Knowledge Management in the context of VET (Vocational Education and Training)
Director of RTO KnowHow, Shashi Hodge, presents the following topics:
What is knowledge and knowledge management
Benefits of KM
Different types of knowledge to be managed
Tools and techniques that can be used to manage knowledge
Implementing a knowledge management strategy
Screenshots from our system (go to: www.rtoknowhow.com.au for more information)
2. TODAY‟S SESSION
What is knowledge and knowledge management
Benefits of KM
Different types of knowledge to be managed
Tools and techniques that can be used to manage knowledge
Implementing a knowledge management strategy
3. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?
Knowledge is what we know.
Knowledge can be thought of as a map that we build
inside our brains. A map that includes data,
information, beliefs, expectations and practical knowhow.
It is on this map that we base our decisions.
There are three sources that we use to build this
knowledge – information, experiences and data.
4. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DATA &
KNOWLEDGE
Data is facts.
Data is true whether or not it is written down.
Data is used to form our knowledge.
5. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFORMATION
& KNOWLEDGE
Information contains data which has been put into
context and meaning.
We can capture data in information, then move it about
so that other people can access it at different times.
7. WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?
The activities an organisation takes to:
manage information and data systematically.
manage the knowledge it gains from its own experiences.
transform individual knowledge from its people into
organisational knowledge.
An integrated approach to collecting, recording,
managing, sharing and using an organisation‟s
knowledge to achieve business objectives.
9. HOW MUCH KNOWLEDGE DO WE
HAVE?
According to Forbes:
“Scientists have worked out exactly how much data is
sent to a typical person in the course of a year – the
equivalent of every person in the world reading 174
newspapers every single day”
(Derbyshire, 2011, p. 1).
10. BENEFITS OF MANAGING KNOWLEDGE
Learn from expertise and know-how of most
experienced individuals
Knowledge is retained even if staff leave
Higher efficiency
Lessons learned can be shared
Better insights for improving products and services
Facilitates decision-making capabilities
11. BENEFITS OF MANAGING KNOWLEDGE
CONT…
Builds learning organisations by making learning
routine
Increases staff satisfaction
Sharing of best practices
And…
Facilitates continuous improvement!
13. EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Explicit knowledge is that which has been articulated
and stored and can be readily transmitted to others.
Can easily be portrayed in documents.
Documented work procedures and policies
Directories and how-to-guides
Diagrams and process charts
Contacts for a supplier or customer
Information in a database
Records
Details of complaints received and their resolutions
15. TACIT KNOWLEDGE
The kind of knowledge that is difficult to transfer by
means of writing it down or verbalising.
Hands on skills
Special know-how and experiences of individuals that have been learnt over
time
Approaches to dealing with difficult situations
Best practices of the most prolific trainer/assessor or sales person
16. IN GROUPS, DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT
KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE IN
YOUR ORGANISATION
17. EXAMPLES OF EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Policies and procedures
Process charts
Staff details – skills and experience
Contacts for staff, leads and suppliers
Compliance information
Improvement plans, registers
Records of professional development
Survey responses of
students, staff, stakeholders, industry
18. EXAMPLES OF IMPLICIT
KNOWLEDGE
Unwritten procedures or processes
Informal processes
Improvements to be made that haven‟t yet been
suggested
Opinions of students, staff, stakeholders, industry
Content learnt in professional development sessions
19. EXAMPLES OF TACIT KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge and experiences of:
Trainers, assessors
Management
Administration etc
Approaches to dealing with difficult situations
Technical know-how
Skills-based knowledge
Culture
20. FOR EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
Explicit knowledge needs to be
Easily accessible
Easy to follow and understand
Implicit knowledge needs to be transferred to explicit
knowledge
Tacit knowledge needs to be shared and accessible
when required.
21. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
Needs effective tools and techniques to
Collect, store and re-use knowledge
Improve organisational learning
Encourage collaboration
22. LOOKING THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE
LENS
Implementing knowledge management involves looking at the
organisation through the knowledge lens.
(Australian Standards: Knowledge Management)
23. IN GROUPS, DISCUSS TOOLS &/ OR
TECHNIQUES THAT COULD BE USED TO
HELP MANAGE THE KNOWLEDGE IN YOUR
ORGANISATION
24. TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR
CAPTURING EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Written policies and procedures
Document management
Shared system drives
Staff profile pages – experience, skills
Staff directories
Bookmarks and directories
How-to-guides
Intranet, portals, software
CRM
Student management system
Shared email accounts
25. TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR
CAPTURING IMPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
Mechanisms for recording suggestions and feedback continually
Staff surveys
Student surveys
Discussion boards
Social networking tools
26. TOOLS & TECHNIQUES FOR
CAPTURING TACIT KNOWLEDGE
Communities of practice and networking groups
Staff exit interviews that capture experience, knowledge, know-
how
Ability to liaise with experts when needed
Discussion boards
Training for new staff
Mentoring programs
Ongoing training
27. DEVELOPING A KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Successful knowledge management strategies usually include:
A knowledge leader or champion
A range of tools and techniques including knowledge sharing
mechanisms and technology
Management support
Training, culture
28. TO DEVELOP A KM STRATEGY
Map
Build
Operationalise
Australian Standards: Knowledge Managemen
29. 1. MAPPING
Looking at where you currently are
Setting priorities
Knowing what knowledge needs to be managed
Who knows what?
What is the knowledge flow?
What are the gaps?
Consider people, process, technology and content.
People
Process
Technology
Content
30. 2. BUILD
Taking action on the priorities identified in mapping phase
Developing a plan for knowledge management
Knowledge champions or leaders
Developing products, processes and services
Developing a knowledge management team or support people
Experimenting with ideas
Training staff
31. 3. OPERATIONALISE
Operationalising is about making it routine
Putting the tools and techniques into action
Making it part of every day work
Acceptance of knowledge management
32.
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39. REFERENCES
AS 5037-2005: Australian Standards: Knowledge Management
Head Start: ECLKC „What is Knowledge Management‟
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.gov
KM World Magazine: www.kmworld.com.au
Lisa Quast, „Why knowledge management is important to the
success of your company‟ Forbes: www.forbes.com.au
Ole Markus, Barely Sufficient „Strategies for managing knowledge‟
www.barelysufficient.org
Public Sector Commission, Government of Western Australia
„Knowledge Management - A Guide to Managing Knowledge:
Turning information into capability‟
40. If an old man dies, it is a library that
burns down.
Amadou Hampâté Bâ
Knowledge is the only treasure you can give
entirely without running short of it.
African proverb
41. THANK YOU FOR COMING
Shashi Hodge
RTO KnowHow
www.rtoknowhow.com.au
Tel: 1300 676 870
Email: shodge@rtoadvice.com.au
Or
enquiries@rtoknowhow.com.au
Notas do Editor
My name’s Shashi and I’m the Director of RTO KnowHow and also RTO Advice Group.Thanks for coming everyone.Today’s session is on knowledge management in vet.I’ve been working in the VET sector for about 12 years now, coming from a background of RTO management, administration, compliance and more recently consulting and auditing.The VET sector, in general, is based on knowledge.Knowledge that trainers, managers, compliance and administration staff hold personally.But what is often missing from a lot of organisations is a way of connecting this knowledge, learning from it and using it to benefit the organisation as a whole.With my knowledge that I’d built up over the years through my work in and with RTOs, I began to devise systems that would help managers and RTO staff draw on the knowledge, experience and learning of their team and use them to improve their practices and business outcomes, while also maintaining compliance. Began with a system of policies, procedures, processes and tools that RTOs could use, however I saw there was a gap. A gap in making sure everyone knew the policy, everyone knew the processes to be followed, knew how to contribute to business outcomes without making the process over-arduous.So from there I went on to building an online system for RTOs and other training organisations that helps teams communicate, document their knowledge more efficiently and on a consistent and regular basis. I want to use today to talk through knowledge management, how knowledge is or could be managed in your organisation and how you might make improvements to KM to benefit your organisation.
So today I will present the key concepts behind knowledge management and some techniques that we can use to go about implementing a knowledge management strategy.I really want this session to draw on the knowledge of everyone here today so we’ll break into groups during the session to brainstorm together.Knowledge management is a large area and some people focus entirely on it at university, so today will skim over key themes and topics.
Knowledge is what we know.It is a body of understanding and skills that is constructed by people and increased through interaction with other people and information. Knowledge can be thought of as a map that we build inside our brains. It also includes our beliefs, expectations and practical know-how.It is on this map that we base our decisions. There are threesources that we use to build this knowledge – information, experiences and data.There are three different kinds of knowledge: explicit, implicit and tacit which I will come back to shortly.
Data is facts. Data is true whether or not it is written down.For example, your height, your address, your job title, this all data, and they are true whether or not it is written down.Data is used to form our knowledge.
Information contains dataput into context and meaning.We can capture data in information, then move it about so that other people can access it at different times. If I take a picture of you, the photograph is information. But what you look like is data.
So the parts that make up our knowledge that can be summarised in this diagram
So we know whatknowledge is.What is knowledge management.It is the activities an organisation takes to:manage information and data systematically.manage the knowledge it gains from its own experiences.transform individual knowledge from its people into organisational knowledge.An integrated approach to identifying, capturing, managing and sharing an organisation’s knowledge to achieve business objectives.
Knowledge management
An interesting fact.How much knowledge do we have??According to Forbes:A typical person in the course of a year receives the data equivalent to every person in the world reading 174 newspapers every single day”That’s a LOT!So you can really see why if we don’t manage our knowledge effectively, we are missing out on gaining from the knowledge of our people.
Research shows that managing knowledge allows us toLearn from the expertise and know-how of most experienced individuals (more contact between junior and senior staff, collaboration, mentoring, support, exchange – build expertise and then make this expertise serve even more of your team)Knowledge is retained even if staff leave(invested time, money and energy in training, professional development and continual improvement is not lost – more important in todays environment, people movejobs more and more often)Higher efficiency (No re-inventing the wheel, avoid going over the same thing again and again)Lessons learned can be shared (Processes and approaches that worked. Those that didn’t work. What not-to-do next time. As relevant to VET this might be learning from complaints and appeals, internal and external audits, moderation and validation and so on.)We gain better insights for improving products and servicesFacilitates decision-making capabilities (Relevant information is available when its needed, we can gain a better understanding of how we make decisions and what informs our decisions)
Builds learning organisations by making learning routine (When knowledge management is part of an organisation’s culture, learning and improvement is part of the job and staff are continually learning from others.)Increases staff satisfactionSharing of best practices that can be implemented across the board (Best practice approaches can be shared from one branch or office to the other, one department to the other, again, saves re-inventing the wheel and quality practices across the organisation. And… Facilitates continuous improvement! As I think I’ve demonstrated above. All of these benefits have an outcome of quality and improvement. Using our knowledge that is captured and stored, can contribute to true improvement that really is continuous, ongoing and part of every day practice.
So now we know about the benefits, how do we do it?In order to manage knowledge we first need to know about the different types of knowledge that we need to manage.Explicit knowledgeImplicit knowledgeTacit knowledge
Explicit knowledge is that which has been articulated and stored and can be readily transmitted to others. Can easily be portrayed in documents.Examples of explicit knowledge include: Directories (how-to-contact someone), manuals, writtenprocedures and how to videos With explicit knowledge, once the information is read and the instructions are followed, they are known.
Implicit knowledgeInformation or knowledge that is not set out in tangible form but could be made explicit. So, the things in our minds that we haven’t yet written down but we could.
Tacit knowledgeThe kind of knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising. Usually relates to expertise and knowledge within people/ learnt over a period of time. Highly experiential.Example: Learning to speak a language – we can write it down but it doesn’t mean that someone can know it easily.Another good example – we can tell someone the approaches to effective RTO management, but that does not mean that they know how to do it easily.
So now I’d like to get everybody involved - break into group work and conduct some brainstorming together.What I’d like you to do in your groups is discuss the different kinds of knowledge you have in your organisation – considering explicit, implicit and tacit knowledge.You will have been given a coloured card from Danielle as you walked in. This indicates the group you are in. We’ve created the groups to mix everyone up and promote sharing between different organisations or departments. So 5 minutes to brainstorm. Then we’ll come back and share with the group.Handout to be passed around. One sheet per group.
So now we know the kinds of knowledge we have in an organisation, how do we effectively manage our knowledge?For effective knowledge managementExplicit knowledge needs to beEasily accessible when and by whom it is requiredEasy to follow and understandImplicit knowledge needs to be transferred to explicit knowledge as much as possibleProvide opportunities for tacit knowledge (from our people) to be shared. Making people with knowledge and expertise accessible when required. So, organisations need to find a way to share existing knowledge better andPromote innovation making the transition from ideas to implementation more effective.
In order to do this, we need effective tools and techniques to manage our knowledge.Our tools and techniques need to help us:collect, store and re-use knowledgeImprove organisational learningEncourage collaboration and sharing Some examples of tools and techniques that may be used includedocument management systems, communities of practices or networking groups, strategies for collecting information from staff when they leave an organisation and so on.
Implementing knowledge management involves looking at the organisation through the knowledge lens.A senior manager of a large firm has just resigned. This event can be viewed from a number of lenses:Technology lens – Confirm finish date, ensure all passwords and system accesses have been restricted.Finance lens – prepare final pay and leave balancesHR lens – Consider exit interview, prepare recruiting processKnowledge lens – a potential knowledge loss and/or acquisition of new knowledge with the replacement. An opportunity to learn from the departing staff member.
Thinking about the knowledge that you have in your organisation, what tools and techniques do you think could be used to help manage the knowledge
Successful knowledge management strategies usually include:A range of tools and techniques including knowledge sharing mechanisms and technologyManagement support – we need our top people to believe in the value of KM, talk about it and make it part of the business objectivesA knowledge leader or champion It needs to become part of our culture – through training, expectations that we set and so on
So now that we know about the different types of knowledge and what makes effective knowledge management, we need to know how to go about developing a knowledge management strategy.
Looking at where you currently areSetting priorities for knowledge managementKnowing what knowledge needs to be managedWho knows what?What is the knowledge flow?Consider:People – how individuals and teams work togetherProcess – are processes documented, how does continuous improvement occur, do we learn from our mistakes?Technology – how is technology used, are there collaborative tools, CRM systems, portals, intranets, shared email accounts.Content – what knowledge is valuable to the organisation, what content do we have, how is it stored, how is information shared and is it easy to access.
2. BuildTaking action on the priorities identified in mapping phaseDeveloping a plan for knowledge managementKnowledge champions or leaders - Someone who is passionate about the cause and the outcomes and benefits of KMSenior management supportDeveloping products, processes and servicesDeveloping a knowledge management teamEnsuring you can create a culture that supports innovation, feedback, learning and knowledge sharingExperimenting with ideas Training staff
Operationalising is about making KM routinePutting the tools and techniques into actionMaking it part of every day workAcceptance of knowledge management processes by the whole team
RTO KnowHow is an online system, kind of set up like an intranet, but it is on the internet.Its an online hub that staff can interact with every day to:Access messagesView company newsEngage in discussion through the discussion boardMake suggestions for improvement that are automatically and instantaneously sent to the right person to act on.View or add to validation and moderation or industry consultation recordsUpdate their own profile and professional development activitiesGive feedback through surveys or invite a student to complete a surveyView student records and classesView documents they need
Snapshot of the discussion board that we have.
Staff profile – where staff can update their own profile for use by management, including their qualifications, certificates, experience, Biography.
Update their skills matrix as required
Access documents that they are given access to
That’s the end of todays workshop. I want to thank everyone for coming today and participating. I hope you’re able to take something away from today’s workshop to implement in your organisation.I wanted to leave you with these quotes.