The APQC Blog
All Posts
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…
3 Ideas for Better Storytelling in Knowledge Management
Storytelling is the number-one way to get people to participate in knowledge management (KM). Most of the time, you can’t force people to “do KM”—and even when you can use requirements and performance goals to make KM a must-do, that’s usually not enough. KM teams need to find and promote stories…
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.…
5 Reasons Why COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Has Struggled
Back in early December 2020, I published a blog post praising Operation Warp Speed (OWS) for the speed and coordination of the Covid-19 vaccine development process. I identified three valuable lessons that any organization can adopt to enhance processes and productivity. I was uneasy…
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…
How Do you Explain Collaboration?
Like most of us, I truly believe that 2021 will be a better year than last. It has to be, right? But we’re going to have to work for it, and I think collaboration will be the key. In 2020, there was some good collaboration, like the collaboration that led to COVID vaccines, but a lot more of the…
What Can We Learn from Operation Warp Speed?
Operation Warp Speed (OWS), the race to create and distribute vaccines against COVID-19 in months instead of years, is a breathtaking example of cutting through red tape. OWS is a public-private partnership between the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Pentagon and seven private sector…
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…
What is At-risk Knowledge?
At-risk knowledge is unique knowledge and skills that might be lost due to changes in workforce demographics, projects, and/or technologies. When most people think about at-risk knowledge, they think employees that are up for retirement. Retirement is a huge driver of knowledge loss, and…