In his upcoming book on proven practices for promoting KM initiatives within the corporate world, author and KM expert Stan Garfield shares 11 attributes of a successful knowledge ecosystem drawn from one of his clients, a large multinational technology company.

Although these attributes are drawn from a technology company, they are relevant to organizations of all types and sizes. This is what success looks like.

Successful Knowledge Ecosystem Attributes

• Everyone uses the knowledge platform every day as a regular part of their job
• Everyone contributes experiences, contacts, lessons learned, documents, and other knowledge nuggets whenever they can
• Everyone regularly thinks about how a piece of knowledge or a deliverable can be reused, who could use it, how to make it more useful, and where it should be located for easy access
• Knowledge capture is embedded in everyone’s job, and is not a separate process
• No one thinks of starting a project without looking for prior examples, proposals, lessons, etc.
• New pieces of content are regularly suggested and added to the knowledge platform
• Everyone knows how to find the information they need, and it is readily available to them
• The knowledge platform is easily accessed and updated
• The knowledge platform is linked to other functions, systems, databases, etc. to make it easy to get information from anywhere
• Knowledge managers in each division constantly add to and improve the knowledge platform and help others use it more effectively
• Measurable benefits result from the use of knowledge assets, and all goals are achieved

Were they thinking about us?

Lucidea’s ILS and KM solutions are purpose-built to deliver ease of use; multiple options for search and discovery; the independence to customize and change your platform whenever you wish; integration with other core systems; powerful permissions management functionality; flexible analytics and reporting options; the ability for users to “act on content” and use social sharing features, plus the 24/7/365 browser and device agnostic access required by an increasingly mobile workforce and/or global companies.

Hmm. We can’t help wondering if the knowledge managers who developed the KM ecosystem attributes listed above had our solutions in mind. Probably not—but we’d like you to keep us in mind if the aspirations and attributes above are in line with your organization’s KM goals. We can help you achieve them.

Lucidea will be publishing Stan Garfield’s upcoming book filled with compelling, relevant advice and insights drawn from his career as a KM expert. Please stay tuned; we’ll let you know when it’s available for purchase via Amazon!