Knowledge Management And The Technical Writer

 Knowledge Management Overview
 My Perspective on KM as a Technical Writer
 KM Initiatives for a Technical Writer
(Discussion)
 Conclusion
 References

• Knowledge management is the systematic
processes by which knowledge needed for an
organization to succeed is
created, captured, shared, and leveraged
(Rumizen)

 Knowledge management comprises a range
of practices used in organizations to
identify, create, represent, distribute and
enable adoption of insights and experiences.
Such insights and experiences comprise
knowledge, either embodied in individuals or
embedded in organisational processes or
practice. (wikipedia)

• Knowledge management is the leveraging of
collective wisdom to increase responsiveness
and innovation (Frappaola)

• KM draws from a wide range of disciplines and technologies
• Cognitive science
• Expert systems, artificial intelligence and knowledge base management systems
(KBMS)
• Computer-supported collaborative work (groupware)
• Library and information science
• Technical writing
• Document management
• Decision support systems
• Semantic networks
• Relational and object databases
• Simulation
• Organizational science
• Object-oriented information modeling
• Electronic publishing technology, hypertext, and the World Wide Web; help-desk
technology
• Full-text search and retrieval

 1959: Peter Drucker coined the term, “knowledge worker” in his
book, Landmarks of Tomorrow.
 1966: Philosopher Michael Polanyi defined tacit and explicit
knowledge.
 1982: Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr., publish In Search of
Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies.
 Successful organizations share a common set of values and practices
 1992: Michael Hammer and James Champy publish Reengineering
the Corporation.
 Starts business process re-engineering craze
 1995: Ikujiro Nonaka published The Knowledge Creating Company.
 Popularize Knowledge Spiral model (tacit versus explicit)

 Late 1990s
 Leif Edvinsson became first Chief Knowledge Officer
(CKO) of Swedish-based Skandia Corporation
 Explosive interest in knowledge management as
Internet emerged
 Business process re-engineering craze meets
headwinds
▪ Re-engineering is a one-time , short-term fix (but shouldn’t
be!)
▪ Lots of business knowledge was “let go” in the re-engineering
 Most knowledge management post-1995 is to all
intents and purposes content management
(Snowden)

 2000 to present
 Technology ferver of 1990s waned quickly
 Acute recognition of the chaos and complexity of
human organizations
 Next generation of panaceas emerge
(B2B, Portals, e-learning enterprise content
management, information
architecture, taxonomies, etc.)

• Data: Simple facts
• Information: Data used in context to answer a question
• Knowledge: Information used to address novel situations
for which no direct precedent exists. It is
comprehension, understanding, and learning that go on in
the mind. We often do not know what we know, until an
opportunity arises to employ the knowledge to accomplish
something.
• “Information management consists of predetermined
responses to anticipated stimuli. Knowledge management
consists of innovative responses to new opportunities and
challenges.” (Frappaola)

 Explicit knowledge: What we know that can
be put to words.
 Tacit knowledge: Know-
how, judgment, experience, insights, rules of
thumb, and skills. Difficult to
express, capture, or transmit in any
systematic or logical manner.
 “We know more than we can tell.”
--Michael Polyani

 Socialization: transferring tacit knowledge from
one person to another
 Externalization: making tacit knowledge
explicit by people-to-people interaction
 Combination: transferring explicit knowledge to
explicit knowledge. Making explicit knowledge
available to others.
 Internalization: Learning through
experience, transforming explicit knowledge to
tacit knowledge

People-to-people People-to-people

Technology
People-to-people
Fits Here!

 File Server Model
 Content Management System Model
 SharePoint Information Architecture Model
 Microsoft SharePoint is a collection of products
and software elements that include Internet
Explorer based collaboration functions, process
management modules, search modules and a
document-management platform.

Content is
easy to
User classifies generate and
User Content
content by file store; difficult
creates stored/shared
name and to search and
content through file server
folder find

Manual tagging
User uploads Content is cumbersome,
User and classifies stored/shared leading to low
creates manually using through content user adoption
content organizational management
locally taxonomy application

Search can
User leverage IA
Content and
instantiates Content inherits taxonomy
taxonomy
content taxonomy with
are
through no user action
inextricably
SharePoint UI required
linked

 “KM has fallen victim to a mixture of bad
implementation practices and software
vendors eager to turn a complex process into
a pure technology play. The result: like many
a business concept, KM has evolved from a
hot buzzword to a phrase that now evokes
more skepticism than enthusiasm.”
(CIO Magazine, May 2001)

 T.D. Wilson in his paper, The nonsense of
‘knowledge management’ (2002), notes that
most journal articles on knowledge
management have these tendencies:
 A concern with information technology
 A tendency to elide the distinction between
‘knowledge’ (what I know) and ‘information’ (what I
am able to convey about what I know)
 Confusion of the management of work practices in
the organization with the management of knowledge

 In practice, KM breaks down to two topics:
 Management of information
 Management of work practices
 “The conclusion is reached that
‘knowledge management’ is an umbrella
term for a variety of organizational
activities, none of which are concerned
with the management of knowledge.”
(T.D. Wilson)

 “Knowledge management has been easily
dismissed by some as just the latest
management fad. Dilbert has lampooned it.
Untold software vendors slap the label of KM
on their packages and tout miraculous cures
for all our knowledge failings. Yet, behind all
the jargon and the hype, we find companies
engaged in serious efforts to manage their
most precious asset—their working
knowledge.

 “Managing knowledge is clearly one of the new
fundamentals for success in the new economy. It
is a tough job and few organizations do it well.
Knowledge management involves many
complex organizational issues; simplistic
approaches will not work; nor will throwing
technologies at people somehow magically
make knowledge happen.”
(Lawrence Prusak, Executive Director, IBM
Institute for Knowledge Management, 2002)

 My current job:
 Lone technical writer in a team of subject matter
experts
 The team has a strong interest in capturing
knowledge
 Very limited development resources
 Zero budget for content/knowledge mgmt tools
 Can only develop solutions using existing tools
▪ Corporate intranet
▪ MS Office suite (Word, Excel, Access)

 I think that a Technical Writer can make an
invaluable contribution to the monumental task
of capturing and communicating knowledge
 The focus must go beyond writing
– Facilitating the writing process (which in turn
facilitates internalization and externalization)
 Managing content
 Organizing content
 Acting as a documentation consultant to help devise
methods for capturing knowledge

 The Technical Writer may be the only one
around who understands:
 Styles and standards in a team environment
 Working with very long documents
 Managing large numbers of documents

 The Technical Writer is highly focused on the
actual content captured in the KM system
 Not as easily distracted with:
 The technology behind the system
 The narrow interests of highly specialized subject
matter experts (whose unique needs can
sometimes inadvertently sabotage the grand
plan)

 The Technical Writer may be the only one really
thinking about the audience
 Clearly identifying the audience/user
 Understanding the specific question or problem being
addressed
 Adapting the content to serve as information
(answering a specific, known question)
 Adapting the content to enable advancement of
knowledge (to support a future, unexpected question)
 Instead of just slapping content together and
publishing it

 The Technical Writer asks “people” and
“workflow” questions that might otherwise
get overlooked by developers
 Organization/architecture of information
 Writing and review process
 Publication process
▪ Simple (one click) or Complex (generate PDF, check
in/out)
 Archival and versioning process
 Maintenance and update process

 In addition to being a member of a full-fledged
KM initiative, the Technical Writer can make a
difference by volunteering to solve these
common business challenges:
 Reduce “lost file” syndrome (network folders)
 Improve email productivity (memos, rules)
 Improve writing productivity for non-writers
(templates)
 Help develop Internal tools
 Write internal communications that help “sell” new
management initiatives

 Use your normal projects as a showcase for your
strict attention to best practices
 Content-centric perspective
▪ Never forget the audience
▪ Adapt content for re-use, rather meeting a one-time need
▪ Never let tools distract you from (or compensate for) creating
good content
 Document management perspective
▪ Pay strict attention to basic document conventions
▪ File names
▪ Versioning
▪ Never let tunnel vision from one SME implement changes
that affect bigger picture

 Knowledge Management has a spotty track
record, but it is not going away
 In fact, KM is gaining in importance
 To succeed, a KM initiative must focus heavily
on the people and processes

 The Technical Writer can make a valuable contribution to
knowledge management projects
 Intense focus on the actual content that is being preserved
 Less susceptible to distractions related to tools and
technologies
 Less susceptible to distractions from the narrow needs of
particular SMEs
 Continually monitoring the overall structure of information
 Willing and able to help management craft the communications
that are critical to achieving buy-in from key players
• Acutely aware of basic writing conventions that can make-or-
break a document

 Finally, the Technical Writer can play a
significant role in establishing an
environment in which SMEs can focus more
of their time on transferring knowledge to
paper and less time on
editing, formatting, retrieving, and publishing
documents

 Koplowitz, R., and Owens, L. “SharePoint: the backbone of your
information architecture.” KMWorld, June 2009.
 Frappaolo, C. (2006) Knowledge Management.
 Harvard Business School Press (1998), Harvard Business Review on
Knowledge Management.
 Introduction to Knowledge Management
<http://www.unc.edu/~sunnyliu/inls258/Introduction_to_Knowledge_Ma
nagement.html>
 Rumizen, M.C. (2002), The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knowledge
Management.
 Snowden, D. (2002), “Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive
Self-Awareness”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 6 No. 2.
 Wilson, T.D. (2002), “The nonsense of ‘knowledge
management’”, Information Research, Vol. 8 No. 1.
 Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management>

Knowledge Management And The Technical Writer

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