As Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program began to be replicated across the nation, the need to capture learning in a more sophisticated manner grew right along with it. Like many not-for-profits, the rapidly evolving environment around and within the organization was littered by a practice of ad hoc documentation and person-to-person knowledge sharing. Identification of these factors marked the beginning of Wyman’s journey to discover how to consistently capture and leverage knowledge, information, innovation, and data—of its constituents, partners, and staff. At Wyman, we learned that identifying and managing intellectual capital is the first step in this journey. Especially in the case of not-for-profit entities, effective knowledge management is vital.
In this blog post, I will describe the beginning of the process Wyman used to study how the organization historically captured, stored, used, and shared data, information, and knowledge—via an organizational audit—and how developing a systemic knowledge management enterprise will increase efficiency and performance.
Once your organization’s call to action is defined, allow it to strategically take root within the business strategy and culture by engaging your staff throughout the entire process, increasing the capacity for buy-in. Since you will be collecting information from a variety of individuals regarding their practices, you should communicate why you are collecting this information and for what you will be using it.
For the purpose at hand, communicate that a new strategic initiative regarding the management of your organization’s knowledge is being initiated—in this case, an organizational audit. Explain why it will be important or informative for employees’ work—the more individuals who see how the initiative will benefit their positions, the more likely they will engage. Then, the executive leadership team should introduce the team that will be conducting the audit, while explaining that the audit will increase efficiency, filling any gaps, replicating what is working, and bringing to light their suggestions for improvement. Depending on the culture of your organization, it may be best to bring in an external individual to conduct the audit and ensure objectivity.
Be aware that “knowledge hoarding” often is a common practice. To alleviate any concerns or tension, explicitly articulate to your team members that their jobs are not at stake. The audit and any information employees provide will be used strictly for the purposes of improving organizational practices. In fact, it is best that confidentiality be assured by coding staff responses. This elicits feelings of transparency and honesty that allows a wide range of information sharing.
Awareness and communication is key throughout the entire process. Never stop communicating. Keep in mind that posting an announcement on an internal website or sending an email about the audit is not communication. Instead, offer personalized outlets to stimulate both feedback and questions.
In my next blog post, I will describe how to conduct a step-by-step organizational audit.
To read the prior blog post in this series, go here.
