"Learn Before Doing" is one of the core mantras of Knowledge management. However there is often a lack of definition as to what this learning entails, and a lack of focus and clarity on who is accountable for what learning. KM plans deliver that clarity.
The concept of a project-level Knowledge Management plan is one of the most exciting new ideas to come out of Knowledge Management in the past 5 years. It is a device that allows Knowledge Management to be fully embedded into project controls, at the same level of rigour as risk management, or document management. It allows the assignment of accountabilities to individual project team members, and allows these accountabilities to be monitored and reviewed. Knowledge Management plans allow Knowledge Management to evolve to become a true management discipline; a component part of an integrated project management approach rather than an add-on or an aspiration.
A Knowledge Management (KM) Plan is an organized, systematic and focused approach to identifying and implementing the knowledge goals and objectives of a project. It is a document for a specific project, department or function, which details; " What knowledge is needed by the project " What knowledge will be created by the project " What system of processes, technologies and roles will be used to manage knowledge within the project, " What actions need to be taken to implement the system, and " Which people are accountable for individual actions.
A KM plan has three main components.
- 1. A Knowledge Register, which defines the key areas of knowledge needed by the project ("key knowledge inputs"), and the assigned actions to make sure this knowledge is accessed. It also defines the key areas of knowledge which the project will be learning about, and which they need to share with the rest of the organisation ("knowledge outputs"), and the actions to make sure this sharing happens.
- 2. A KM Protocol, which defines the system by which knowledge will be managed in the project. It defines the roles and accountabilities, the technologies (such as lessons databases) which will be used, and the processes which will be applied and when they will be applied as part of the project timeline. The KM protocol for the project will need to conform with corporate KM standards, and it is quite likely that all projects within a single business will conform to a similar protocol.
- 3. An implementation plan for the project, to make sure the protocol is ready to use. This will require training of staff in the tools and technologies, induction of new staff, registration of staff onto the relevant communities of practice, installation of technology onto people's desktops, and so on.
The plan is created at a KM Planning workshop, early in the project, held as part of the set-up activities; about the same time the team are developing their risk management plan, their document management plan, and other front-end planning activities. The KM planning workshops follow a standard process, where
- - Key knowledge inputs and outputs are identified and ranked
- - Actions are assigned for seeking and for sharing knowledge
- - The project KM protocol is introduced and agreed, and the tools introduced.
- - KM accountabilities are discussed and assigned.
The plan is used by senior management to review whether a project is applying KM, and has identified all the critical knowledge inputs and outputs. It is reviewed at project stage gates. The plan is also used by the project KM champion to track learning actions, and the close-out of lessons learned,
A Knowledge Management plan therefore takes the broad topic of Knowledge Management, and turns it into a specific definition, tailored for the project, of who should be doing what, by when, using which tools, in order to manage knowledge for the benefit of the project, and for the benefit of the company.
As an analogy, a Knowledge Management plan contains the same degree of detail, process and rigour as a Risk Management plan. Knowledge and Risk are two of the main intangibles that need to be managed through the project.
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