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Greetings, all -
Yes, that's what this is. I'm a long-time member of the SIKM list, although not a particularly active one. My partner and I have been trying to bring KM to small and medium-sized businesses since 2003, and it's been a struggle. It's hard to sell something when people aren't buying it. However, we've been pretty successful with other kinds of work, and also have a monthly newsletter that's absolutely free! Some of you are already subscribers. And we got so many positive comments on this month's issue I thought it was time to let everyone on the list know it was out there.
We keep it short and focused, and try to keep it interesting. You can read the current issue by visiting http://www.knowledgestreet.com/ , scrolling down to GET IN TOUCH, and clicking on "signing up for our monthly newsletter.: If you like it, feel free to subscribe, or pass it on. Naturally, comments are welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Knowledge Street LLC
www.knowledgestreet.com
+1 973 292 2949
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|
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Matt Moore <innotecture@...>
Chris,
Nothing wrong with a little shameless self promotion - and I do like the "we are here" picture on your "what we do page" page.
Taking the discussion broader, I have also done some work with small & medium-sized businesses. I think KM becomes relevant for most businesses somewhere around the 100 employee mark (earlier if the workforce is highly distributed) but most organizations don't have the resources to deal with it properly until they get much larger.
What have other people's experience been?
Regards,
Matt
From: Chris
To: sikmleaders@...
Sent: Fri, February 12, 2010 5:50:39 AM
Subject: [sikmleaders] Shameless Self Promotion
Greetings, all -
Yes, that's what this is. I'm a long-time member of the SIKM list, although not a particularly active one. My partner and I have been trying to bring KM to small and medium-sized businesses since 2003, and it's been a struggle. It's hard to sell something when people aren't buying it. However, we've been pretty successful with other kinds of work, and also have a monthly newsletter that's absolutely free! Some of you are already subscribers. And we got so many positive comments on this month's issue I thought it was time to let everyone on the list know it was out there.
We keep it short and focused, and try to keep it interesting. You can read the current issue at http://tinyurl. com/y9mrr9q. If you like it, feel free to subscribe, or pass it on. Naturally, comments are welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Knowledge Street LLC
www.knowledgestreet .com
+1 973 292 2949
|
|
|
Stuart French <sjfrenc@...>
Hi Matt, I have worked in, worked on and studied KM in SMEs and have seen a similar dynamic, although I might describe it a different way. 1) Organic Knowledge Sharing happens naturally in groups who's size is well below the Dunbar number (forgiving individual personalities), much of it face-to-face. The trick is to
focus on the gaps that appear as they grow. A specific focus on
maintaining intimacy between sites (if and when you have more than one) can be beneficial.
2) Succession planning is a big focus in SMEs and usually left until the
last minute. KM can highlight this and look for ways to
overcome the issues around executive change-over and areas of higher
staff turnover.
3) In SMEs a lot of stuff is either done spur-of-the-minute, or as part
of a QA system. Anything in-between is generally not managed. Encouraging and
enabling people to slow down just a little and document or share
knowledge (maybe by a wiki or yammer system) can really
help the 2nd & 3rd time something is done. This MUST be done as
part of the process though, like leaving footprints. Any attempt to get
people to document after the fact will fail the second you take your
eyes off it.
Note, these three things are often addressed with technology in large corporations and thus your comment about being affordable. In SMEs many KM solutions don't require big databases, but can be handled through things like regular get-togethers, staff indoctrination procedures, mentoring programs and intelligent use of business narrative, both to sense organisational weak signals and to communication corporate values that can act as guideposts for newcomers.
Many people see the dropping cost of web-based information solutions as a way that SME's can benefit from KM solutions only the big-buys got to play with. Instead I see KM co-opting social media and other tools in an attempt to make knowledge sharing in big business run more like an SME.
Stuart French www.DeltaKnowledge.net
On 12 February 2010 11:19, Matt Moore <innotecture@...> wrote:
Chris,
Nothing wrong with a little shameless self promotion - and I do like the "we are here" picture on your "what we do page" page.
Taking the discussion broader, I have also done some work with small & medium-sized businesses. I think KM becomes relevant for most businesses somewhere around the 100 employee mark (earlier if the workforce is highly distributed) but most organizations don't have the resources to deal with it properly until they get much larger.
What have other people's experience been?
Regards,
Matt
From: Chris <jcr@...>
To: sikmleaders@...
Sent: Fri, February 12, 2010 5:50:39 AM
Subject: [sikmleaders] Shameless Self Promotion
Greetings, all -
Yes, that's what this is. I'm a long-time member of the SIKM list, although not a particularly active one. My partner and I have been trying to bring KM to small and medium-sized businesses since 2003, and it's been a struggle. It's hard to sell something when people aren't buying it. However, we've been pretty successful with other kinds of work, and also have a monthly newsletter that's absolutely free! Some of you are already subscribers. And we got so many positive comments on this month's issue I thought it was time to let everyone on the list know it was out there.
We keep it short and focused, and try to keep it interesting. You can read the current issue at http://tinyurl. com/y9mrr9q. If you like it, feel free to subscribe, or pass it on. Naturally, comments are welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Knowledge Street LLC
www.knowledgestreet .com
+1 973 292 2949
|
|
|
Greetings, Stuart
In our experience, most of the SMB KM work is operationally
focused. It may be industry-specific, but most of our customers aren't
interested in trying to become more innovative. However, they generally
are interested in things that could make them more efficient, either
to reduce costs or to increase agility.
So we've been able to sell consulting and development work
around improving a particular business process (proposal generation, for
example) with the idea that reusable artifacts and a well-defined approach will
reduce the cost of doing bids while simultaneously improving their quality.
SMBs are also aware of their vulnerability to the loss of key
personnel, from either the sales or delivery side. So they like the idea of
doing something that would help them hang onto their assets, as a hedge
against turnover.
Chris
Hi Matt,
I have worked in, worked on and studied KM in SMEs and have
seen a similar dynamic, although I might describe it a different
way.
1) Organic Knowledge Sharing
happens naturally in groups who's size is well below the Dunbar number
(forgiving individual personalities), much of it face-to-face. The trick is to focus on the gaps that
appear as they grow. A specific focus on maintaining intimacy between
sites (if and when you have more than one) can be beneficial.
2) Succession
planning is a big focus in SMEs and usually left until the last minute. KM can
highlight this and look for ways to overcome the issues around executive
change-over and areas of higher staff turnover.
3) In SMEs a lot of stuff is
either done spur-of-the-minute, or as part of a QA system. Anything
in-between is generally not managed. Encouraging and enabling people to slow
down just a little and document or share knowledge (maybe by a wiki or yammer
system) can really help the 2nd & 3rd time something is done. This MUST be
done as part of the process though, like leaving footprints. Any attempt to get
people to document after the fact will fail the second you take your eyes off
it.
Note, these three things are often addressed with technology
in large corporations and thus your comment about being affordable. In
SMEs many KM solutions don't require big databases, but can be handled through
things like regular get-togethers, staff indoctrination procedures, mentoring
programs and intelligent use of business narrative, both to sense organisational
weak signals and to communication corporate values that can act as guideposts
for newcomers.
Many people see the dropping cost of web-based information
solutions as a way that SME's can benefit from KM solutions only the big-buys
got to play with. Instead I see KM co-opting social media and other tools
in an attempt to make knowledge sharing in big business run more like an
SME.
Stuart French
www.DeltaKnowledge.net
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On 12 February 2010 11:19, Matt Moore <innotecture@yahoo.com> wrote:
Chris,
Nothing wrong with a little shameless self promotion - and
I do like the "we are here" picture on your "what we do page"
page.
Taking the discussion broader, I have also done some work with
small & medium-sized businesses. I think KM becomes relevant for most
businesses somewhere around the 100 employee mark (earlier if the workforce is
highly distributed) but most organizations don't have the resources to deal
with it properly until they get much larger.
What have other people's
experience been?
Regards,
Matt
From: Chris <jcr@knowledgestreet.com>
To: sikmleaders@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, February 12, 2010 5:50:39
AM
Subject: [sikmleaders]
Shameless Self Promotion
Greetings, all -
Yes, that's what this is. I'm a long-time member of the
SIKM list, although not a particularly active one. My partner and I
have been trying to bring KM to small and medium-sized businesses since
2003, and it's been a struggle. It's hard to sell something when people aren't
buying it. However, we've been pretty successful with other
kinds of work, and also have a monthly newsletter that's absolutely free! Some
of you are already subscribers. And we got so many positive comments on this
month's issue I thought it was time to let everyone on the list know it was
out there.
We keep it short and
focused, and try to keep it interesting. You can read the current issue at http://tinyurl.
com/y9mrr9q. If you like it, feel free to subscribe, or pass it on.
Naturally, comments are welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Knowledge Street
LLC
www.knowledgestreet .com
+1 973 292
2949
|
|
|
Stuart French <sjfrenc@...>
Thanks Chris,
Sun State Cement in Queensland has had similar success in the area of succession planning and mentor-based retirement planning. A good case study to check out if you haven't seen it already.
Stuart.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
On 16 February 2010 03:37, Chris Riemer <jcr@...> wrote:
Greetings, Stuart
In our experience, most of the SMB KM work is operationally
focused. It may be industry-specific, but most of our customers aren't
interested in trying to become more innovative. However, they generally
are interested in things that could make them more efficient, either
to reduce costs or to increase agility.
So we've been able to sell consulting and development work
around improving a particular business process (proposal generation, for
example) with the idea that reusable artifacts and a well-defined approach will
reduce the cost of doing bids while simultaneously improving their quality.
SMBs are also aware of their vulnerability to the loss of key
personnel, from either the sales or delivery side. So they like the idea of
doing something that would help them hang onto their assets, as a hedge
against turnover.
Chris
Hi Matt, I have worked in, worked on and studied KM in SMEs and have
seen a similar dynamic, although I might describe it a different
way. 1) Organic Knowledge Sharing
happens naturally in groups who's size is well below the Dunbar number
(forgiving individual personalities), much of it face-to-face. The trick is to focus on the gaps that
appear as they grow. A specific focus on maintaining intimacy between
sites (if and when you have more than one) can be beneficial.
2) Succession
planning is a big focus in SMEs and usually left until the last minute. KM can
highlight this and look for ways to overcome the issues around executive
change-over and areas of higher staff turnover.
3) In SMEs a lot of stuff is
either done spur-of-the-minute, or as part of a QA system. Anything
in-between is generally not managed. Encouraging and enabling people to slow
down just a little and document or share knowledge (maybe by a wiki or yammer
system) can really help the 2nd & 3rd time something is done. This MUST be
done as part of the process though, like leaving footprints. Any attempt to get
people to document after the fact will fail the second you take your eyes off
it. Note, these three things are often addressed with technology
in large corporations and thus your comment about being affordable. In
SMEs many KM solutions don't require big databases, but can be handled through
things like regular get-togethers, staff indoctrination procedures, mentoring
programs and intelligent use of business narrative, both to sense organisational
weak signals and to communication corporate values that can act as guideposts
for newcomers. Many people see the dropping cost of web-based information
solutions as a way that SME's can benefit from KM solutions only the big-buys
got to play with. Instead I see KM co-opting social media and other tools
in an attempt to make knowledge sharing in big business run more like an
SME. Stuart French www.DeltaKnowledge.net
On 12 February 2010 11:19, Matt Moore <innotecture@...> wrote:
Chris,
Nothing wrong with a little shameless self promotion - and
I do like the "we are here" picture on your "what we do page"
page.
Taking the discussion broader, I have also done some work with
small & medium-sized businesses. I think KM becomes relevant for most
businesses somewhere around the 100 employee mark (earlier if the workforce is
highly distributed) but most organizations don't have the resources to deal
with it properly until they get much larger.
What have other people's
experience been?
Regards,
Matt
From: Chris <jcr@...>
To: sikmleaders@...
Sent: Fri, February 12, 2010 5:50:39
AM
Subject: [sikmleaders]
Shameless Self Promotion
Greetings, all -
Yes, that's what this is. I'm a long-time member of the
SIKM list, although not a particularly active one. My partner and I
have been trying to bring KM to small and medium-sized businesses since
2003, and it's been a struggle. It's hard to sell something when people aren't
buying it. However, we've been pretty successful with other
kinds of work, and also have a monthly newsletter that's absolutely free! Some
of you are already subscribers. And we got so many positive comments on this
month's issue I thought it was time to let everyone on the list know it was
out there.
We keep it short and
focused, and try to keep it interesting. You can read the current issue at http://tinyurl.
com/y9mrr9q. If you like it, feel free to subscribe, or pass it on.
Naturally, comments are welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Knowledge Street
LLC
www.knowledgestreet .com
+1 973 292
2949
|
|
|
