We help to
resolve complex problems in the service, engineering, & manufacturing
sectors.
Knowledge Management - "A transdisciplinary* approach to creating value from knowledge assets!"
Are you engaged in complex situations?
Are you under threat from knowledge walk outs, knowledge hoarding, too much information?
Will you miss a beat when things go pear shaped!
Read
these two Case Studies where knowledge management interventions have solved
complex problems.
1) Overworked? Stressed?
"A supervisor in an
engineering firm was suffering stress related illnesses from the pressures of
his job - he never felt on top of things. We
assessed his
daily experiences, and discovered
that the stress was due to interruptions by employees
demanding information about customer
requirements,
queries about next tasks, complaints about parts availability and so
on.
A process for managing daily meetings, and job documentation tailored to his specific requirements was co-developed with the workshop staff. The result was that his stress load was immediately reduced, and twelve months later he had more time for coaching and mentoring, the guys on the shop floor were happier, and productivity had climbed."
2) So much to do, you can’t even think straight?
"A maintenance workshop dealing with critical
service issues was constantly backlogged with deferred maintenance. Part of the
problem was that engineers were repeatedly making simple errors.
We developed a training program that enabled the engineers to identify the causes of errors for themselves, and built a work culture that encouraged them to double check each other's work without that reflecting poorly on their performance. Within six months, the error rate had dropped, all deferred maintenance had been performed, and the maintenance schedule was back on track."
Some of
the things we can do include,
Staff Training
· Leadership for supervisors - with a knowledge management perspective
· Understanding and reducing error rates in production/process environments: "the dirty dozen"
· Training on reflective thinking as a tool for capturing the "Deep Smarts" of experienced workers
Consultancy and advice
· Developing and embedding a knowledge management infrastructure: R5 - the right information, of the right form, in the right place, at the right time, to the right people
· Building skills matrices: task and activity relevant measures of competency
· Creating feedback mechanisms and naming systems
Technical support
· building an internal knowledge management infrastructure – e.g. wiki
· online continuous data backup to protect your knowledge
* Transdisciplinary – Between disciplines, i.e. in the gaps between
traditional business disciplines. Knowledge management provides a systematic
approach to dealing with complexity in a way that traditional siloed management
disciplines can’t.