Last
summer, Carla wrote a blog post in which she expressed amazement that she is
still repeatedly asked, "Can you measure the impact of knowledge management?
And, if so, how?" APQC's response (as well as Carla's) is always the same: "Of
course you can!" In that post, Carla went on to cite some
of the tactics that APQC has found most successful in measuring KM impact.
Now,
I admit that measuring things is not a glamorous or rewarding process. There is no shortcut for defining,
developing, collecting, analyzing, monitoring, and reporting measures that
track performance. (Process flow that!) Furthermore,
just following the steps will not always yield the results you want or expect.
Despite
this, I constantly tell APQC's KM measurement customers to just trust the process--because I know it works. After all, a process is like a recipe, in
that it gives you the basic steps. Anyone can follow a recipe, but expert chefs
know how to select the best ingredients and equipment, fine-tune the instructions,
and trouble-shoot when things don't go as planned. The same goes for
measurement: The process provides the framework, but high-quality inputs,
effective tools, and process knowledge are needed to ensure you get the best
result every time.
Let
me share three pieces of advice that, when combined, go a long way to ensuring
the success of a KM measurement effort.
- Use
tools that provide a framework for thinking and promote dialog.
- When
designing measures, engage people who are involved in the workflow itself.
- Prepare
for the long haul, and take steps to align measures with change management initiatives.
Effective Tools
Over
the years, APQC has worked with our customers and members to collect the best
tools to support the KM measurement process. One of these tools is APQC's
Measurement Alignment Worksheet, pictured below.
Developed
during APQC's 2003 Collaborative Research study Measuring
the Impact of Knowledge Management, this tool has helped community
leaders, KM core groups, business process stakeholders, and sponsors align and
correlate KM activities and approaches to business process outputs and
outcomes. The success of this tool (and
others) is driven by the participation and engagement of the appropriate people
in the KM measurement process.
Engaging the Right
People
Define
what measures matter to your audience by asking them. A member of a reservoir engineering community
of practice will think measuring the number of best practices submitted is a
good measure only if you can tie it back to the value of implementing those
best practices. In addition to submission and implementation measures, a KM
core group evaluating an approach for the transfer of best practices is typically
interested in the number of best practices validated, the number of best
practices shared, and the number of best practices accessed because such
measures are useful in monitoring process efficiency.
My
friends at U.S. Navy Carrier Team One believe in KM metrics for learning. Their
Knowledge Sharing Networks (KSNs) bring together people with common business
problems and facilitate the development of creative solutions. By engaging the
members of the KSNs, Carrier Team One is able to help community members understand
the importance of their active participation in the KSNs and how it leads to the
achievement of business process outputs and goals.
When
you design a set of measures, make sure that you involve the people who will be
using the resulting metrics to make decisions, improve processes, or change the
workflow.
Stamina and Change Management
Don't
prepare to measure KM and think you will "get it right" the first--or even the
second, third, or fourth--time. As wiser
men have said before me, "The road goes on forever and the party never ends."
Measurement is a journey, so set up milestones along the way at which to report
and celebrate success and learning.
The
process and tools should help us continuously learn, adjust, recalibrate, and
improve. According to my calculations, success in
measuring knowledge management is about 20 percent process and 80 percent
change management. Reporting the measures is important, but
collecting and analyzing data is only the beginning: You must help people
understand the results that are being reported and how to use those results to
change thinking, improve decision making, or hone practices. This is one of the
true signposts of KM measurement success.
I'm
sure there are other "secret ingredients" you have discovered through your own
measurement experiences. I'd be
interested in hearing about them!
Great post, Cindy. You say, "The success of this tool (and others) is driven by the participation and engagement of the appropriate people in the KM measurement process." Could you use the big cranyons and define the appropirate people? Thanks, Mark
Mark, Your questions is so good that it's caused me to think about doing a follow up and go into greater detail on the roles. But, for "big crayon" pass, consider these:
1)In general, you need someone who will facilitate the discussion and someone who understands measurement (could be the same person),
2) you need a subset of the people that are in the business area you are applying KM approaches, such as process owners or stakeholders,
3) you need a member of the KM core group who can help support the linkage of KM activities and KM measures to the business process and measures, and,
4) you need to include your business analyst who will be helping compile, correlate, and doing the first pass at analysis. The first pass should be done with a small group - no more than 7-10 people.
You will have several iterations of this as you expand your small group to gather other key stakeholders input. It's a great way to gather information that is important to people and engage them in the discussions.
Thanks, Cindy. You are OK. I don't care what Jim Lee says! :)
Cindy, will be great if you can share an example as to how to use the 'Measurement Alignment Worksheet'?