Posted by Ross Hall on November 16, 1998 at 07:00:23:

In Reply to: Role of a consultant in Knowledge Management posted by Peter Wang on November 11, 1998 at 16:29:58:

Hi,

The thing I have noticed is you can determine ( to some degree ) the maturity of the client company's language by the way they view KM.

Companies in the early stages I have noticed tend to focus on the tangibles ( and usually fall prey to the charms of the software salesmen ). They look to Intranets and Document Management as The Solution.

As they progress some people start to notice that maybe it's in processes and the way that processes work. They look to introduce learning feedback loops and "team working" as a way of heading to KM.

Finally, someone notices this thing called culture and starts to address the various aspects of it. At first they look to things like education and training, but then realise that culture covers everything from mindsets and philosophies downwards. That's when the fun and games starts and the real returns also start to flow in.

IMHE ( about 3 years of KM oriented consulting, 8 in total ) often management can get diverted by the amazing returns promised and realised by tactical projects, but miss out on the big picture. I don't think this is unique to KM, but fun to notice anyway.

The four areas I try and address when I speak to and work with clients are:

the way that KM can improve the effectiveness of your business activity ( note this may not be the same thing as efficiency );
the way that KM can help you to strengthen relationships with customers, suppliers, partners and other interested parties;
the way that KM can open up new revenue streams;
the impact that KM has on your people and what you can do to help them through the never-ending transition to excellence.

And when I say KM I mean firm tools and techniques rather than an esoteric business philosophy. Personally I prefer to roll my sleeves up and get on with it!

Let me throw the question back to you....

what issues do you think are important?

Ross ;-))

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