Knowledge management: creating a sustainable yellow pages system
How can I “know who knows”? None of us can personally know more than 250 people; however, we want our companies to be smart, learning organizations where it’s easy to find the right person to talk to. This is why many organizations create “yellow pages” applications, which allow employees to find and connect with other personnel with particular knowledge and skills. However, these systems can be very difficult to implement and often end up as outdated and glorified intranet phone books. This article, excerpted from a best-selling knowledge management field book by its author, identifies ten key steps involved in creating and maintaining a successful employee-owned yellow pages system.
The following guidelines are taken from the book “Learning to Fly: Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations” (Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell), and set out ten key steps to creating a yellow pages system that really works and has the aspects positive acceptance of its user community, that is, its customers.
1 Maintain a clear and distinctive vision. Be clear about what you are trying to achieve and avoid compromises. Be careful to become “everything to all men”, particularly those in the HR and IT departments! Everyone will want a piece of the action; Keep an eye on the overall goal of your system, making it easy to find the people you want. whose they already know.
2 Strive for personal property and maintenance. Create a process whereby only interested people can create and update their entries. This will drive a much deeper sense of ownership in the population.
3 Strike a balance between informal and formal content. Encourage people to share non-work related information about themselves, in addition to valuable business information. Consider asking for this with “fun” questions like, “What was the first single you bought?”, “What is your favorite movie?”, Or even “What makes you happy?”
4 Support photos whenever possible. Nothing is more powerful and personal than a photograph. It talks a lot about the person, raises the interest levels of others and generates personal ownership of the content. If possible, encourage people to include an informal photo. Rabbit-pass-safety-shots-in-headlights rarely show people in their best light! It is better to have a photograph that says more about the person and what motivates them.
5 Make sure your product design is flexible and inclusive. Recognize that different people relate to templates, directions, and structure in different ways. Use focus groups to test opinion.
6 Start with a customer-facing pilot. Critical mass is very important, so start with a group of people who have a natural need to be visible to internal customers. This could include support functions, existing networks or communities, or even business areas with new leadership.
7 Deliver through local enthusiasts. Centrally driven momentum isn’t always the best way to engage the workforce. Take advantage of local champions and enthusiasts if possible? they will know the best way to “sell” the concept locally.
8 Use success stories as a marketing tool. Reinforce the usefulness of the knowledge directory at every opportunity. Post any examples or successes widely and early to reinforce your project. This is a culture change project, and culture change happens one story at a time!
9 Encourage usage, but lead by example rather than an edict. Avoid imposing population and knowledge directory usage. People will provide better quality content if they feel like they are volunteering the information. At the end of the day, you can never recruit knowledge, you can only volunteer it.
And let’s face it, it doesn’t make much sense to find the only knowledgeable or experienced person you need, if when you call her on the phone, she’s not willing to talk!
10 Integrate into people’s processes. Look for intranet processes and “links” that can initiate and maintain the use of your knowledge directory (eg, hiring or onboarding new staff, launching new networks, any reference on an intranet site that mentions a person’s name it can become a link to your personal page.
Conclution
Creating and marketing a yellow pages system within an organization is a very rewarding project – seize the opportunity with both hands. You will need a network of champions, the cooperation of IT and HR functions, tenacity, and a certain style of marketing. The steps outlined above should help you on your way. Bon Voyage!