The more things evolve and change the more there is a constant. Everything in a company that's greater in size than the founder, is all about people (your employees) and process (how they get stuff done). Even flying solo, it's about that stuff too (you have customers, and they expect things).

I came across the following request this week on a ListServ on which I participate. The question, and my answer, relate to the discipline of knowledge management, or KM. I've paraphrased a bit on the question.

The Question:

Up until now, our company has not focused much on sharing valuable information and thus have missed some opportunities to save, to work more effectively, etc. In order to avoid this in the future, we would like to increase knowledge sharing. We do have some tools in place already, such as monthly newsletters, commercial newsletters, meetings, sharepoints, etc, however they are still not very effective.

Could anyone with some knowledge management experience/expertise give me some ideas how to make relevant information circulated and reach the people who need it?

My Response:

First, a couple of questions that you need to ask:

1. What do you mean by “not effective”, regarding your existing tools? Do you mean that you have some efficiency metrics in place and you’re not meeting them and you think that the KM is part of the issue? Are you basing this on ‘usage’ reports of the KM tools?
2. Have you articulated the goals of the KM solutions from the stakeholder perspective? Do you know what your KM users want from the system? Where have the ideas for your current solutions come from?
3. What type of training/evangelism/education have been done to get after the issue of ‘rolling out’ and ‘increasing adoption’ of the existing tools?

I’ve worked with KM in a couple of companies and I have a few thoughts to share generally on the topic.

Seek out why the users need a system like this and what will bring them the most value in using it. In some instances, I have seen adoption take years, while in others, it takes a matter of weeks. There is often a need to ‘cut over’ to a KM system of record and away from current methods. For example, if your salespeople are used to just calling someone to have them send brochures, put those brochures in the KM database (or Wiki, or Blog, or something similar) and enforce that as the only way to retrieve the info they need do a deep dive into the feature set that you users want and deliver on the highest value items. This is like marketing. You’re trying to make a product (tool) that’s ‘buzzworthy’ that everyone is just so eager to use. That is hard work to make the tool accessible in the ‘mode of work’ that your users find themselves in. Of course, it has to be web based in one mode, but if you have remote workers (travelers) who are not connected to the web, is the tool available for offline use as well? If you’re looking for ‘bottom up’ knowledge sharing or are trying to ‘crowdsource’ from your employees, think about motivation. What motivates them to contribute? How can you motivate them to contribute. Take a look at some of the popular message boards (Apple, and other technical products along with the MarketingProfs and AMA SIGS) and see what makes them tick.

There’s books & a ton of resources devoted to KM. I would suggest a quick tour through Amazon to see what’s out there and to do some Googling and look at the blogs of KM folks who have some insights to share. Lastly, look into brining on a KM consultant to help launch your project. It could save you several missed attempts at getting things right and seeing ROI out of the gate.

What's the net of all this?

There's a lot of 'change management' in everything we do as daily business in our companies. The question was first one about 'technology' but it's really an issue of process, people, and changing both.

Wired has two good articles on Getting Things Done. They also interviewed the GTD apprentice guru, Marc Orchant, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Shareware Industry Conference this week. Thanks Marc for pushing us all forward on GTD.

I found this quote today while reading It's Not What You Say...It's What You Do.

"Character is the ability to maintain momentum long after the mood has passed."

There's an old adage that says "everything stems from leadership", which, in a way, is true. However, I think it's much more basic than that. The leadership adage does not hold water because not all of us are in roles of 'a leader' or 'the one being led' when it comes to producing results and deliverables. Rather, peer-to-peer relationships, like the ones between corporate departments, consultants and line managers, and, or course, person to person. In all of these relationships, it's the expectations that are set between parties that really govern the outcome, positive or negative.

From a peer-to-peer perspective, when expectations are set properly, and are clear and explicit, it's likely that the outcome will positive. However, when situations are left to interpretation, it is common for the situation to go down poorly because expectations were not met.

Some thoughts on setting better expecations for you, your peers, your employees, and everyone else from whom you ask something of:

- The focus in business is not just about meeting specific goals, but also about how you achieve them.
- The "how", or procedure, affects the liabilities you create in the
process.
- Roles: Everyone needs to know what he or she is to do, how to do it and how their performance can impact those around them
- Rules: What to do and not to do
- Stakeholders: Who is impacted and how, what are the effects of not reaching all of the stakeholders
- A plan: Understand the steps involved when delivering expectations & be realistic about your timing
- Tools: What do people need to get the job done
- Time: You need to put time against this. Setting expectations for each project and each person is an essential ingredient in successful outcomes.

More: Here's a great article from entrepreneur.com on HR policies and practices that touches on expectation setting.

I can honestly say that I've fallen into the trap of 'hourly rate' vs. 'results able to produce' too many times. The Guerrilla Marketing guys have an interesting take on this phenomenon, and call for the end of hourly rate quoting by consultants all together. Not to make a huge case out of this whole thing, but I think of this from the client perspective (as if I were the client) and try to put a monetary value on what it is that I'm seeking (knowledge, an improved system or process, whatever...). Helping your clients come up with a business case for their project can be an integral part of your pitch, thereby supporting your involvement and the value you bring.

There's another lesson at stake here. It comes down to the point of working smarter vs. working harder. You can put all the grunt effort into a project that you can muster, but it still may never be the most expedient and intelligent way to get the job done. Step back, think "results", and plan your work better accordingly.

The Leading Growth Firms Series, developed by the CEO's of Ontario, Canada's leading growth firms, researches and promotes the effective management practices of CEOs of Leading Growth Firms. Reports are concise, innovative and practical, comprising the growth strategies and tactics of successful small and medium-sized firms. These reports are include topics such as the following:

• Partnering for Growth - CEO Perspectives
  
• Leveraging Customer Relationships to Drive
  
• The E-Business Readiness Assessment Report

Darwin has an awesome article by David B. Waters on getting your mis-aligned team to work together again. Lots of great learnings here.

Teams Gone Bad
The symptoms are easy to detect. Here is a list of a few causes and associated symptoms common among troubled "teams":

• There is no clear direction, usually due to a gap in or poor leadership. However, perhaps the team leader is not receiving clear direction. Lack of clear direction manifests itself in missed deadlines, fragmented or disjointed results, and in a lack of team commitment.
  
• There is no clear leader, either by lack of appointment or by lack of acceptance. Absent leadership results in wasted time, inefficiencies, poor results, incorrect results, no results and poor team-member morale.
  
• There seems to be no connection to the business because the business objectives have not been tied to the project/individual tasks, or the project simply does not connect to business objectives (proper justification was never required). Team members become disenchanted with the leaders/company, feel isolated and not part of the "real" business team, and tend to lose sight of the business purpose.
  
• People work in silos to protect their own interests, to control specific outcomes, to ensure "something" gets done, or to mimic the operating style of the overall corporation (silos may be prevalent). Common symptoms of "silo dwelling" include poor meeting attendance, inadequate communication, limited brainstorming and scarce cross-functional problem-solving.
  
• It is hard to retain or attract team-members. Or it becomes impossible. Obvious symptoms include requests for transfers, members leaving the company and no requests to join the "team." Over several months and years, a team's composition would gravitate toward average or poor performers.
  
• Members bicker and argue more than they laugh and problem-solve. A few symptoms include an absence of communication, accusatory communication and common phrases such as: he said, she did, they didn't, etc. These demonstrated behaviors replace healthy team behaviors (discussed in the following section).

[via inluminent]

With a "majority" of workers (54%) falling into the "not engaged" category, meaning that they are “checked out,” and putting in time but not energy or passion into their work, and another high percentage being frustrated at work, it's amazing we get anything done with our teams.

My new gig as the Manager of Sales Operations at Schneider finds me in the position of managing several associates (as they're called here) across the generational spectrum. I'm always looking for hints and ideas to make sure that I'm always on track and attending to their individual needs, because I know that my veterans have different concerns than my new recruits out of college. When it all comes down to it, I've had really good luck with just being myself (I know, real breakthrough here), listening, and communicating with them regularly to let them know that I know that they're alive (this is especially important with remote employees, as it doesn't take much to feel like the world is passing you by when you're working from home!).

This recent article from Inc. Magazine has proved useful, albeit from a higher level organizational perspective. I take issue with their blatant lack of Generation Y information. There's been information on managing Gen Y for a number of years now. Business Week reported on this in 2001, while AdAge had a piece on it.

While I don't have any Gen Y folks on my team, I'm certain that in good time I will. According the the BW article, we are about to see what happens when the workforce is inundated by talented, educated, techno-savvy, open-minded, service-oriented young people with every intention of making lots of money while building their ideal career and personal lives.

Here's a few things to think about when hiring and working with Gen Y associates.

1. Gen Yers' career choices and behavior are driven, first and foremost, by their quest for opportunities to play meaningful roles in meaningful work that helps others.
   
2. Gen Yers want to work with a highly motivated team of committed people.
   
3. Gen Yers have lofty financial and personal goals and fully expect to meet them.

The omnipresent Peter Drucker recently penned an article for the WSJ on the basic 8 pratices of effective leaders, called The Rules of Executive Class.

For those of you that are Drucker fans, and those who've not had the pleasure of reading much drucker, have a small feast on these ideas:

• Ask "What needs to be done?"
  
• Ask "What is right for the enterprise?"
  
• Develop action plans.
  
• Take responsibility for decisions. (more on this today from Ohio State University)
  
• Take responsibility for communicating.
  
• Focus on opportunities, not problems.
  
• Make meetings productive.
  
• Think and say "We."
  

[via bBlog]

Sales & Markeitng Management publishes a great and informative e-newsletter, but I cannot seem to find the "online" version of it. If someone does find it, please send a link to me via the comments on this item.

The Art of Change - A step-by-step guide - from the Sales & Marketing Management Newsletter

What keeps senior executives awake at night? It's not the economy. It's not financial performance. It's change. A study by Booz Allen Hamilton shows managing change is a top priority for managers. But many are unsure about how proceed, especially when it comes to dealing with the human side of change.

"Most leaders contemplating change know that people matter. It is all too tempting, however, to dwell on the plans and processes, which don't talk back and don't respond emotionally, than to face up to the more difficult and more critical human issues," according to the report, "Ten Guiding Principles of Change Management."

To that end, the report offers a ten-step plan:

1. Be systematic. Dealing with change issues on a case-by-case basis puts
speed, morale, and results at risk. A formal approach allows for a
speedier and smoother process.

2. Start at the top. It's important for change to begin at the top of an
organization – and on day one of the change process. Eyes will turn to the
CEO for leadership, strength, and example.

3. Push change down. Each layer of the organization must have leaders that
can implement change down through the ranks.

4. The vision thing. Leaders must be able to communicate the compelling
need for change, demonstrate faith in the outcome, and provide a road map
for the organization.

5. Create ownership. Involve people in crafting solutions. This helps to
foster support for the overall goals.

6. Overcommunicate. Tell a consistent story through multiple, redundant
channels.

7. Focus on culture. Be clear and direct about the cultural behaviors you
want to see. Develop a baseline through a cultural diagnostic and then
define a desired end-state.

8. Do the cultural assessment early on. Too many firms assess the cultural
landscape late in the change process. Make it an early move.

9. Prepare for the unexpected. No change program goes completely according
to script. Consistently reassess the impact of change efforts.

10. Speak to the individual as well as the institution. Individuals will
need to know how their work will change and what will be expected of them.
Involve people in the change process, and provide visible rewards and
reinforcement for embracing change.

Thanks to Naseem Javad of the Wisconsin Technology Network for this.

First: Is the name structure good enough to invest a century of branding?

1) Very distinct and very unique?
2) Short, simple with attractive alpha-structure?
3) Highly related to the business?
4) Globally trademarked and protected?
5) With an identical URL?

Todd at apennyfor contacted me today on the subject of reading business books. Frankly, I think about this subject a lot because I read mostly business books, which, in most circles, is considered futile or nuts or both.

Nevertheless, I have tremendous respect for authors. If someone has enough confidence, competence and conviction to put their heart into a book, I feel that it's damn near worth reading, and I don't know anyone who's ever been worse off for reading a book. Further, I never mind paying modest overdue fines at the library because I believe strongly in the public library system, but we'll save that topic for another time.

Anyway, I'm also interested in why YOU read biz books. I have a theory that bloggers are more prolific readers than the average web user. Want to prove me right? Leave you comments here with the following (thanks Todd...)

1. Why do you read business books?
2. How many do you read, on average, per month?
3. What are your favorite ways to find out about new books, and how do you choose which ones to read?
4. Do you buy most of your books, or source them from the library?

This is a great analisys of a great study - I'm posting it here for my own future reference.

uiweb: How to manage smart people. Over the years I've experienced many mistakes and successes in both how I was managed, and how I managed others. What follows is a short distillation of some of what I've learned. There's no one way to manage people, but there are some approaches that I think most good managers share.

Robert Moskowitz wrote a great piece on the benefits, advantages and trials of the mentor - mentee relationship. This little bit of history was especially enlightening.

According to mythology, Ulysses' son Telemachus learned his most significant lessons about life and about becoming an effective and much-loved ruler at the feet of an important and wise teacher, the great Mentor.

Since then, Mentor's name has been used to describe thousands of people who have shared their experience, expertise, and wisdom with others.

I've worked with a mentor since before graduating from college, and have also had "ad-hoc mentors" in different jobs and positions. I've never had anything but sheer benefit from these people. They've kept me focused, disciplined, right-minded, and forced me to think and reflect when I was doing everything but...

Robert goes on to outline some of the guidelines to work by alongside your mentor.