Managing knowledge of professional associations

“Knowledge management is a process that helps organizations find, select, organize, disseminate, and transfer important information and expertise necessary for activities such as problem solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision making.” (Suresh 2002, p.3)

The structure of not-for-profit professional associations often means that change in personnel, for example, honorary office bearers, can occur at the end of the office bearers term. Collective knowledge, expertise and wisdom can ‘leave’ the association ranks and, in time, be forgotten.

A Knowledge Management (KM) strategy involves people, process and technology.

Phases of KM

Five phases can be identified for the development of a KM environment. In brief, the following process can be adopted.

1. Knowledge Identification

  • Link to associations’ objectives and business/strategic plan.
  • Identify knowledge-based activities and knowledge ‘objects’ required to achieve the objectives of the association.
  • Ask, ‘What do we know, who knows it, and what do we not know that we should know?’
  • Rate the knowledge ‘objects’ in order of importance to be acquired.
  • Address change management issues and the cultural environment of knowledge sharing.

2. Knowledge Acquisition

  • Identify what the association already has in explicit (documentation) and tacit (experiential and localized knowledge in people’s heads) form.
  • Identify what the association may need to acquire or create.
  • Determine who we will code/classify/categorise the knowledge ‘objects’.
  • Involve the association personnel – ‘What needs to be done, is it worth doing, who is going to do it and by when?’

3. Knowledge Design (technology and tools)

  • Identify KM applications, e.g. messaging, search and retrieval.
  • Select appropriate technology to deliver the processes, e.g. capture, storage, dissemination, retrieval, updating and archiving.
  • Determine the infrastructure requirements, e.g. hardware, network and software.
  • Identify the appropriate tools, e.g. Groupware environments, custom designed intranet environment.

4. Knowledge Implementation

  • Make sure there is sufficient content available in the knowledge directories/folders.
  • Catalog/classify the knowledge ‘objects’ so that it reflects the nature of the association
  • Determine access rights
  • Consider the people combinations, i.e. who is going to be responsible for what?
  • Communicate the benefits, e.g. invaluable intellectual capital that has long-term strategic value, building association memory to facilitate better management and decision-making, expanded accessibility to knowledge sources by all stakeholders rather than a few, and collective wisdom which can renew and enrich association personnel.

5. Knowledge Enhancement

  • Determine the process for knowledge leverage and knowledge review.
  • Determine knowledge ‘objects’ that need to be refined, updated and created.

Any association needs to ‘baby steps’ during its infancy in the evolving world of Knowledge Management, but can vision the strategic benefits of embrace this process.

For professional associations, as for any organisation, KM is a dynamic combination of people (communication, communities and cognition), process (KM practices, core activities and strategy) and technology (tools and infrastructure.)

References:

Bonanno, K 2002, ‘The mind – your greatest, creative asset’, Access, 16(1), pp. 8-12.

Bonanno, K 2003, ‘Knowledge Management: a people process’.

Suresh, H 2002, ‘Knowledge management: the road ahead for success’, PSG Institute of Management Articles, PSG Institute of Management, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, TamilNadu, India.