Knowledge Management

Question 1

How does APMP define “knowledge”?

Answer 1

Understanding gained from experience

Question 2

What is the goal of most Knowledge Management strategies?

Answer 2

To make the implicit knowledge in the minds of mature practitioners explicit so it can be shared with less experienced professionals

Question 3

Are KM strategies usually embedded in the way an organisation runs?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

What are the stages that an executive sponsor goes through before committing support to a KM initiative, according to the Knowledge Management Institute (KMI)?

Answer 4

1. Awareness
2. Curiosity
3. Interest
4. Belief

Question 5

What can adopting KM principles achieve?

Answer 5

• Convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge
• Turn disorganized information into reusable knowledge objects classified under a useful taxonomy
• Learn how to share know-how, know-why, and know-what with others to improve performance
• Distribute knowledge objects as valuable assets that improve efficiency and effectiveness

Question 6

What are the 3 key challenges of KM?

Answer 6

1. Choosing the most relevant knowledge from the sheer volume of information available
2. The variety of tools to manage that information
3. A cultural bias against knowledge sharing

Question 7

What is a K Cafe?

Answer 7

K Cafe (or knowledge cafe) is a technique through which a group of colleagues review their current knowledge management processes, i.e. how they currently retain information from a bid, or share it with colleagues and brainstorm ideas for improvement. A K Cafe should last approx. 1 hour and produce ~50-100 ideas.

Question 8

What are your 2 main options for establishing your current position re: knowledge management?

Answer 8

Benchmarking or external auditing

Question 9

What is the risk of only benchmarking internally?

Answer 9

Short-sightedness

Question 10

What is the APQC?

Answer 10

The APQC is a non-profit, member based body that can be used as a benchmarking partner

Question 11

What is the process for benchmarking? Is it:
A. Analyse, Plan, Do
B. Prepare, Implement, Follow Up
C. Plan, Implement, Review

Answer 11

B. Prepare, Implement, Follow Up

Question 12

What is a ‘K Audit’?

Answer 12

An internal audit that determines: what knowledge is available, needed, and missing, who needs the knowledge, and how the knowledge is applied.

Question 13

What are the most commonly used research methods in K audits?

Answer 13

Surveys and interviews

Question 14

What should be shown on a K map (knowledge map)?

Answer 14

The location, taxonomy, and flow of knowledge across an organization

Question 15

What are CoPs?

Answer 15

Communities of Practice