Awareness Building and Initial Education

By George Vagenas, on 29-02-2008 12:33

Favoured : 135

Before proceeding to planning, designing and implementing Knowledge Management both key people and employees have to be educated on some major issues, otherwise the whole effort is at stake.

First of all there is the risk that potential benefits might be underestimated and thus the project will not receive the proper attention by managers and personnel. Furthermore, the essence of the whole effort might be deluded, leading to the formation of a strategy that does not reflect the holistic nature of KM, instead emphasizing in mere measures that will waste corporate resources without achieving the expected results. In practice, it’s not rare the case of companies that confused KM with software projects disregarding all the other aspects, while at the same time underestimating the cost of the initiative since they calculated only computer related costs.

The Initial Education Program©KMinPractice.com

In order to avoid the above situation that jeopardizes the effectiveness of the initiative it is proposed to go through an initial education that will create awareness and a sense of ownership, while at the same promoting the wide acceptance of the new business practice and assuring the active support of all the participants.

It is strongly believed that education is synonymous to managing the process of change. And this change occurs only when people truly understand why and how they need to change the way they do their jobs. In this sense, people involved have to see the big picture and understand the principles and concepts of the new business paradigm. As a result, it is proposed that initial education should not be confined to providing to the involved parties the necessary information about the whats and hows of KM, but also emphasize in promoting a behavioral change based on the whys.

Of course not all people in the organization need to receive the same education. In response, three educational levels have been identified and organized to comprise a complete education program.

Last update: 15-04-2008 09:50