Knowledge Management: Making it Fly in Higher Education

1. Knowledge Management: Making it Fly in Higher Education Presenter: Amy C. Eugene Director, Knowledge Management Cuyahoga Community College

2. Wha’dya Wanna Know? • What is knowledge management? • What are communities of practice? • What is Tri-C’s KM: • strategy? • methodology? • technology? • What are Tri-C’s lessons learned? • How can I apply KM at my organization?

3. What is Knowledge Management? “Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, managing and sharing all of an enterprise’s information needs. These information assets may include databases, documents, policies and procedures as well as previously unarticulated expertise and experience resident in individual workers.”1 1GartnerGroup Research Note, October 11, 1996

4. Tri-C’s Definition of KM: A discipline and framework designed to help our organization acquire, store and share “what we know” to enable decision-making, creativity, innovation and communication.

5. Communities-of-Practice or Learning Communities: Connecting people with common needs/interests on a particular topic to: • Share ideas, insights, information • Address challenges & advise each other • Learn and laugh together • Create processes, frameworks, templates, etc. • Own and maintain the content about their topic

6. Communities of Practice/Networks Process Mapping Information Management Data Mining/Warehousing Business/Competitive Intelligence Benchmarking/Best Practices Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Total Quality Management Technical Writing Subject Matter Experts and Directories Performance Management Systems e-Learning and Organizational Learning Search Engines Lessons Learned Storytelling Others? KM by any other name ….

7. Consider this… …based on the needs and goals of your organization, how might you define KM? • Would it include communities of practice? • Might it be data and information focused? • How might tacit knowledge be addressed? • What other components might it include?

8. Tri-C’s KM Strategy

9. Collegewide KM Roles: • Champion • Believes, influences, implements • Chief Knowledge Officer • Strategic • Director • Strategic and tactical • Steering Committee • Guidance from District and Campus leadership • Network Coordinator • Technical support

10. Strategy People & Culture Technology Content Process Integrated KM Approach

11. Strategies for KM Success: • Take path of least resistance in creating KM structure with appropriate protocols • Launch pilot communities that support value proposition of KM investment • Utilize or create successful, simple, and stable technology infrastructure • Build an environment both formally and informally that encourages shared knowledge and knowledge seekers • Measure return on investment (ROI) • Utilize an “appreciative” approach

12. Consider this… …who might be your KM champion? …what is your value proposition for KM? …what currently enables or inhibits knowledge and information sharing?

13. Tri-C’s KM Methodology

14. Community Knowledge Roles: • Sponsor • Knowledge Coordinator • Subject Matter Expert/Specialist • Community Member • Primary – Regular Access and Contribution • Secondary – Less Collaboration but Value the Interaction • Portal Moderator

15. Types of Communities • Operational/Process • Curriculum Development • Grants Management • Transfer & Articulation • Customer/Student-focused • Student Services • Strategic • Corporate College • Integrated Leadership • Informational • Collegewide Technology

16. Community Activities: • Curriculum Development • Mapped and improved CD process • Implementing CD software • Launched Service Learning community • Launched Articulation & Transfer community • Grants Management • Improved grant proposal process • Future: Use portal to contribute grant proposals • Conducted learning events • Collaborated with Service Learning community

17. Community Activities:(Continued) • Student Services • Engaged students to determine what they need to know • Developed student journey “road map” • Deployed single point of access and utilized existing technology • Collegewide Technology • Developed portal that provides collegewide access to status reports and online discussion for technology projects

18. Phases of Development for Knowledge Sharing Communities ENABLING A KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE 1 2 3 4 AUDIT KNOW- LEDGE NEEDS & ASSETS ESTABLISH KNOWLEDGE ROLES CREATE KNOW- LEDGE PROCESS AND PLAN PREPARE COMMUNITY 5 6 7 9 8 STORE, REVIEW & FILTER ACQUIRE CONTENT DEVELOP CLASSIFICATION SCHEME MARKET & COMMUNICATE CUSTOMIZE TECHNOLOGY 10 11 12 13 DEPLOY CONTENT & TOOLS ASSESS USAGE, AWARENESS & VALUE MAINTAIN KNOWLEDGE FLOWS TRAIN END USERS FEEDBACK, LEARNING & IMPROVEMENT

19. Consider this… …what are some prospective communities? …who will fill the key roles? …what will be the goals and measurable outcomes?

20. Tri-C’s KM Technology

21. Technology Components of Tri-C’s KM Solution: • Portals: Sharepoint and Blackboard • Websites: Internet and Intranet • Search engine • Shared drives • Distribution groups (mail lists) • Specialty Applications • People Pages (Expertise Locator) • Best Practices repository • Online survey tool • MS NetMeeting • Knowledge and Information Tools Navigator

22. Access pertinent internal and external information sources (e.g., shared drives, websites)

25. Consider this… …what are the needs that are driving your technology? …what technology currently exists that can be leveraged? ...how will user’s be encouraged to use the technology?

26. Tri-C’s Lessons Learned • Don’t call it Knowledge Management • Focus on critical business and academic issues • Ensure that people drive the technology • Utilize existing technologies where possible • Remember your target audience (create value propositions) • Recognize the importance of roles, responsibilities, and process • Employ the 80/20 rule – iteration is good • Realize that people look for information using various methods and channels • Expect unexpected benefits and go where the energy is

27. Amy C. Eugene Director of KM amy.eugene@tri-c.edu 216-987-4879 Contacts: Leveraging Our Collective Knowledge to Enable Student Success