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Innovate KM Processes and Tools

Stan Garfield

Stan Garfield

December 17, 2020
The eleventh step in the 12 Steps to KM Success has two parts:

  1. Innovate key KM processes and tools to implement the strategy and achieve the vision.
  2. Seek user feedback and continuously implement, improve, and iterate.

The second part was previously covered in KM Programs: Implement, Improve, and Iterate. This post addresses the first part – innovating KM processes and tools.

How to stimulate innovation

  1. Ask communities of practice, both internal and external, for ideas.
  2. Follow good examples from other organizations, such as the Netflix prizeP&G Connect & DevelopIBM Jams, and InnoCentive.
  3. Conduct experiments to test new methods. Use analytics to analyze the results and pick the ones that are most effective.
  4. Ask for suggested improvements, use rapid prototyping to try them out, and then iterate and improve.
  5. Enable innovation by supporting integration of diverse tools. Encourage skunk works projects.
  6. Encourage the formation of book clubs, discussion groups, and brainstorming sessions to get people thinking about new and better ways of doing things. Take the best ideas and implement them.
  7. Hold regular innovation challenges, tournaments, and jams.
  8. Ask people to use collaboration tools such as enterprise social networks (ESNs) to discuss ideas for improvements, new approaches, and breakthroughs.
  9. Invite people outside your organization to speak on calls, present at meetings, and participate in workshops. Adapt their methods for use in your organization.
  10. Set up prediction markets to use the wisdom of crowds to choose between alternatives.

Enable innovation by supporting integration

Supporting easy software integration enables a variety of tools to be independently developed and interconnected. For example, at HP, the following eight innovative tools were created as skunk works projects.

1. KM Stars: Incentive points system for recognizing and rewarding knowledge sharing
 
Incentive points system for recognizing and rewarding knowledge sharing
 
2. me @hp: Social networking profiles (like LinkedIn)
 
Stan Linkedin picture for post
 
3. HPedia: Wiki (like Wikipedia)
 
image 3 shows a wiki page
 
4. HP Blogs: Employee blogging
 

 
5. HP Bookmarking Server: Social bookmarks
 
example of hp bookmarking
 
6. HP Uncut: Videos (like YouTube)
 
example of HP youtube like page
 
7. HP Podcasts: Podcasting platform
 
HP example of podcast page
 
8. Pligg: News story submission and voting platform (like Digg and Reddit)
 
Hp example of a digg or reddit page
 

They were then connected by three integration tools:

1. HP Knowledge Network: Intranet portal
 
HP example portal
 

2. WaterCooler: RSS feed aggregator
 
HP watercooler example page
3. Searchable: User interface to multiple search engines
 

Search example explanation

Stan Garfield

Stan Garfield

Please read Stan’s additional blog posts offering advice and insights drawn from many years as a KM practitioner. You may also want to download a copy of his book, Proven Practices for Implementing a Knowledge Management Program, from Lucidea Press.  And learn about Lucidea’s Inmagic Presto, with KM capabilities to support successful knowledge management programs.

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