Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Prepare for your meetings and exchanges in order to ensure efficiency and
effectiveness.
Don’t make any commitment you can’t or won’t keep.
Follow the Golden Rule: treat your partner and their information the way you’d like
them to treat you and yours.
The third step of the process involves the meetings and discussions that occur following the
actual benchmarking experience where participant thoughts and the potential for
implementation in your Utility are discussed. Ensure that the CONTEXT of the benchmarked
organization and the CONTEXT of your organization are both understood in terms of their affect
on the process being implemented. Then be careful to stay within the bounds of the
benchmarking agreement. This step is where the process is defined and refined in terms of your
Utility, and the planning and preparation begins as would any implementation of any new
initiative. See Best Practices and Lessons Learned.
In Project Study #11, eight people from the Utility spent eight days in England shadowing
British operators. The Utility team returned with both new found knowledge and enthusiasm to
share what they had learned. In Case Example #22, the US Forest Service considers
benchmarking as one of six tasks critical for organizational learning.
Expected Outcomes:
The adaptation of best practices to your Utility.
Assessment of your organization in terms of Industry standards.
See:
Project Study #3 (City of Moline Water Division, IL)
Project Study #11 (Greenville Water System, SC)
Case Example #22 (US Forest Service)
Tools: Action Learning
Appreciative Inquiry
Best Practices
Case Study
Interviewing
Lessons Learned
Success Stories
Ideas: Group Learning
Additional Resources:
Examples of APQC benchmarking studies under Resources
MQI paper CONTEXT
_____________________
References:
Benchmarking for Reengineering Teams at www.prosci.com/benchmarking.htm
C-15
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.