Tools and techniques in knowledge management

Networking

Facilitate social interactions and networking: Direct communication and verbal knowledge transfer through social interactions among individuals is the most natural aspect of knowledge sharing. A KM tool supports this social aspect and facilitates searching.

Collaborative Tools

These tools enable teams to globally share dedicated spaces for managing the project lifecycle; editing and publishing materials; conducting live discussions and interactions; and maintaining a repository of materials associated with every step of the process. For example, QuickPlace is a Lotus web-based shared workspace software for realtime collaboration among geographically dispersed participants. Using QuickPlace, coworkers, suppliers, partners, and customers can communicate online immediately within a structured workspace created for that purpose. An online workspace can make it possible for people to work together more easily and less expensively.

These types of tools are provided for setting of bulletin board and for real-time video conferencing, whiteboards, and chat rooms.

Technology Description/examples	Technology Description/examples
Communication and collaboration systems group	E-mail, teleconference, video conference, chat, IM, forum, Listserv, groupware calendar, log, shared information spaces workflow management system, group decision support system.
Intranet	A network contained within the enterprise. It is used to share information and computing resources among employee as well as to facilitate group working.

Case study as a method of knowledge management

Case study is a method  of sharing contextual management knowledge that can help make the reapplication of the lesson learned meaningful. Rather than using samples and following a rigid protocol (strict set of rules) to examine limited number of variables, case study methods involve an in-depth examination of a single instance or event. They provide a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results provides a systematic way to look at the problem with available data with limited resources and constraints. It acts as the source to capture the knowledge and implement that knowledge as a common practice across the organization for the improvement in the organization.
Case study also helps the organizations to come out with the solutions during the times of crisis and indulges the various employees from the firm which helps them to avoid the similar crisis which they faced in past. It basically acts as knowledge repository for the various other organizations and helps them to take the decision by using this knowledge.
It facilitates multilevel analysis and thus help in getting multiple solution which assist in formulating corporate strategy for the organization.

Churning new professionals

“ Professionals are not born, they are created and crafted. Age is not an obstacle to be a professional. For making children professionals in any field it is the parents that should be concentrated on.The information about the various fields and the various opportunities which would help them in going to greater heights in these fields is to be communicated t them. In order to mold children as professionals in the field of pottery, the seminars as to how pottery could be beneficial to their children as a profession, the various existing and emerging markets for the pottery  and the various opportunities are to be conducted for the parents. This is different from training a set of doctors and other technicians about a new method of cardiac surgery. The differences are that in pottery’s scenario the people to be trained are greenhorns whereas in the case of a surgery they are already experts. The risk involved in pottery is less and whereas in the medical field the risk is very high since it involves the lives of the patients. The time that takes to create professionals is more in the case of children and less in the case of doctors and other hospital staff. The creative aspect is important in both the cases but it is to be more disciplined in the case of doctors where they try to use the newly learnt technique as per the conditions and feasibility issues of the hospital. All the hospitals cannot afford to use the same equipment therefore they learn the technique, modify and apply it as per the conditions of the hospital. So there is difference in the method of  transferring the knowledge and implementing it in different scenarios and thus creating professional in those respective fields.”

Knowledge Management- An Intro

“Knowledge means using the information to shape the future. Knowledge is the most important tool to make decisions that would yield in best results. It could be gained from experience, observation, interpretation, learning and in many more ways. Knowledge could be the about the causes and effects of the decisions, predictive knowledge and preemptive knowledge.

The organizations generally use many tools and case studies to manage the knowledge that has been accumulated since its establishment from various crises they managed to get through and achieve the goals.

They are many steps involved in the process of knowledge management. They are capturing the knowledge, codify the knowledge to asses, qualify and quantify where the real learning resides and store the knowledge for the future use. The people in the organization are the sources of the knowledge in the organization and once they move out of the organization the knowledge could not be managed for future use.

So, different approaches are used by the organizations to manage the knowledge across the organization. This increased the importance of knowledge management in the organizations. Knowledge management also involves retrieving, using the knowledge and making a common practice. “