148 Owen and Burstein
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ask the person who knew where the relevant documentation was rather than searching
for it on the server or in folders.
It’s a lot more efficient if you know who produced the file last time and you can just go
and ask them where it is. It saves having to search.
Informal Use of Knowledge
Knowledge is informally reused or re-created from one project to another (particu-
larly at the plan, implementation, and closure phases) as the culture and system are not
in place to formalize it (while a knowledge management system has been implemented,
it was not implemented when these project phases were being conducted). Several
project team members have worked with Engineering Consulting XYZ for a number of
years, and given the length of time that they have been with Engineering Consulting XYZ,
they have created informal networks (often with people whom they have worked with on
previous projects). Interviewees commented that they just know who to go to. At the
more senior levels of the organization formal networks (across the distributed enterprise)
also played a crucial role. In addition there was one exception where one team member
relied predominantly on informal knowledge transfer but also documented everything so
that if he was not in the organization any longer, another person could access the
information. The only issue is that as everything (including all e-mails) is stored in hard
copy, it may be difficult to find the most appropriate knowledge.
Knowledge Management System
Engineering Consulting XYZ implemented a knowledge management system during
the first project; however, it was at an immature stage and the project team relied on a
network server to store project documentation in an electronic format. The documents
(both project-related and technical documentation) are sorted by project number. In
addition to being stored on a network server, they are also stored within files throughout
the office making it difficult for people to find explicit knowledge unless they knew what
they were looking for. Two areas had their own systems in which to store relevant project
documentation; however these systems did not interact with other systems making it
difficult for people in other areas to know how to access the knowledge without first
asking someone.
The challenge for the sponsors and champions of the knowledge management
system was to encourage people to see the benefits of using the systems.
I think the underlying theory and philosophy is pretty sound. The challenge is in the
implementation and the culture to get the thing working so the people can see the full
benefits of it.
In addition, the culture of the organization needed to change to encourage people
to use the system.
It needs to be promoted in the right way from a cultural change perspective. I think it’s
about getting people to get used to the idea of collective learning and sharing it. It’s
going to take more time but we need to show people that the benefits outweigh the cost.