I have been active as a KM mentor for many years and have always found it very rewarding. While I was at Deloitte, I mentored four colleagues in India. During the first year of the KM Peer Mentoring Program, co-sponsored by the KM4Dev and SIKM Leaders communities, I mentored four people in four countries. I currently serve as a mentor to four KM professionals in three countries—knowledge management truly is an international field.
This is the first in a series offering advice on the practice of knowledge management. In each post, I will answer questions posed to me as if I were a mentor. If you would like to submit questions for me to answer in this series, please send them to stangarfield@gmail.com.
Scenario: A Solo Librarian at an Architecture Firm
A solo librarian in their first year at an architecture firm observes multiple knowledge-related challenges:
- Project knowledge, designs, and precedent research are not being captured.
- Standardized processes and templates are not readily available.
- Poor management of technical knowledge and regulations results in frequent rework and increased risk for the firm.
- Architects, engineers, and project managers are not collaborating effectively.
- New hires must learn informally, rather than through structured onboarding and training.
- There is no knowledge continuity across multi-year projects, and valuable knowledge is lost due to staff turnover.
- It is difficult to assemble proposals using past project data, find relevant experience for specific clients or sectors, and provide metrics, visuals, and narratives for marketing.
The librarian is not sure how to address these challenges and asks me:
- Is a KM strategy needed?
- If so, how do I secure support for it?
- If I get support, how do I implement the strategy?
Here is how I would advise them.
Does My Architecture Firm Need a KM Strategy?
To answer this question, start by talking to a variety of colleagues at your firm, including architects, support staff, and managers. Find out whether they are encountering similar challenges and what problems those challenges are creating. If there is widespread agreement that something needs to be done, this will confirm the need for a KM strategy.
Next, conduct some background research. Ask generative AI tools to help you find examples of how knowledge management is being used at other architecture firms. Reach out to peer librarians at other architecture firms to compare notes. Visit KM sites such as APQC’s Resource Library and search for case studies in the architecture industry. If you find that other firms are successfully using KM approaches, this will further validate the need for a KM strategy at your firm.
For help in doing research, visit my list of recommendations.
How Can I Secure Support for a KM Strategy?
To secure support, connect KM challenges to business priorities and demonstrate that employees across the firm see a need for change.
From the colleagues you talked to, select those who were most passionate about the knowledge-related challenges and invite them to join you in your KM mission. Prepare a few stories about the challenges and opportunities, including good examples from your research. Tell these stories to leaders at your firm, focusing on the benefits that could be realized by implementing KM. You could also invite practitioners from other firms to speak with your leaders about the value they are obtaining from their KM efforts.
Conduct a survey of all professionals at your firm to determine if there is a groundswell of support for a KM initiative. Use this survey to help identify the top three objectives for implementing KM.
Present the survey results to the leaders of your firm along with the external perspectives you collected and the stories you and your fellow KM champions developed. Ask them to commit to supporting you in taking the first steps in crafting a KM strategy.
For help advocating for KM within your organization, read Proven Practices for Promoting a Knowledge Management Program.
How Do I Implement a KM Strategy?
Begin by translating the architecture firm’s top KM objectives into specific actions, processes, roles, and technology requirements.
For each of the top three objectives, determine who will participate in the program, which basic processes will be required, and how tools will support the people and processes involved. Then define the specific actions needed to achieve those objectives.
As you do so, draw from ten types of KM strategy: motivate, network, supply, analyze, codify, disseminate, demand, act, invent, and augment. Use these as a guide for formulating your list of actions.
Define compelling use cases, roles, organization structure, and details on planning and operations. Specify the desired modes of knowledge flow and select the KM components needed for the required actions.
Then implement the selected components, integrate KM processes with existing business processes and workflows, and integrate KM tools with each other and with other systems. Regularly solicit user input and use it to innovate and continuously improve the KM program.
For help implementing your KM strategy, read 12 Steps to KM Success: A Guide to Implementing Knowledge Management.
Examples of Knowledge Management in an Architecture Firm
1. Capture Project Knowledge
- Store case studies, drawings, specifications, and outcomes.
- Document what worked and what did not.
- Build a reusable archive instead of reinventing the wheel for every project.
KM Components: Capture Process, Reuse Process, Lessons Learned Process, Proven Practices Process, Repositories
2. Standardize Processes and Templates
- Provide access to design standards, CAD/BIM templates, and naming conventions.
- Create checklists for each project phase, from schematic design through construction administration.
- Document quality assurance and quality control procedures.
KM Components: Methodologies, Workflow Process, Workflow Applications
3. Support Design Reuse and Precedent Research
- Enable teams to search past projects by building type, materials, climate, or budget.
- Make it easy to retrieve precedent images, diagrams, and technical solutions.
- Help employees quickly answer the question: “Have we solved something like this before?”
KM Components: Reuse Process, Repositories, Search Engines
4. Manage Technical Knowledge and Regulations
- Store updated building codes and interpretations.
- Share compliance strategies across teams.
- Track certifications and related information, such as LEED strategies and energy models.
KM Components: Document Management and Records Management, Repositories, Metadata and Tags
5. Improve Collaboration Across Teams
- Connect architects, engineers, and project managers.
- Centralize decisions, requests for information (RFIs), and documentation.
- Prevent silos between offices or departments.
KM Components: Communities of Practice, Collaboration Process, Team Spaces, Threaded Discussions
6. Onboard and Train New Staff Faster
- Give new hires access to firm standards, past projects, and workflows.
- Ensure training materials and recorded walkthroughs are available in one place.
- Reduce the need for senior staff to answer repetitive questions.
KM Components: Repositories, Videos, E-learning
7. Preserve Institutional Memory
- Maintain knowledge continuity across multi-year projects.
- Preserve valuable knowledge through staff changes and turnover.
- Capture the firm’s identity, design philosophy, and expertise.
KM Components: Repositories, Knowledge Retention
8. Support Business Development
- Quickly assemble proposals using past project data.
- Find relevant experience for specific clients or sectors.
- Provide metrics, visuals, and narratives for marketing.
KM Components: Threaded Discussions, Expertise Locators, Process Automation, Analytics
Choosing Technology to Support an Architecture Firm’s KM Strategy
Technology should support the people, processes, and knowledge workflows defined in the KM strategy. Once the firm’s strategy and requirements are clearly defined, the firm can evaluate knowledge management systems based on the capabilities it needs.
When choosing a knowledge management system (KMS) to support these use cases, consider Presto from Lucidea.
Presto offers functionality that supports the following KM components:
- Repositories and Knowledge Bases
- Threaded Discussions
- Expertise Locators
- Metadata and Tags
- Search Engines
- Document Management and Records Management
- Videos
- Workflow Applications
- Analytics
Together, these capabilities can help architecture firms capture and reuse project knowledge, strengthen collaboration, preserve institutional memory, and make valuable information easier to find and apply.
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