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The Right Way to Brand Knowledge Management Initiatives

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the first site visit for APQC’s current Collaborative Benchmarking study, Putting Knowledge in the Flow of Work for Real Results. The site visit featured representatives from a large, global organization talking about how their firm encourages employees to share knowledge and embeds collaboration in processes, workflows, and day-to-day operations.

One of the things that struck me about the organization’s strategy was the way each of its KM initiatives has its own clever branding. For example, a program that captures stories from employees is represented with a butterfly logo because it enables the cross-pollination of ideas and information. The organization also relies on fun activities to promote the transfer of knowledge. Many KM approaches involve employees forming teams and competing to generate innovations and solutions. The most unique aspect of the organization’s program is that it uses theater, asking employees to share knowledge by writing and performing skits about important issues.

While some of the organization’s approaches might be uniquely adapted to its culture, many more have broad appeal and align with what APQC has seen at other organizations. In our last study, Engagement and Participation for Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration, one of the findings was that best-practice organizations brand knowledge sharing approaches and tools creatively, using appealing language and activities to boost employee interest. I just published a new article, Brand Knowledge-Sharing Approaches and Tools Creatively, describing how ConocoPhillips, Baker Hughes, Fluor, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland use branding, contests, and games to generate excitement around KM. We also have an article from 2010 called Making KM Fun that touches on these issues.

How does your organization insert creativity and fun into KM? Let us know by commenting below.