| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Knowledge Management - Leadership Behaviours Which Encourage Knowledge-Sharing
The concept of knowledge management or knowledge sharing makes intellectual sense to the leadership teams in most organisations. Why wouldn't we want to learn from our successes and failures, and translate that learning into value? However, there is often a gap between the conceptual understanding, and their own behaviours as leaders - and that can be a problem? How do you engage leaders both intellectually and emotionally, in a way which will make a difference to their day-to-day behaviours? It requires more than a set of competency frameworks! The examples below are taken from the bestselling fieldbook "Learning to Fly ? Practical knowledge management from leading and learning organisations", written by Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell. Example 1) In BP, well known for its knowledge-sharing culture, the senior leadership developed a habit of reinforcing "learning from others" when they visited operational sites. Imagine the scene: the Director or Senior VP arrives, and is given the usual tour of the site. They sit down with the management team and review the performance of the business against a set of stated KPIs. One of these KPIs is currently not being met. What happens when they identify this issue? "Have you thought about approach X? Addressed performance issue Y? Changed widget Z?" ..will generate one set of behaviours. "Who else have you spoken with at other sites who might have a similar issue?" ..will drive a very different set of behaviours. This is the route that BP has chosen to take; senior management visits are opportunities to reinforce the value of learning from others, rather than opportunities to underline their seniority by providing "the answer". Example 2) When the senior directors from energy and essential services company, Centrica, met to discuss how to improve knowledge sharing in the company, they agreed a set of practical "leadership challenges" for senior managers across the organisation:
These kind of questions and challenges bring to life the notion of knowledge management in a tangible, practical manner. What would work in your organisation? If you could issue five challenges to your senior team, what would you choose? ------------------------------------- Chris Collison is a renowned expert in knowledge management and an experienced practitioner in the leadership and implementation of organisational change from a people perspective. As a best-selling author, he has presented to audiences at business schools and at conferences around the world, and is a regular contributor to specialist knowledge management publications. Chris has worked with leaders at the highest levels of many public and private-sector organizations, sharing the practical experiences he gained whilst working in BP's knowledge management team, and his deep understanding of the human dynamics of major change programmes. Visit the "learning to fly" website at http://www.learning-to-fly.org
MORE RESOURCES:
Management - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are you NICE or do you CARE? Are you NICE or do you CARE? Most people and most managers want to be nice. After all, it's easier to be nice than to not be nice. Performance Evaluation: How To Create Change STEPS TOWARDS GIVING A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW: Give specific feedback. Statements such as, "You're doing a good job" and "You'd better shape up" are almost without value unless accompanied by specific feedback on what the employee is to continue doing or to stop doing. Solving the Problem Solving Problem The meeting started like a hundred others before. There were five people sitting around the conference table, like they always did, trying to solve a problem that had popped up in the last few weeks. Industry Analysis Section of Your business plan Writing a Business Plan for your next entrepreneurial endeavor is crucial. You will need sufficient capital and a guide to keep you on track. Inspirational Power ( Part 1 ) The Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing, Some Key Traits for Greater EffectivenessProbably, the greatest challenge to marketing management in the next five Years will be to change quick and fast enough, in order to keep pace with new technologies, new markets and new corporate values According to the definition of the AMA, "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. "Customer focus has nowadays become a cliché among marketers keen to win competitive advantage. Why I always Keep my Promises Integrity is very important to me, and I try hard to 'do unto others as I would wish them do unto me'. It hasn't always worked that way for me though. Creativity and Innovation Management: Incubation and Insight Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Leadership Skills Means Turnover is Not a Problem "Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like that, they obviously haven't worked in the real world and certainly have never had to run a company. What Every HR Manager Should Know About Hiring Productive Employees The characteristics of job applicants have a strong influence on whether or not they get hired. Their characteristics also indicate the level of their productivity. Problem Solving - Think Cleopatras Ass Picture the scene. Anthony pops down to the guardhouse, partly because he wants a break with the lads, but also because he has a problem. A Sense of Humor in the Workplace ... Is it Me? Or, was that not funny? When I was first initiated into Corporate America, I had a sense of humor that went unmatched by any mortal soul. I was quick-witted, smart, sharp, and knew every gag and joke available to humanity. Hiring Great People And How to Be One Yourself: Five Secrets Bad news.Your senior vice-president, your marketing director or your accounting department head has decided to retire, move to Okinawa or start his own business--and you're left staring, horrified, at a polite letter of resignation. How Bad Communication Can Hold You Back and How to Break Free of It The reason jobs are often not done right and employees are fired is because of lack of skill. Right? Wrong! Poor communication and ineffective human relations are the major causes. Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey. Comparing Corporate and Personal goal attainment programs that have developed over thousands of years with those of modern day legends such as Covey - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"In the 1990s Stephen Covey's name became famous through the publication of the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". As many know the "7 habits" are not a group of new concepts but age-old approaches to success represented in a way that can be clearly applied to modern day personal and corporate development. The Dripping Faucet in Every Organization Each day millions of workers spend 8 hours or more at their respective jobs with many contributing to the dripping faucet within every organization. This faucet much like the leaking kitchen or bathroom faucet's steadily waste drops of a previous resource - water - every minute of every day until fixed. Increasing the Return on Your Training Investment Insightful leaders and organizations recognize that training is a valuable tool for personal and professional development and therefore set some sort of an annual training budget.Most everyone I've ever talked to has been to both excellent training (hopefully ours!) and training that was, well, not so good. Humor in Business With the advancement of computer simulators, anybody can repeat all the business routines before he goes to the field, and have the opportunity of relaxing from the tedious work with numbers. The businessman can concentrate more on the human factors: The Customer Service, the relationships among fellow workers, and self care. Succession Planning for Your Business - 7 Key Benefits A core activity in many successful businesses, Succession Planning is simple and quick to implement - here are seven reasons why you will find it of great value in your business or organisation. But, you need to lead - it works only as well as the support it gets!TimeSuccession Planning creates capable people. One Crazy Cookie In order to survive, you have to be happier than if you were in your right mind. Chinese Fortune Cookie When orienting someone new to the company, the last thing I tell them is to, "have fun. Making Your Workers Your Partners There is an inherent conflict between owners and managers of companies. The former want, for instance, to minimize costs - the latter to draw huge salaries as long as they are in power (who knows what will transpire tomorrow).
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |