Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

Chapter 8: The KM Toolkit | 59
sharing. As the number of individuals practicing a principle grows, the more that principle will
become a part of the organization’s workplace culture.
A major determinant of effective communication and sharing is the degree of trust throughout
the workforce, trust of the utility as a whole and of its leadership and management. Trust is a
cumulative belief that another individual (or the organization) will live up to our expectations. In
order for an individual to share their knowledge with another individual, they must believe that this
knowledge will not be misused or used against them, and that this sharing will be reciprocated.
Distrust is as much a communications issue as an attitudinal problem. When people do not have
good communication they cannot clearly signal their intentions or expectations. Rather than treating
communication as a transfer of information, it is better to ensure that communication is the
sharing of understanding. Virtual signaling has been found to be of critical importance in email and
other virtual forums where body language cannot play the large role it does in face-to-face
interactions.
Growing a Knowledge Network
The knowledge network is the weaving together of people, whether through teams, communities
of practice, one-on-one relationships or through virtual social networking. Blogging and
social web applications such as wikis are emerging as important areas for engagement and
learning.
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. 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.
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 considerably and there are no surprises.
Communities of practice (CoPs) are 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). Communities can also be effectively employed for cross-utility
collaboration. While the focus of communities is on value added, mutual exchange and continuous
©2011 Water Research Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.