Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Task teams at various levels of the Utility’s structure are a natural way that work gets done.
The very structure of an organization encourages individuals with similar skills or similar focus
areas to work closely together. When necessary, an integrated product team crosses functional
area lines to ensure a project is successfully implemented from cradle to grave. The use of
cross-functional teams is demonstrated in Project Study #1. There are ten items that determine
the capability of a team to do its job. These key success factors are: team leadership, shared
vision/approach, team collaboration, empowerment, technology support, team learning,
enterprise partnering, feedback, team collocation and team size. See the MQI monogram A
Model for Team Learning and Success. Approaches for addressing problems and issues in
groups and teams include brainstorming, brain writing, collaborative problem solving, and The
World Café.
Although the team leader has more responsibility for team performance than the team
members, all team members carry equal responsibility for results. Decisions are made by the
team, not by the team leader acting alone. A team’s accountability is primarily for effectiveness
(getting the desired results), and secondarily for efficiency (doing things at the least cost),
although, as always, funds are limited and efficiency is important. However, when working in a
complex environment, doing the right things often means losing some efficiency. For example,
such things as learning, networking, keeping information systems up-to-date on what is learned,
sharing knowledge with others (such as participating in communities), trying new ways of
supporting customers, and spending time thinking about a complex situation to ensure the best
decisions may all be considered inefficient in a bureaucratic organization. Yet without these
activities, the Utility will not be able to function, let alone excel, in a changing and uncertain
environment. Efficiency and effectiveness are independent only in a stable environment, where
the products, services and customer desires do not change significantly and there are no
surprises. See the discussion on Shared Space.
A Communities of practice (CoPs) is comprised of people who actually work (practice) in a
specific area of knowledge. CoPs bring people together who face many of the same issues and
opportunities. These communities are particularly effective in large organizations (where people
do not regularly interact) and across organizations (where the sharing of ideas and lessons
learned can prove extremely valuable). See the APQC best practice report on Building and
Sustaining CoPs. Communities can also be effectively employed for cross-Utility collaboration.
See Project Study 30. While the focus of communities is on value added, mutual exchange and
continuous learning, participants often brainstorm and seek solutions to specific issues and
problems forwarded by community members. Thus, participation and reliance on CoPs
increases over time. This powerful form of community can prove a continuing source of ideas
and energy for long-term KM implementation. See the Department of the Navy ABC’s for CoP
Quick Start.
Another form of organizing groups around a common area of interest is the community of
interest (CoIs). These are particularly important for cross-learning and they offer the opportunity
for individuals to develop (and contribute to the Utility) in areas of their interest, not just the
areas in which they work. Most CoPs and CoIs are supported by technology systems, thus
making a large part of the community’s interactions virtual. See the Federal Aviation
Administration Guide to Virtual CoPs and the APQC benchmarking study on Virtual
Collaboration.
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.