Monday, 1 August 2016

The "No time for KM" myth

It's not a lack of time that kills Knowledge Management, it's a lack of priority. 



Very often people say "we don't have the time for Knowledge Management".

"We are busy - we have lots of real project tasks to do - we can't take time off for an After Action review, or a Retrospect or a Peer Assist"

But in fact, it's not a question of time, it's a question of priority. They have time to

  • do their timesheets
  • prepare reports for management
  • attend teambuilding events
  • listen to senior management briefings
  • attend appraisal meetings
  • go to risk workshops
  • go to safety workshops

and none of these are any more "real project tasks" than Knowledge Management.

The difference is that these activities are prioritised. They are treated as priority activities; things that it is valid to spend time on.

So when I hear people say "we don't have the time for Knowledge Management", I know that this really means "we don't prioritise Knowledge Management". Probably because they don't appreciate what their knowledge is worth, or how much value KM will deliver.

If you want Knowledge Management to take hold, you need to convince management of the value of organisational knowledge, and get them to treat the management of that knowledge as a priority.

Then people will MAKE the time. 

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