Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Chapter 8: The KM Toolkit | 55
project—will depend heavily upon the content and context of the initiative or strategy, as well as
the specific utility.
A written plan should be developed which outlines the various stages and activities of the
project. Planners usually start with a vision of the desired project outcomes and determine, at a
high level, the characteristics and macro elements of the project required to achieve these outcomes.
For example, if the desired initiative is knowledge retention, then macro elements of the
project might involve: (1) a fast-track KM approach for those who are leaving in 30 days, (2) a
series of tools and activities for those who are retiring in six months; and (3) a strategic approach
to ensure that knowledge is continuously flowing up and down, and across the organization, and
that there are mandated pre-retirement actions.
These major elements are broken down into smaller pieces which lend themselves to scheduling
and costing and specific activities. This is the process of decomposition. The plan identifies
all the things that must be accomplished during the life of the project. For example, in the above
example, (1) would undoubtedly include an exit interview, (2) might include a knowledge audit
and development of a KM desk guide for every position, while (3) would include development of
communities of practice, use of shared space and the nurturing of storytelling.
The way a KM plan is implemented is as important as what is being implemented. One of
the reasons is that it is focused on knowledge, and knowledge is very personal—it resides within
people. Thus, while information technology and information management are necessary, they are
not sufficient for success. The KM Plan is focused on people: helping people create, share, leverage
and apply their information and knowledge in support of utility objectives.
Selecting the Team
The effectiveness of any KM strategy or initiative is highly dependent on the energy, dedication,
collaboration and coherence of the efforts of all major stakeholders that play a role in its
implementation. Thus it is important for the implementation team to not only have the right mix of
people in terms of expertise, capability and organizational connectivity, but to equally consider
attitudes, networking skills and commitment to success. At the core of all successful change strategies
are integrators, those trusted individuals who connect people, information and knowledge.
Team members should be from different parts of the utility, have backgrounds representing
the areas of the utility that the initiative will impact, and understand and feel good about the purpose
and implementation of the task. The team should be heavily involved with developing the
strategy and implementing the plan. This allows them to have ownership of the initiative and to
develop a common perspective and understanding of their objectives, issues and contributions to
the utility’s performance. If the KM program is relatively large, their task could be written in a
one-page agreement, signed by senior leadership and by every team member. This agreement
would state the objectives, resources and authorities of the team.
Thinking Systems
Every organization—and every individual within that organization—is a complex adaptive
system co-evolving with its environment. What we struggle to achieve is to become intelligent
complex adaptive systems, organizations where the decisions that are made every day at
every level help the organization achieve its mission. A top-level systems perspective encourages
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.