knowledge transfer: from creation to application
DESCRIPTION
Describes the flow of knowledge from creation to application. Outline: individuals, communities, context, strategy, and practices.TRANSCRIPT
Connecting Creation to Application.
Albert SimardKnowledge ManagerDefence R&D Canada
INF0NEX Public Sector Human Resource Management
January,18-21, 2011; Ottawa, ON
Knowledge Transfer:
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A Definition…
• Knowledge Transfer: Act, process, or instance of conveying, copying, or causing knowledge* to pass from one person, place, or situation to another.
*As used here, knowledge includes all forms of content: objects, data, information, knowledge, and wisdom.
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Knowledge Transfer – Human Resource Perspective
• Increases employee skills and capabilities
• Supports career development
• Enhances employee engagement and retention
• Mitigates human resource risks
• Enables succession planning
The more employees know, the more valuable they are to the organization.
The more employees know, the more valuable they are to the organization.
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Knowledge Transfer – Knowledge Management Perspective
• Enables organizational work
• Leverages knowledge for multiple uses
• Reduces duplication and reinvention
• Supports preservation for future use
• Facilitates collaboration and synergy
• Enhances competitiveness and sustainability
Knowledge transfer is the lifeblood of an organization.
Knowledge transfer is the lifeblood of an organization.
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Outline
• Individuals
• Communities
• Context
• Strategy
• Practices
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Different Views of People
• Workers – who, what, when, where, why, how
• Human capital – workforce, skills, productivity, salaries
Human nature – behavior, attitudes, interests
Communities – connectivity, functionality, impacts
• Culture – domain, ideology, values, norms, rituals
• Human Resources – staffing & retention, supervision & performance, training & development
IndividualsIndividuals
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Incentive Framework
Type of Incentive
Individual Response
Organizational Results
Compliance Behavior Functionality
Motivation Attitudes Productivity
Engagement Willingness Creativity
Peter Stoyko (2010)Peter Stoyko (2010)
IndividualsIndividuals
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Incentives• Compliance (you will)
– Pay, job security, duty, penalties– Military, manufacturing, law, policies– Meet quotas, minimum standards, no change
• Motivation (you’ll be rewarded)– Ambition, challenges, bonuses, rewards– Efficiency, productivity, quality– Increases, improvements, evolutionary changes
• Engagement (would you like to?)– Autonomy, mastery, purpose– Design, innovation, discovery– Commitment, involvement, revolutionary changes
IndividualsIndividuals
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Why Engage Knowledge Workers?
• Knowledge cannot be conscripted; it must be volunteered.
• Knowledge workers need to commit to and become truly involved in their work.
• Ideally, they work:– Not because it is asked of them,– Not because they expect something in
return,– Because they want to; they enjoy doing it.
IndividualsIndividuals
Human resources + knowledge management PARTNERSHIP
Human resources + knowledge management PARTNERSHIP
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Engagement: Autonomy• Task: what to do (% of time, mutual agreement)
• Time: when to do it (schedule, location)
• Technique: how to do it (results, not methods)
• Team: (self-organization, select coworkers)
Daniel Pink (2009)Daniel Pink (2009)
IndividualsIndividuals
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Engagement: Mastery
• Mindset: (want to excel, can increase ability and skill, learning, practice)
• Pain: (perseverance, passion, overcoming obstacles, long-term, time & effort)
• Asymptotic: (approach, but never quite reach, close but can’t touch)
Daniel Pink (2009)Daniel Pink (2009)
IndividualsIndividuals
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Engagement: Purpose
• Goals: quality of life, life with meaning, looking beyond oneself, social responsibility, stewardship
• Words: indicate intent, describe meaning, affect attitude, guide behavior, soul-stirring, emotional
• Policies: ethics, individual choice, meaningful ends, guidance
Daniel Pink (2009)Daniel Pink (2009)
IndividualsIndividuals
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Engagement Methods
• Hire “engageable” employees
• Match projects, passions, proficiency
• Stress employee ownership
• Clarify mutual goals and expectations
• Earn trust continuously
• Provide frequent feedback
• Talk and listen often
Wendy Fenci (2008)Wendy Fenci (2008)
IndividualsIndividuals
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Engagement SignalsPositive
• Mutual expectations
• Listen to ideas
• Ask for help & advice
• Jointly review progress
• Freely share information
• Work collaboratively
• Delegate decisions
Negative
• Monitor closely
• Don’t include in planning
• Ignore suggestions
• Seldom interact
• Withhold information
• Control tightly
• Approve all decisionsTosti & Nickols (2010)Tosti & Nickols (2010)
IndividualsIndividuals
Science knows much more about engagement than departments
practice.
Science knows much more about engagement than departments
practice.
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Outline
• Individuals
• Communities
• Context
• Strategy
• Practices
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Community of Practice
• Government, department
• Sector, branch, division staff
• Scientists, engineers, lawyers
• Policy analysts, regulators
• Finance, purchasing officers
• Information, communication specialists
CommunitiesCommunities
People who share common expertise, skill, or profession (position, work, colleagues)
People who share common expertise, skill, or profession (position, work, colleagues)
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Participants- Help with their work- Solve problems- Find experts- Receive feedback- Place to learn- Latest information- Enhance reputation
Participants- Help with their work- Solve problems- Find experts- Receive feedback- Place to learn- Latest information- Enhance reputation
Management- Connect isolated experts- Coordinate activities- Fast problem solving- Reduce development time- Quickly answer questions- Standardize processes- Develop & retain talent
Management- Connect isolated experts- Coordinate activities- Fast problem solving- Reduce development time- Quickly answer questions- Standardize processes- Develop & retain talent
Community Benefits
Outputs- - Tangible: documents, reports, manuals,
recommendations, reduced innovation time and cost- - Intangible: increased skills, sense of trust, diverse
perspectives, cross-pollinate ideas, capacity to innovate, relationships, spirit of enquiry
Outputs- - Tangible: documents, reports, manuals,
recommendations, reduced innovation time and cost- - Intangible: increased skills, sense of trust, diverse
perspectives, cross-pollinate ideas, capacity to innovate, relationships, spirit of enquiry
CommunitiesCommunities
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Common Characteristics of Communities
• Self-governed: norms and guidelines govern practices.
• Self-organized: purpose, direction, and management.
• Productive enquiry: answer questions based on practice.
• Collaborate: synchronous and asynchronous channels.
• Generate knowledge: new knowledge is created.
• Support members: provides a forum for mutual support.
Saint-Onge & Wallace (2003)Saint-Onge & Wallace (2003)
CommunitiesCommunities
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Diverse Attributes of Communities
• Size: small to large; large communities need structure
• Structure: informal, semi-structured, structured
• Diversity: homogeneous to heterogeneous
• Boundaries: often cross boundaries
• Life-Span: few years to permanent
• Establishment: informal or formal
Wenger et. al. (2002)Wenger et. al. (2002)
CommunitiesCommunities
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Community Behaviors
Positive• Dialogue• Trust• Safety• Meritocracy• Equality• Outliers
Negative• Discussion• Debating• Arguing• Agenda• Authority• Assuming• Majority• Consensus• Groupthink
CommunitiesCommunities
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NetworksInterconnection among many individuals groups or
organizations with common interdependencies, interests, or purpose.
• Networks are much bigger than communities (100s to 1,000,000s of members).
• Participants don’t know most other participants, limiting trust and security.
• Large numbers of nodes leads to complex behavior.
CommunitiesCommunities
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Network Behavior
• Positive feedback - The bigger the network, the bigger it gets.
• Biological growth - Crossing a “threshold” yields self-sustaining, exponential growth.
• Synergy & emergence – Networks can yield more than any individual can accomplish.
• Winner take most – There is a tendency for one member to dominate.
• Extreme leveraging – A small effort can trigger market domination.
Kevin Kelly (1998)
CommunitiesCommunities
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Outline
• Individuals
• Communities
• Context
• Strategy
• Practices
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Continuous Transfer
• Knowledge transfer should be embedded into all knowledge work.
• It should occur periodically as part of normal reporting.
• It should occur whenever something significant is learned.
• It should involve both explicit and tacit knowledge.
ContextContext
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Discontinuous Transfer
Positive Change
• New employee arrives
• Employee changes position
• Employee retires
• Project completed
Negative Change
• Employee terminated
• Project ended
• Location closed
• Organization shut down
ContextContext
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Transfer During Change
• If previous knowledge was not transferred, it isn’t available for current work.
• If current knowledge isn’t transferred, it won’t be available for future work.
• For positive change, people dispose of documents and forget what they knew.
• Negative attitudes from negative change preclude effective knowledge transfer.
• If transfer has been ongoing, it’s simply a matter of implementation during change.
ContextContext
Knowledge transfer connects the past, present, and future.
Knowledge transfer connects the past, present, and future.
Starting transfer during change is too late!Starting transfer during change is too late!
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Outline
• Individuals
• Communities
• Context
• Strategy
• Practices
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Knowledge Infrastructure
Peoplelearning, motivation,
rewards, incentives,
staffing, skills
Governance roles, responsibilities, authorities, resources
Processes
work routineslessons learned, best practices,
Content, Services
data, risk analysis, reports, monitoring, operations, policies
Toolssystems to capture, store, share, and process content
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Management Levels
Knowledge Assets
Knowledge Sharing
Knowledge Work
Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge Infrastructure
Stock
Flow
Business
National Defence, Public Safety
Defence R & D Canada
Markets
Resources Government
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Cycle
CreationCreation ValidationValidation
OrganizationOrganizationAuthorizationAuthorization
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Management Regimes
Authoritative Hierarchy
Organizational Infrastructure
Negotiated Agreement
Responsible Autonomy
Purpose (Why) Authorize Organize Collaborate Create
Entity (What) Decisions & Actions
Objects & Tasks
People & Connectivity
Environment & Interests
Process (How) Decide & Act Capture & Structure
Connect Communities
Engage people
Interactions Hierarchy Work Process Agreements Dialogue
Knowledge Authoritative Explicit Tacit Innate
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Services Value Chain
Use Internally
Use Professionally
Use Personally
Generate
Transform
Add Value
Transfer
Evaluate
Manage
Extract
Advance
Embed
Legend
S&T PartnersDefence Research & Development Canada
Forces, Practitioners, Stakeholders
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Users
• Government users – leaders, managers, planners, advisors, coordinators, workers
• Body of knowledge – national & international science & technology communities
• Intermediaries – governments, business, practitioners, trainers, researchers, media, NGOs
• Practitioners - governments, business, practitioners, trainers, researchers, NGOs, international groups
• Canadians – e.g., community, well being, safety, employment, education, environment…
StrategyStrategy
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Transfer Strategy
Destination Difficulty Audience Purpose Transfer
Government Complex One Intervene Conversation
Knowledge Conceptual Few Support Paper
Intermediary Complicated Few Promote Specification
Practitioner Professional Some Explain Consultation
Canadians Popular Many Advertise Self-help
Rich
Reach
StrategyStrategy
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Knowledge Markets
• Communications - one-way dissemination of approved messages and positions.
• Transaction - two-way exchanges of knowledge products & services.
• Parallel - Transferring knowledge products & services from two or more providers.
• Sequential - Multiple organizations sequentially produce and transfer knowledge products & services.
• Cyclic - Knowledge services “value chains” continuously create and transfer new knowledge.
• Network - Transfer among large numbers of participants in a “knowledge ecosystem.”
StrategyStrategy
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Outline
• Individuals
• Communities
• Context
• Strategy
• Practices
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Transfer Challenges
• Trust and safety• Organizational culture• Incentives and motivation• Difficulty of explaining • Different expertise
• Security and privacy• Control and hoarding• Large distances• Different languages• Inadequate technology
PracticesPractices
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HR Approaches to Transfer
• Training
• Mentoring
• Guided experience
• Special assignments
• Work shadowing
• Paired work
• Succession planning
• Retiree access
Primarily through assignmentsPrimarily through assignments
PracticesPractices
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KM Approaches to Transfer
• Communicate sharing goals regularly
• Train employees on using sharing tools
• Demonstrate the benefits of sharing
• Highlight sharing success stories
• Practice good sharing behavior
• Reward good sharing behavior
• Discourage poor sharing behavior
• Encourage community development
Primarily through behaviorPrimarily through behavior Stan Garfield (2010)Stan Garfield (2010)
PracticesPractices
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KM Explicit Transfer Methods• Capture: Represent explicit and tacit
knowledge on reproducible media.
• Inventory: Find, list, and describe knowledge and expertise; map to business needs, value and prioritize.
• Needs: What needs to be known to conduct business; identify core knowledge and vulnerabilities.
• Preserve: organize, store, maintain and migrate knowledge throughout its life-cycle.
• Access: Increase awareness, grant permissions, maximize accessibility, enable search and retrieval.
PracticesPractices
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KM Tacit Transfer Methods
• Conversations, discussions, dialogue (colleagues, peers)
• Questions & answers, problems & solutions (novice/expert)
• After-action reviews, lessons learned (event/group)
• Capture, document, interview, record (expert/facilitator)
• Extraction, identify, codify, organize (expert/know engineer)
• Advising, briefing, recommending (subordinate/superior)
• Teaching, educating, training (teacher/student)
• Storytelling, narratives, anecdotes (teller/listener)
• Explaining, demonstrating, describing (technician/user)
• Presentations, lectures, speeches (speaker/audience)
PracticesPractices
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Transfer Technology
• Telephony• Groupware• Video conferencing• E-mail• Chat rooms• Bulletin boards• On-line forums• Web portal• Expertise locator• Blogs, microblogs• Wikis
PracticesPractices
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Knowledge Transfer:
• Moves knowledge from creation to application.
• Is the lifeblood of an organization.
• Part of every aspect of knowledge work.
• It must be enabled, facilitated, & promoted.
• Needs a partnership between HR and KM.