value of a Focused and Continually Evolving KM Strategy and TechnipFMC’s Recipe for KM Reinvention both contain good examples of how long-standing KM programs have adjusted their focus over time, including how they drive adoption and communicate value.
Did I miss any big KM adoption mistakes? Let me know in the comments! And if you’re looking for ideas or research on any aspect of KM engagement, get in touch and let me know.