Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

5.3 Communication management
Chris Blodgett
Communication management is not just about marketing <strong>the</strong> organization’s strategy but
communicating <strong>the</strong> cultural nuances that are necessary to implement it. While strategic
communication plans tend to have an external stakeholder focus, <strong>the</strong>y should also have an internal
component. Internal communications are perhaps <strong>the</strong> one single vehicle for ensuring that
commander’s intent is realized and internalized by <strong>the</strong> people that make up <strong>the</strong> larger organizational
team. The commander’s critical information requirements (CCIRs) for change must be clearly
articulated and <strong>the</strong> supporting internal integration processes put in place to balance virtual and faceto-face
communication exchanges. Organizations need to understand how people collaborate, share
what <strong>the</strong>y know and how <strong>the</strong>y intend to balance push-pull information requirements.
5.4 Risk Management and Organizational Agility
Risk management is all about uncertainty; ie, balancing <strong>the</strong> likelihood <strong>of</strong> something happening (or not
happening) and <strong>the</strong> resultant negative impact on <strong>the</strong> organization, its people and external
stakeholders. Risk assessments require informed cognitive assessments that are based on
assumptions about intangibles like individual human behaviour, human relations and <strong>the</strong> future. The
quantum leap in 21 st Century complexity is why organizational sense-making KTFs associated with
strategy, change, communication and organizational performance management disciplines are
becoming <strong>the</strong> new skill sets for <strong>the</strong> institutional leader.
One way to reduce risk and <strong>the</strong> inherent stress <strong>of</strong> being distracted from our normal duties is to reduce
confusion by reducing <strong>the</strong> organizational ‘noise’; ie, what we perceive to be complex may simply be a
collection <strong>of</strong> complicated and simple ‘knowledge artefacts’ that we have not yet sorted out. “The lack
<strong>of</strong> agility inherent in Industrial Age organization is more than simply a result <strong>of</strong> a systemic lack <strong>of</strong>
interoperability, although a lack <strong>of</strong> interoperability significantly impacts <strong>the</strong> agility <strong>of</strong> an organization.
This lack <strong>of</strong> agility stems directly from an Industrial Age belief in optimization and centralized planning”
(Albert/Hayes 2004).
5.5 Human Resource (HR) Management
For many, HR management is associated with <strong>the</strong> transactional stovepipe disciplines like job analysis,
staffing, health/safety, compensation/benefits, employee relations and administrative support. While
all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se are important, 21 st Century institutions are demanding much more from <strong>the</strong> HR leadership
in terms <strong>of</strong> an overall HR strategy, change management execution and effective strategic
communication with employees. HR needs to evolve beyond its 1900s transactional role.
Given that most military organizations have a three-year annual posting cycle (100% turnover in
military personnel every three years), good institutional leaders will have to make sure that <strong>the</strong>y have
some sort <strong>of</strong> KM IEF in place to help <strong>the</strong> organization deal with complexity, staff turnover and
business continuity. Statements like ‘our employees are our most valuable asset’ roll easily <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>
tongue, however, many organizations could not provide a formal cascaded HR strategy if asked to do
so. Integrating people, processes and technology is a human factor endeavour that will require
specific education and training when it comes to 21 st Century collaboration.
6. From KM Framework to IKM Blueprint for Action (BA)
The right side <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KM IEF is action focused on <strong>the</strong> operational information and knowledge
exchange requirements. It is <strong>the</strong> defining <strong>of</strong> an organizational ‘architecture’ that refers to <strong>the</strong> activities
<strong>of</strong> designing and maintaining a representation <strong>of</strong> components <strong>of</strong> a business (organization, processes,
information, technology) and <strong>the</strong>ir relationships in order to understand where, when and why
information is required (NIMP 2008). “While <strong>the</strong>re are plenty <strong>of</strong> people who treat knowledge
management as a religion, real knowledge management is practical and action oriented, not
ideological and <strong>the</strong>oretical. If done right, it produces bottom-line results – always a sure way to
guarantee sustainability” (O’Dell/Grayson, 1998). The premise for this action oriented IKM BA is that
organizations behave as a set <strong>of</strong> adaptive systems, <strong>the</strong> last <strong>of</strong> which is <strong>the</strong> control mechanism known
as <strong>the</strong> ‘management system’. It is management that interprets and reacts to internal and external
feedback so that <strong>the</strong> organization remains in balance with <strong>the</strong> external environment. The intelligent
use <strong>of</strong> this feedback is what has become known as Peter Senge’s ‘learning organization’
(Rummler/Brache 1995). The role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> institutional leader is not to manage <strong>the</strong> IKM BA for <strong>the</strong>ir
organization, but to make sure that <strong>the</strong>ir organization has one. The following ‘levels’ constitute <strong>the</strong>
blueprint elements for <strong>the</strong> IKM BA:
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