What can be done to get the most out of knowledge? and that is to manage and share knowledge.
So, what are the benefits of "managing and sharing knowledge", and how should it be done?
The value of knowledge
Let's start with a set of data:
- GE records that the company has saved $35 million by valuing the value of knowledge, creating 180 communities of practice and engaging 130,000 members, with the three key success factors being enterprise knowledge management strategy, governance and outcome measurement.
- Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmai Roche saves more than $1 million per day for its knowledge management activities.
- HP's experimentation with customer service knowledge has resulted in an average reduction in airtime of about 67% and a 50% reduction in cost per call.
- Chevron saved $150 million at the beginning by establishing a knowledge management system, and now saves at least $20 million a year;
- The Dow Chemical Company saved more than $40 million in knowledge management.
- Over the past six years, Schlumberger has invested $72 million in knowledge management projects, achieving a 668% return on investment.
- Teltech, a company that specializes in helping companies implement knowledge management projects, reports an average ROI of 1,200% on their clients' inputs.
- Fortune 500 companies "lose about $31.5 billion annually for failing to share knowledge."
Judging from these data, it is not an exaggeration to say that "proper application of knowledge = value". But while everyone understands the truth, why are only so few companies and organizations able to do this?
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Why is it so difficult to apply knowledge properly?
Knowledge is an organization's most important asset. An organization's ability to preserve its own knowledge determines its profitability, sustainability, competitiveness and ability to grow, and no organization can afford to lose its knowledge base. According to the World Economic Forum, 95% of CEOs believe that knowledge management is a key factor in the success of an organization. According to Fortune magazine, 80% of companies have specific employees dedicated to knowledge management.
Innovation is the new knowledge product generated in the process of knowledge management. Some authorities have pointed out that innovation has three components: the repeated use of existing organizational knowledge, creativity or invention, and the development of value creation. The balance between these elements ensures that knowledge is not wasted. The organization renews knowledge and gives innovation a commercial basis. In order to truly innovate, a product, service, or company must be unique, valuable, and worth exchanging.
However, the unfortunate reality is that the most critical organizational knowledge is confined to the minds of individuals, who in turn lock it up in the form of data and information in learning materials, files, and documents. Knowing what we know is challenging enough, so it's even more challenging to ask everyone to be free to share what they know.
Some experts believe that sharing expertise is the biggest challenge facing organizations today. Considering that there are now five generations of knowledge workers working together in the field of project management, do we want to hope for knowledge transfer that happens by chance, or do we want knowledge creators to share knowledge on their own initiative?
Therefore, it is important for everyone to understand how to properly manage and share knowledge, and knowledge café is a good choice.
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What is Knowledge Cafe and how does it work?
To do knowledge management, it is necessary to reflect on and answer two fundamental questions: "why do we need knowledge management?" and "how can an organization create an environment conducive to knowledge management". And the essence of the café is to ask questions.
To answer these questions well, one must first accept the uncomfortable fact that people cannot be compelled to share their knowledge. Or to be more precise: knowledge is value, and what members of an organization need is the motivation to exchange knowledge.
To overcome this challenge or fear, an organization must establish, embrace, and support a work environment in which all stakeholders are invited to joyfully share their experiences, skills, and wisdom. In this way, the organization can develop a culture that is conducive to knowledge transfer, and knowledge transfer can be embedded in the organization's culture.
If members at all levels of the organization consciously share knowledge on a regular basis, everyone will be proud to share their expertise. All employees in an organization who can use knowledge to think and solve problems, give meaning to information, and apply knowledge are knowledge workers, and knowledge is their most important capital.
They are the creators and sharers of knowledge that underpin the cause of knowledge management, thereby enhancing the organization's current practices and future processes. As more employees move up to leadership roles and compete to share their knowledge, organizations will experience the benefits of knowledge management. Rewarding knowledge transfer and transfer increases transparency in the organization's culture, increases mutual trust, and reduces frustration among those who are already engaged in knowledge transfer and exchange in the organization. In the ecology of the Knowledge Café, members of the organization naturally share their knowledge and have fun with it.
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A knowledge café is a mindset and environment within a group that creates ways of thinking and exchange knowledge that can be met both face-to-face and virtually. It can also be thought of as a knowledge experiment city square that makes it easier to share and reuse knowledge. The Knowledge Café is an environment that supports and accelerates the flow of knowledge, and is the basis for "nurturing" innovation. Cafés can take many forms, from digital discussion boards to corporate knowledge wikis, bento luncheons, unstructured casual conversations, and over-the-tea conversations.
Now is the time when there is a most urgent need to increase the mobility, agility, simplicity and relevance of knowledge. Wouldn't you like to have a space to present your ideas, even some crazy ones, for other visitors in the café to test them? I'm talking about space, curiosity, and learning attitudes that include reflective and generative conversations and discourses, but not debates and abusive conversations. Today's culture is toxic and hostile, and it has a penchant for debate rather than dialogue, which requires us to have rational conversations in cafes.
A knowledge café is a collaborative, structured (but mostly unstructured) knowledge transfer tool. Just like in a café, people are constantly emerging with new ideas by freely sharing knowledge, igniting and rejuvenating each other's minds. Knowledge cafes can be both in-person and virtual, in the office or in other places away from home and office.
A café is not just a space with walls on all sides, but a space where people, knowledge and ideas come together. In the café, people can discuss both difficult project problems and how to solve the crises faced by families and communities. Everyone's voice deserves to be heard and valued, so this model is not a speech or a one-way transfer of knowledge. Group members discuss an issue, topic, or topic and share their ideas with the larger group and take action at the group level.
Boundless Learning
China Science and Technology Press
author
【美】本杰明·安亚乔 (Benjamin Anyacho)
Running the "knowledge café" mentioned in this book can not only significantly improve personal learning, but also help companies improve performance, strengthen internal collaboration, and stimulate innovation.
Do you like to go to a café to study or work? The café is not only a comfortable atmosphere, but also a shared space to ask questions, answer questions and exchange knowledge. So, can we apply the concept of a corner café to knowledge management to facilitate the sharing, exchange and transfer of knowledge?
The "knowledge café" mentioned in this book does not refer to a physical café, but rather a way of thinking, a space that helps to create knowledge exchange, transfer and management. The book delves into what makes the Knowledge Café an effective knowledge management tool, and also explores how to design the best café and increase learning flexibility. Running our Knowledge Café not only significantly improves individual learning, but also helps companies improve performance, strengthen internal collaboration, and stimulate innovation.
In the era of information explosion, how to control the massive amount of knowledge, simplify the complex, and build your own efficient knowledge system? A masterpiece that unlocks the mystery of knowledge circulation.
Planning and production
Source丨Book "Borderless Learning", China Science and Technology Press
作者丨[美]本杰明·安亚乔 (Benjamin Anyacho)
Audit丨He Jianliang, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Comprehensive Dentistry
Planning丨Ding Kun
Editor丨Ding Kun
Reviewer丨Xu Lai, Lin Lin