Posted by Denham on November 05, 1999 at 15:17:15:

In Reply to: Knowledge capture at exit posted by Bobby Bryx on November 05, 1999 at 00:18:16:

Bobby,

I have been down this route and wish to offer some observations. Capture of implicit 'knowledge' from departing staff is difficult, costly and sometimes dangerous. The reason is the most valuable 'knowledge' is often in the form of difficult to articulate, holistic patterns, it depends on subtle combinations of clues and environmental triggers. When you dig deeper you quickly realise the 'rules', thresholds and connections that influnce key decisions keep shifting. A large part of implicit knowledge is knowing how to balance constraints, what additional signals and measurements to take in marginal situations and where to go for quality advice.

The winning strategy here is not capturing knowledge and insights from departing staff, where you will always be short on context and uncertain on applicability, but forming relationships and providing a means and conduit for communications that keeps them interested, involved and accessible while their tacit knowledge is still valid.

Mentor clubs where retired staff can remain connected and virtual communities of practice are obvious examples of relationship-based knowledge access.

Good luck with your company.

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