KM Awareness - How to Improve?

How to improve KM¹ awareness in an organization is one the first challenges while implementing any KM solution or creating the so called KM-Culture.

Well, the best way, as Kondal says², is to show how KM will benefit the participants - the individuals and the organization as a whole. Here are some ways suggested by him on the basis of his research at some global corporations in Automotive, IT services and telecom industries.

• Get senior management support and commit to show how the KM will benefit the participants. If possible, make the business leader present the importance of KM to the organization.
• Start KM with a small group that is positive towards knowledge sharing. How to find them - generally, these people would be high performers.
• Select the pilot group where the direct impact of the KM initiative can be seen. This acts as the testimonial and Proof of Concept (PoC) of the advantages of the KM - you can show the benefits and power of KM to whole of the organization.
• Talk to the HR and try to introduce K-sharing aptitude in perfomance appraisals. This sends a message to the people that the organization valus K-sharing in the long term and it's not momentary.
• Recognize and award (monetarily or otherwise) the people who are champions in K-sharing. Kondal, during his research, finds that most people share knowledge for pride and personal satisfaction rather than monetary benefits. Money is not the key. Keys are recognition and praise.
• The next level is to look at the core processes and introduce K-creation (like best practices etc) and reuse activities in them.

The above listed measures are excerpts from a message by Kondal to the KM group.
¹KM: Knowledge Management.
²Modified the grammar to suit the context.