Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Project Study # 10
Quality Based Documentation
Project Description: Colorado Springs Utility (CSU) was faced with a situation where there was
no single, structured approach to capture documentation. Departing employees were taking
tacit knowledge with them. New employees were not sure what they needed to know, or where
to get information. The opportunity was to capture institutional knowledge leveraging various IT
systems including GIS, work management and a formal Document Repository known as QBD
(Quality Based Documentation.) These approaches to formalizing knowledge would ease the
transition in training for new employees, and help streamline and standardize the organization.
CSU began with defining the resource requirements needed in order to develop a place
for “one-stop shopping” within the utility. Initially, the effort to produce standard documentation
was seen by employees as “not part of my job”, and an “unfunded mandate.” As a result, the
organization decided to go where energy and interest existed, instead of trying to immediately
implement a comprehensive program. CSU started with a pilot phase. Eventually, the
documentation process became the norm, and was expanded to other parts of the organization.
CSU uses a distributed method to select process owners; tying the subject matter expert to the
process ensured better quality. Documents must be reviewed and updated on a periodic basis,
and version control is in place.
Size of Utility: 2000 employees
Critical Success factors: CSU found that the pilot and subsequent expanded effort required top
level support but did not require a formal mandate in the organization. If there was not support
from certain members, those members were not included in the effort. CSU found that tenacity
was a key to success, as well as establishing ground rules to provide a stable foundation. QBD
is tied to individual performance objectives to highlight the importance of this activity. The
overall “Quality Plan” is part of CSU’s administrative regulations to allow for”enforcement” if
needed. CSU has developed in-house experts in areas such as flow charting and process
writing to provide assistance.
CSU began its effort in 1999. In the first year, 3 documents were produced. Currently,
there are over 3,000. The amount of documentation produced and used is tracked as a
measure of success. Oversight of the process is provided by the Quality Manager.
Cost: CSU utilized in-house Lotus Notes developers to create the database in which the
process documents are developed, approved and used. CSU needed to increase data storage
capacity, so purchase of disc drives would be a cost.
Alignment: All key business processes reside in the document control system. CSU has
included the PPM (Personnel Policies Manual) in this system, along with the strategic planning
process, capitalization policy, and performance management process. This approach allows for
one-stop-shopping for employees looking for information about the company and the work they
do. A recent initiative to develop a Utilities Master Plan is being formatted to go into the
document control system once completed the end of this year.
Benefits: The results provide a level of confidence in CSU processes to the City Auditor. Since
the current processes have been defined, CSU now has a baseline of information for effective
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