5 Ways Companies Hurt Their Knowledge Management Departments
Many organizations are moving away from traditional methods of “managing” their knowledge and focusing more on ways to use knowledge for growing businesses in real-time. Crunched by a lack of resources, some of today’s leaders are slowly turning away from the KM sphere to the detriment of their company’s success. Here are the ways management hurt their knowledge management processes in more ways than one:
Investing in other channels at the expense of your knowledge library
We have been seeing a steady decline in blogs, books or community resources dedicated to knowledge management. As knowledge leaders strive to stay on top of the content game by embracing social media, reach and “freshness” of their content, when inaccurate information does emerge, it risks harming the knowledge management sphere as a whole.
Reducing staff overseeing knowledge management as a result of cost-cutting
Many knowledge management programs simply end up on the company’s chopping block if managers stop maintaining them. Similarly, if knowledgeable managers are laid off or transferred to other roles within the company, pains will be felt across the whole system. Insufficient revenue streams for maintaining knowledge systems are also a cause of concern.
Ignoring technology tools in the knowledge management industry
A number of knowledge managers simply refuse to update their tools, staying with the same process and methodologies for years. In addition, vendors may have trouble communicating or overstating certain features, leading managers to mistakenly believe the hype and see benefits that really aren’t there.
Not keeping leaders on board the knowledge management system
Organizations don’t empower their leaders to the full benefits of the knowledge management system. As a result, leaders do not envision that particular system working to its best ability in benefitting the organization.
Failure to engage with team members and customers
Many companies are cutting themselves short by ignoring engagement pitfalls of their knowledge systems. As a result of missing links, the needs of various groups of people in your hierarchy are not being addressed. How you approach these needs must resonate with all participants of the knowledge system and be part of your improvement process.
Final Thought
Generating and categorizing information is necessary – and always will be. However, that’s not to say that aggregate information is knowledge. In other words, if a company collects a large amount of data using their CRM (customer relationship management) system which fails to provide the required results, then not only the process, but the data and even the CRM system itself may be a waste of precious company resources.
