Knowledge Management - Creating a Sustainable Yellow Pages System

How can I "know who knows" None of us can personally know more than around 250 people, yet we want our companies to be smart, learning organisations where it's easy to find the right person to talk to. This is why many organisations create "yellow pages" applications, which enable employees to find and contact other staff with particular expertise and skills. However, these systems can be fraught with difficulty in their implementation, and often end up as out-of-date, glorified intranet telephone directories. This article, drawn from a best-selling knowledge management fieldbook by its author, identifies ten key steps involved in creating and sustaining a successful, employee-owned yellow pages system.

The guidelines below are drawn from the book "Learning to Fly - Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organisations" (Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell), and sets out ten key steps to creating a yellow pages systems which really works, and has the positive buy-in of its user community - that is to say, its customers.

1 Maintain a clear and distinctive vision. Be clear about what you are trying to achieve and avoid compromise. Beware of becoming "all things to all men" - particularly those in the HR and IT departments! Everyone will want a slice of the action - don't lose sight of the overarching aim of your system - making it easy to find people that you don't already know.

2 Strive for personal ownership and maintenance. Create a process whereby only the individuals concerned can create and update their entries. This will drive a far deeper sense of ownership across the population.

3 Strike a balance between informal and formal content. Encourage people to share non-work information about themselves in addition to valuable business information. Consider prompting for this with "fun" questions such as: "what was the first single that you bought?", "what is your favourite film?", or even "what makes you happy?".

4 Support the photographs wherever possible. Nothing is more powerful and personal than a photograph. It speaks volumes about the person, raises the interest levels of others and generates personal ownership of the content. If possible encourage people to include an informal photograph. The security-pass-rabbit-in-the-headlights shots rarely show people in their best light! Better to have a photograph which says more about the person and what motivates them.

5 Ensure that your product design is flexible and inclusive. Recognize that different people relate to templates, prompts and structure in different ways. Use focus groups to test opinion.

6 Start with a customer-facing pilot. Critical mass is all important, so start with a group of people who have a natural need to be visible to internal customers. This might include supporting functions, existing networks or communities, or even business areas with new leadership.

7 Deliver through local enthusiasts. Centrally-driven push isn?t always the best way to engage the workforce. Tap into local enthusiasts and champions if possible ? they will know how best to "sell" the concept locally.

8 Use success stories as a marketing tool. Reinforce the usefulness of the knowledge directory at every opportunity. Publicize any examples or successes widely, and early, to reinforce your project. This is a culture change project, and culture change happens one story at a time!

9 Encourage use, but lead by example rather than edict. Avoid mandating the population and use of the knowledge directory. People will provide better quality content if they feel that they are volunteering the information. At the end of the day, you can?t ever conscript knowledge - you can only ever volunteer it. And let?s face it, there's little point in finding the one person with expertise or experience that you need, if when you call them on the phone, they're unwilling to talk!

10 Embed into people processes. Look for process and intranet "hooks" that could initiate and sustain the use of your knowledge directory (e.g. recruitment or induction of new staff, the launch of new networks, any reference on an intranet site which mentions a person's name can become link to their personal page.

Conclusion

Creating and marketing a yellow pages system inside an organisation is a highly rewarding project - seize the opportunity with both hands. You'll need a network of champions, the cooperation of the IT and HR functions, tenacity and some marketng flair. The steps outlined above should help you on your way. Bon voyage!

About the author:

Chris Collison Chris Collison is a renowned expert in knowledge management and an experienced practitioner in the leadership and implementation of organisational change from a people perspective.

As a best-selling author, he has presented to audiences at business schools and at conferences around the world, and is a regular contributor to specialist knowledge management publications. Chris has worked with leaders at the highest levels of many public and private-sector organizations, sharing the practical experiences he gained whilst working in BP's knowledge management team, and his deep understanding of the human dynamics of major change programmes.

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Top Ten Things About Creating a Business Vision

To visualise where you are going, is deeper and more... Read More

The Narcissist in the Workplace

To a narcissist-employer, the members of his "staff" are Secondary... Read More

Is Busyness Affecting Your Business?

I'm too busy; I'd love to but I'm very busy;... Read More

The 70% Solution: Practical Testing and Version Control

"What do you mean you need to push back the... Read More

Ten Steps to Take the Work out of Work ? Replicate Yourself!

They say that management can be a lonely place. A... Read More

Innovation Management ? changing the world!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

The Permissive Environment is the Suspect

The permissive and participatory conduct which most employees take for... Read More

Building A Stellar Business One Employee At A Time

Top businesses that continually lead their industry clearly understand a... Read More

Its All In The Systems

Have you ever noticed french fries taste the same at... Read More

Management Development - Micromanagement Works!

Getting into the detail of everything each of your people... Read More

How To Decrease Profits Without Really Trying

Hurting your sales efforts can be accomplished easily with the... Read More

Leadership Style: What Makes A Good Boss?

In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss... Read More

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Use Your Project Management Skills

Solving a big problem is a project: you're far more... Read More

Can You Sleep While The Wind Blows?

Let me repeat a story I heard many years ago... Read More

Out of Control?

There are papers on the floor, across the desk and... Read More

Shrinkage Control

What has been your store's shrinkage experience for the last... Read More

Get It Done! Soft Skills not Hard Tools are Required

If your organization has people, then interpersonal skills are needed.I... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Creativity Management and Behaviour

What behaviour maximises the chances of thinking of great ideas?... Read More

How To Turn Business Losses Into Cash Flow

When the typical new business operator starts a business, they... Read More

Workplace Violence - People are Dying Going to Work

Workplace violence has become a tragic reality today. From minor... Read More

Lower the Bar

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Ralph Waldo EmersonI'm... Read More

Setting Direction Within an Organization

FINDING DIRECTION: An organization can't succeed without direction. Direction means... Read More

Innovation Management ? The Need For Knowledge Managers

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

You?re Hired, Now Go Home: Managing Workers at a Distance

Telecommuting or virtual work opens up a wider net of... Read More

Performance Management Made Easy

Performance Management is a process that both employer and employee... Read More

Five Defining Characteristics of Great CEOs

1. Personal insight. Great CEOs are great leaders. They know... Read More

Turn Your Speech Into A Leadership Talk

My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for... Read More

Motivation - You Get What You Reward

There's a programme currently running on BBC Television in the... Read More

How to Reject a Job Applicant

A Nightmare That Really HappenedOver 10 years ago, when I... Read More

Getting to Consensus

The need to get people in an organization to pull... Read More

Transform Any Business into a Go-Getting Power House by Working SMART

Probably as well known as SWOT, SMART turns goals, objectives... Read More

Communicating with Case Studies

A few weeks ago, a couple of colleagues and I... Read More