You, too, can be a knowledge master
(if you follow these five easy steps)

Organisations wanting to be seen to be at the forefront of knowledge management can achieve their ambition quickly and at minimal cost if they really want to. But is knowledge management just a new gloss on an old way of working, or is it a substantially different way of thinking and operating? And if knowledge management is all about people, why is the focus often on structure or technology?

'Silly me. I thought knowledge management meant it's not what you know but who you know.'

1 The first step in a knowledge management program is to appoint a chief knowledge officer. Anyone with information responsibilities could be reclassified as the CKO. A more energetic approach is to choose more than one person from available project leaders, retitling them as knowledge managers. Most projects themselves can be classified as knowledge projects, and the team leader's job description can be revised to include responsibility for managing the knowledge required for the project.

2 Next, the organisation's library arrangements can be renamed, so that the library or filing centre becomes the knowledge repository. Reports, articles, memos, presentations, and marketing material that contains knowledge about the organisation's business can be classified and filed so that the knowledge is easily accessible. A knowledge audit will tell you what knowledge is in the organisation and who has it. Out of this you can build a register of skills, competencies and expertise in the organisation.

3 The next requirement is a knowledge transfer system; something to make sure that the knowledge does not lie idle but flows freely through the organisation. The image is that of a directory or a clearing house - a facility for the movement of knowledge from those who have it to those who need it. Technology such as groupware, shareware, video conference capability and bulletin boards provides the technology infrastructure that allows knowledge to flow between people.

4 Unfortunately, not all people have the time or the inclination to share information so it may be necessary to create a knowledge culture. This important adjunct to a knowledgable organisation is achieved by adjusting reward systems to encourage people to share information.

5 All that remains to complete the transformation is to remove from annual reports and mission statements any suggestion that the organisation is a "learning organisation". Instead, the description should indicate a "knowledge organisation".