Knowledge Management

Only available as an in-house course

The discipline of knowledge management (KM) can play a significant role in an organisation’s success. Properly implemented, it can enhance organisational efficiency and learning, and minimise costs. This program will address the challenges common to knowledge management in organisations and provide participants with guidance on the policies and processes that enable the collection, codification, management, sharing and re-use of an organisation know-what, know-whom and know-how.

Course Outline

Introduction to Knowledge Management

Introduction to KM

  • Knowledge and the workplace
  • The “three generations” of KM
  • KM for the 21st century
  • The KM imperative
  • The costs and benefits of KM

Essential KM Theory

  • The varieties of knowledge
  • Sensemaking, learning and understanding
  • The knowledge spiral
  • Organisational learning and maturity

Developing a KM Strategy

KM Strategy

  • The varieties of KM strategy
  • Needs analysis: Identifying your KM objectives
  • Forecasting an organisation's knowledge needs
  • Action planning: establishing priorities and milestones
  • The levers and enablers of an effective KM strategy
  • Resources and resource challenges
  • Managing stakeholders
  • Justifying KM and ensuring buy-in
  • Overcoming silos, barriers and cynicism

The KM Toolkit

Implementing KM in the Organisation

  • Developing KM policies and processes
  • Knowledge mapping: identifying knowledge sources and their value
  • Integrating KM into organisational workflows
  • Knowledge generation, capture, exploitation and communication
  • Overcoming barriers to information sharing
  • Building trust and securing buy-in from staff

Establishing a Knowledge Generous Organisation

  • Knowledge leadership
  • The levers and enablers of effective KM
  • Managing and motivating analysts
  • Enabling information and knowledge sharing
  • The habits of knowledge-generous organisations

The KM Toolkit

A Best Practice KM Toolkit

  • Knowledge audits
  • Knowledge boards
  • Best practices
  • After Action Reviews
  • Storytelling
  • Knowledge cafes
  • Staff directories
  • Learning Libraries

Course Benefits

On completion of this course, participants will have learned:

  • The strategic and operational dimensions of knowledge management
  • KM theory and its relevance to security and crisis management professionals
  • Guidance on the effective externalisation, codification and sharing of individual and organisational knowledge, including with the use of collaborative tools
  • Instruction in the practical application of KM best practices
  • The organisational impediments to KM and guidance on how to overcome them
  • The principles of effective information management, including metadata, data quality, data retention, data governance etc.

Course Requirements

Participants are required to bring a laptop with them and to set up a Gmail account if they do not already have one.