MindBlog - before I forget ;-)

These days many world-class IT corporations are taking various dynamic & aggressive initiatives about Knowledge Mgmt. I scanned through a couple of checklists used (typically) during the project initiation as well as postmortem phases! Humbly acknowledging my friend's help in this task!

BEGIN: It is a good idea to have an expert chosen for the role of 'Knowledge Manager' for that particular group / vertical / division.

*1* Knowledge Mgmt Checklist for Project Initiation:

The project initiation stage is one of the most information/knowledge intensive phases and requires the team to gather all the possible knowledge & also be aware of source of information! Here is some basic info. of interest which may turn out to be a life-saver at times! The pointers given here may help you think from the knowledge mgmt. perspective for your project. An ideal scenario for you would be to identify one person in your team to don the Knowledge Mgmt hat at all times!! Let's call him/her as K-Manager!!

1. Is the project team aware of the benefits of Knowledge Mgmt and how to apply its concepts?
2. Is the team aware that it can use the organisation-specific knowledge network to collect information and knowledge in the form of various documents available?
3. Is the team aware that it could leverage on the Best Practices being shared on such a network and also that it needs to share the best practices that it evolves in the process of the project?
4. Is the team aware of the various Knowledge Mgmt practices being followed in the vertical / horizontal?
5. Is the team in touch with the Knowledge Mgmt-related Success Stories that are published from time to time? This could inspire the team to tackle many problems with the Knowledge Mgmt wand!
6. Is the team aware that it can proactively identify Tech Gurus (Experts) so as to know what to do when there is a problem? (It can also register its own team members as experts in the database.)
7. Is the team aware that it can have its own way of ‘managing knowledge’ by setting up a simple system of its own? This system can then be selectively linked to the organisation-wide knowledge network. You can also store (and make available) some of the best practices documents / white papers.
8. Is the team aware that there are many reusable components that it can pick from the network & also contribute to it?
9. Is the team aware that it can pick up similar projects from the database of projects done in the organisation & garner valuable information/knowledge?
10. Is the team aware that it can be a part of a relevant network community on the knowledge network or even start a new k_network that might help the team brainstorm in its domain?
11. Is the team aware that it has to create a case study/expertise note for itself and make it available on k_network down the line?

Now, I would like to present a typical K_M (Knowledge Management) checklist used in the project closure/postmortem phase.

It is a practice for the Knowledge Mgmt "Prime" (the K-Manager) to be informed whenever a project is wound up; the reason being that no avenues should be left unexplored in terms of capturing knowledge and expertise. For all one knows, it could be lost forever if not captured at least at the time of project closure. In fact, doing an analysis of the knowledge that was generated, shared, and leveraged upon would help the team understand what it knows even better. The following exhaustive checklist will help the team introspect on these lines.

Knowledge Mgmt checklist for project closure/postmortem:
Were we on the right track: asking the right questions? Capturing the right knowledge?

• What went right and what can we learn from that for the future?
• What went wrong and what can we learn from that for the future?
• What can we share with others so they don’t make the same mistakes or take the same right steps?

Objectives:

• Analyze the need (and satisfaction of the need) for Knowledge Mgmt at the project level
• Identify experts who can volunteer on such a knowledge network
• Analyze and understand the processes (and not people)
• Help the team consolidate its explicit knowledge and learning
• Capture the knowledge and make it accessible to all
• Bring in awareness of the existing Knowledge Mgmt system for future use
• Help realize the need for Knowledge Mgmt in future projects

Part I: Team-Specific Knowledge Mgmt:

1. What kind of knowledge was needed for the project – domain/technical/language/software processes et al.?
2. Was there a need for knowledge sharing within the team? [Exhaustive / Moderate / Very less]
3. Was the need satisfied? [Completely / Only to an extent / Not at all/very minimal]
4. Does your team/group have its own Knowledge Mgmt system (apart from company’s organization-wide initiatives)?
5. What were the methods/processes/practices adopted to ensure that knowledge sharing and management happened?
6. Was there a need for focused knowledge acquisition/transfer among team members? e.g.: new recruits, integration of modules etc.
[a. If yes, were there any processes/best practices adopted?]
7. Did the team require a mentoring process? If yes, was it adopted and how effective was it?
8. Did the team need a database of FAQs and Tips? If yes, was it developed and used?
9. Were there any Brainstorming exercises? Were there any Ideas generated in the process?
10. What was the role of Knowledge Mgmt system/sharing mechanisms?

Part II: External Sources:

11. What were the various sources of information?
12. Were any components, templates, tools, and processes reused?
13. Were any external experts/other Projects info made use of?
14. Which were the websites that the team visited for information?

Now, in this concluding portion, I would like to mention a few things about knowledge network, reuse and knowledge capture:

Part III: knowledge network, Reuse and Knowledge Capture

15. Did the team attend or request for Knowledge Mgmt orientation programme?
16. Did the team use knowledge network – Tech-knowledge network/"connect (*)"/Sales Support/"war rooms"
17. Have the team members registered as experts in "connect (*)"?
18. What are the “parts” of knowledge can be made explicit –that is, documented? How much has already been documented and uploaded onto knowledge network?
19. Were there any best practices that the team evolved? Has it been documented and uploaded onto knowledge network?
20. Were any reusable components, templates, tools, and processes developed and uploaded onto knowledge network?

Part IV: Significance of Knowledge Mgmt:

21. What, according to the team, was the importance of knowledge sharing in the project?
22. What was the Knowledge Sharing/Knowledge Mgmt impact on productivity, quality, schedules and learning?
23. Is the team aware of the Knowledge Mgmt rewards scheme (E and A)?

Part V: Customer Knowledge Mgmt

24. What was the knowledge gained by the team by interacting with the customer?
25. What kind of knowledge was needed by the customer from the team and was it available and accessible to the team on a timely basis?
[a. If applicable, what was the impact on the project because of the lack of knowledge/processes for the same?]
26. Did the team receive any accolades from the Customer on performance- based issues which can be traced back to the presence and utilization of Knowledge Mgmt systems/concepts/practices – both company-wide initiatives as well as group/team level initiatives?

So, what are the action items?

* Upload all those documents (irrespective of the type of document) that you’ve identified into knowledge network- Documents' knowledge network as long as they don’t violate any customer commitments.
* Get the experts in the team to register as experts on knowledge network – "connect (*)"!
* If you’ve not been making use of knowledge networks, please ensure that you register as members and make use of appropriate knowledge networks, if any, at least for the future.
* Ensure that you’ve entered all the required information in the projects' database while closing your project in organisation specific (integrated) process automation tool.
* Weblinks to resourceful websites that you may have visited during the course of the project. This can be done on Documents' knowledge network.
* If you’ve got any reusable components, please send that across so it can be stored on knowledge network.
* If you want to share success stories on how you made use of knowledge network to aid you in your project, do write in so it can be published.

Did it help you? Wishing you all the best!