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What Drives KM Success Inside an Organization
Good KM leaders always want their programs to be better. Even if KM is delivering phenomenal results, they seek out opportunities to hone the strategy, become more efficient, improve the user experience, or boost the value delivered back to the business. The drive for continuous…
What Are the Biggest Barriers to Knowledge Management?
A knowledge management effort can fail for countless reasons, but the breakdown usually starts with a “people problem.” According to APQC’s research, the biggest barriers that hurt knowledge management implementations are awareness, time, and culture. People either aren’t aware of the tools and…
It’s Time for KM to Fix Findability
Employees waste a lot of time looking for stuff. It can be hard to quantify, but most of us are aware of this uncomfortable truth. I consider myself a savvy searcher, and I spend hours each week digging around for past research insights, instructions someone shared with me, and old documents I want…
How Early Measurement Helps Build KM Momentum
Urging a new KM team to establish baseline measures is a little like begging a toddler to finish her broccoli before digging into the chocolate cookies. When KMers first set out, they are excited to start doing things. They want to build systems, connect people, and solve problems. They are less…
Escape the Sand Traps of KM Rewards and Recognition
How do you set up a rewards and recognition program for knowledge management? It's harder than it looks. That's why, despite years trying to boost adoption and engagement, only 11% of knowledge managers say their organizations are effective at motivating and incentivizing KM participants.…
Why Knowledge Sharing Across Siloes Is More Important in 2021
Last year, as the unplanned transition to all-remote work left many organizations flailing, knowledge management rode to the rescue. KM teams helped transition corporate meetings and events online, rolled out new cloud platforms and apps, and taught people how to collaborate when they could no…
What Women Want (from Virtual Collaboration)
I’ll start off by saying: Differences between men and women in the workplace tend to be overblown. Not all women are timid and overly self-conscious, nor are they empathetic superheroes inherently suited to leadership and collaboration. People vary widely, regardless of gender, and anything unique…
KM Communities Are Classic, and Classics Never Fade Away
Despite our relentless preoccupation with every new tech trend, KM at its core is about connecting people. And in 25 years, KM has found no better way to connect people than through communities of practice. Communities bring together employees to share knowledge around a discipline, shared…
How KM Gets Experts to Transfer Their Knowledge
No matter what business you’re in, subject matter experts are likely in high demand. Your organization needs people with deep know-how and extensive experience to lead, innovate, and solve tough problems. But experts can’t just be islands unto themselves. You also need them to replicate and spread…
KM Advice for Setting Virtual Collaboration Norms
Last fall, when in-person gatherings were still a thing, I was hanging out at a vendor showcase for virtual collaboration and workflow tools. A speaker from a big-name cloud collaboration service was waxing poetic about all the ways his company’s software boosted workforce productivity. Someone…