Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

discussion of the benefits of KM to drinking water utilities gathered during a survey of over 200
utilities is located in the White Papers section under Resources.
Q9: Leadership’s ability to work well together in support of a KM strategy would be ...
Q9-3: Selecting level 3 indicates that the leadership team may not be working closely together.
This could present significant problems to implementing a KM strategy since employees in
different departments would receive different directions and views on the importance and
implementation of the KM strategy. Such differences can quickly reduce enthusiasm and create
concerns among departments as to the importance of and actions necessary to the KM
strategy. For ideas on collaborative leadership see the MQI research paper on Collaborative
Leadership in the Resource Documents section of the toolkit under Resources.
Q9-2: Selecting level 2 indicates that leadership does not work well together and would
probably not cooperate in implementing a Utility KM strategy. It may be best to work with
leadership to determine what could be done to get their collective backing, interest and
knowledge of the importance and value of the KM strategy prior to beginning implementation.
For ideas on collaborative leadership see the MQI research paper on Collaborative Leadership
in the Resource Documents section of the toolkit under Resources.
Q9-1: Selecting level 1 indicates there is little or no leadership collaboration, seriously
jeopardizing the potential success of a KM strategy. Under these conditions, the Utility most
likely has strong silos that prevent communication and collaboration. It may be best to postpone
implementation of a Utility-wide KM strategy until these issues can be worked through. As
another approach to implementation, consider selecting and implementing a KM initiative in a
department familiar with and conducive to KM implementation. The success of this initiative
could then serve as a pilot for a larger implementation approach and make visible to the entire
Utility the efficacy and potential of KM. You might want to look at The Business Case for KM in
drinking water utilities located in the White Papers section of the toolkit under Resources.
Another resource is the MQI research paper on Collaborative Leadership located in the
Resource Documents section of the toolkit under Resources.
Q10: The leadership team’s expectation of achieving the intended results of a KM
strategy would be ...
Q10-3: Selecting level 3 indicates that leadership has only a medium expectation of achieving
the desired results from this KM strategy. Under these conditions the workforce will likely pick
up on, and react to, such perspectives of leadership. It is suggested that careful consideration
be given to whether the KM strategy can be successfully implemented. Further study and
recognition of why the strategy will be successful and how it will be beneficial to the Utility may
be needed. It may be useful to review The Business Case for KM in drinking water utilities that
can be accessed through the White Papers section of the toolkit under Resources. Another
approach is to scan the Case Examples and Project Studies (also under Resources) to find
success stories about strategies and initiatives similar to those you propose.
Q10-2: Selecting level 2 indicates that leadership has a low expectation that the KM strategy
will achieve its intended result. This might be due to a lack of understanding of KM’s potential, a
disagreement with the specific strategy proposed, or the readiness of the Utility to accept and
implement such a strategy. Under any of these conditions, it would be unwise to move ahead
too quickly. Leadership must play a strong role in implementing any KM strategy. This role is
discussed in the Leading and Managing section of the Executing phase of the toolkit process.
D-10
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.