Comments on: KM 101: Introduction to Legal Knowledge Management

By: João Azeredo

João Azeredo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:12:20 +0000

Really Good Post. I am getting into the KM field and am very interested in the basics. I fell like good subjects for posts would be: a) differences in a KM strategy according to the size of the law firm; and b) most popular tools for KM;

By: Nina Platt

Nina Platt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:15:47 +0000

I clicked submit too early.

My point in lookeing at how we filter is that no matter how we define KM we need to find a definition that all can agree on to work on the multi-disciplinary teams we need in place to do our best work with KM.

By: Nina Platt

Nina Platt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:13:02 +0000

I think it is interesting that our definitions are developed through our own filters.

In 1997 a Library Journal article defined KM as “”accessing, evaluating, managing, organizing, filtering, and distributing information in a manner that is useful to end users …. knowledge management involves blending a company’s internal and external information and turning it into actionable knowledge via a technology platform.” Very focused on information.

Verna Allee, an HR professional defines it in terms of what she knows – organizational development – “Real knowledge management is much more than managing the flow of information. It means nothing less than setting knowledge free to find its own paths. It means fueling the creative fire of self-questioning in organizations. This means thinking less about knowledge management and more about knowledge partnering.” Very focused on people and behavior.

Those of us with a more process or systems background no doubt focus on the tools that we use to do the work. My own definition has that bent – knowledge management is the creation of systems or processes in a learning environment that allow all employees to have access to the information resources they need to develop the knowledge necessary to do their jobs.

Nina Platt
http://www.strategiclibrarian.com/

By: Mark Gould

Mark Gould — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:04:37 +0000

Thanks for starting this off, Patrick. I am sure it will be a useful resource. In case you are not already aware of it, you might be interested in Matthew Parsons’ book “Effective Knowledge Management for Law Firms” (http://matthewparsons.com/Book.html).

By: drfuzzy

drfuzzy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:59:43 +0000

I don’t pretend my definition is any better or worse than the others. I use the more “vague” academic definition to introduce the field and try to convey its nature as a connective praxis across business and strategy functions. Once on the ground, of course, we simply look for and solve problems using precepts, techniques and enabling technologies. Clients rarely are fascinated by the fuzzy definitions.

For my more recent work, however, the lawyers wanted a KM definition to place in our legal reform mechanisms for national security. Here’s what I told them (http://drfuzzy.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/so-what-is-knowlege-management-anyway/):

“Knowledge Management refers to the management of the components and enabling of relationships from which knowledge emerges: used to enhance decision making, spark innovation, and comprehend weak signals in the information environment. Knowledge management does not focus on managing knowledge itself; rather, it seeks the positive interaction of the component elements that can be managed to lay the foundation for better decision making, innovation, and adaptation.”

By: sfryska

sfryska — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:32:00 +0000

Currently we have ~230 yammer users out over 100K Honeywell employees. These early adopters realize tangible benefits by moving conversations from email, making connections, increasing project and expertise awareness, creating ad hoc communities, etc. Yammer fills in the gap between synchronous and asynchronous communication tools.

This adoption pattern is no different than what we experienced with the wiki about 4 years ago. Start was slow, now it’s part of how we do business. I see the same happening with micro blogging.

Happy New Year!

Slawomir

By: Patrick DiDomenico

Patrick DiDomenico — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:18:01 +0000

Slawomir,
Great comment. Thanks. I like your definition and approach.
How is the adoption of Yammer? I have been wondering if micro blogging will catch on inside companies.
Patrick

By: Slawomir Fryska

Slawomir Fryska — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:06:50 +0000

Coming from the point of view that simpler is better, here’s the definition of KM we’ve been using at Honeywell: KM is the ENVIRONMENT in which people have immediate access to the information they need in order to add value by making the right business decisions.

This environment is supported and enabled by the usual troika: people (behaviors), processes and tools (technology).

Key behaviors include transparency, authoring, knowledge creation, organization (categorization), reusing and sharing.

Key processes include local knowledge creation (Lessons Learned), global knowledge distillation (CoP’s maintaining Best Practices) and knowledge reuse, all embedded in the core business processes.

Key tools include wikis, blogs, discussion forums, Yammer, SharePoint, LiveMeeting, Office Communicator, intranet knowledge portals, etc.

That’s it in a nut shell