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From page 17... ... 17 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Implementing KM "If you don't know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else." – Yogi Berra Step 1: Assess Risks and Opportunities The ﬁrst step in implementing an agency-wide approach to KM is to identify focus areas based on an assessment of agency risks and opportunities. Purpose of a Knowledge Assessment Identify current areas of vulnerability – e.g., employees of retirement age with valuable and diﬃcult to replace knowledge. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... 18 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs being captured and shared – and where the speciﬁc gaps are. Other agencies may want to begin with a more "lightweight" assessment approach. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... 19 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Senior Leadership Workshop. This knowledge assessment approach involves convening the senior management team for a half-day workshop to identify and agree on the critical "at risk" knowledge areas that are important to the strategic mission of the organization. Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... 20 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Strengths and weaknesses in both formal and informal methods for knowledge sharing. Knowledge Risk Assessment. Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... 21 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Step 2: Develop a KM Strategy What Is a KM Strategy? A KM Strategy is a written document that deﬁnes what the agency hopes to accomplish through KM techniques and how. Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... 22 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Linking to Agency Strategic Plans Many transportation agencies have developed strategic plans and/or business plans that include organizational values or goals related to KM. Here are some examples from current state DOT strategic plans: Innovation Excellence Organizational Strength Learning and Growth Collaboration Partnerships Customer Service The KM strategy can "hook into" these values or goals that have already been articulated. Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... 23 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs These examples are fairly general, but can be tailored as needed to the agency's speciﬁc areas of concern. For example, one agency may choose to emphasize strengthening knowledge sharing across staﬀ serving in similar roles in diﬀerent ﬁeld oﬃces. Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... 24 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs practices to ensure that relevant data and content are captured, stored and documented for easy retrieval. People elements seek to foster knowledge sharing behaviors and build individual employee skills. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... 25 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Table 1 below displays elements of agency-wide KM, classiﬁed by People, Process and Information Management & Technology. Descriptions of each of these elements are provided in the next section. Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... 26 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Moving the Strategy Forward Once strategies are identiﬁed, the working group needs to consider who will be responsible for KM implementation, and which resources will be required. A detailed implementation plan isn't required at this stage – just enough information to enable the senior leadership of the agency to decide to endorse the strategy and approve moving it forward. Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... 27 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Example KM Strategies An example outline of a "modest KM strategy" for a ﬁctitious DOT is shown below. This strategy allocates 50% of a full-time equivalent (FTE) Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... 28 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Step 3: Create a KM Implementation Plan Why Develop a KM Implementation Plan? The KM Strategy deﬁnes the goals for KM, outlines the types of initiatives that the agency wants to pursue, and designates a lead person to move it forward. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... 29 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs KM Leadership & Direction Applicability: Agencies wanting to pursue a holistic KM approach. Expected Results: Identify and address the agency's priority risks and needs; target KM activities where they will have the greatest payoﬀ. Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... 30 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Table 2. Wisconsin DOT KM Tools Matrix TOPIC AND TASKS BRIEF DESCRIPTION MIGHT BE GOOD FOR… RESOURCES Documenting processes Writing down processes Incumbent writes down steps in key tasks. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... 31 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Social Learning & Communities Applicability: Agencies wanting to shift the culture of their organizations to foster innovation, collaboration and group problem solving. Expected Results: Increased innovation, faster ramp-up time for new employees, less chance of "rookie mistakes," improved organizational resilience, improved employee retention, less dependence on any single individual. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 32 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs why" of key business processes. Codiﬁcation and dissemination activities focus on the kind of knowledge that lends itself to capture and documentation – such as procedural knowledge, key lessons and past events. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... 33 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs videos, presentations, photographs, and lessons learned documents. Ensuring that new (and existing) Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... 34 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Succession Management. Targeting positions for succession management strategies including training, shadowing, doublefilling positions, etc. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... 35 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Table 3. Responsibility Chart for KM Elements AGENCY-WIDE KM ELEMENTS KM LEAD HUMAN RESOURCES IT RESEARCH/ LIBRARY DIVISION/ OFFICE MANAGER KM LEADERSHIP & DIRECTION Strategic Planning and Policy Development KM Education/Training Knowledge Assessment Knowledge Mapping/ Social Network Analysis KM Metrics SOCIAL LEARNING & COMMUNITIES Communities of Practice Peer Reviews After Action Reviews Social Networking and Collaboration Platforms Expertise Locator/ Smart Org Charts Recognition & Rewards for Collaboration KNOWLEDGE CODIFICATION & DISSEMINATION Lessons Learned Repository Organizational Narratives/ Storytelling Knowledge Books/ Continuity Books Business Process Documentation/Automation Contractor Knowledge Transfer Content Management/ Portals/Wikis Common Vocabulary/ Content Classiﬁcation Personalization/ Role-Based Subscriptions SUCCESSION & TALENT MANAGEMENT Talent Tracking Desk-Side Reviews Mentoring, Shadowing and Job Rotation Phased Retirements Leadership Training Key: Lead Role Support Role Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... 36 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Step 4: Monitor Results Purpose of Measurement Without a good understanding of return on investment or value being added, KM initiatives will be diﬃcult to sustain. Beyond ensuring accountability for KM activities, measurement also provides important information to the KM lead about what is working well, what isn't, and what adjustments need to be made. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... 37 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Outcomes: Tracking outcomes is challenging because of the intangible nature of the results being sought – e.g., employee knowledge, organizational eﬀectiveness, and consistency in application of policies and procedures, and resilience. Typical approaches to measuring outcomes involve either surveys or interviews with employees, or studies of speciﬁc business process eﬃciency changes. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... 38 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Table 4. Sample KM Metrics AGENCY-WIDE KM ELEMENTS KM OUTPUTS EXPOSURE/USE IMPACTS/OUTCOMES KM LEADERSHIP & DIRECTION Strategic Planning and Policy Development KM Education/Training Knowledge Assessment Knowledge Mapping/Social Network Analysis KM Metrics • Completion of KM strategy • Completion of KM implementation milestones • Number and percent of individuals participating in KM planning & implementation • Awareness of KM strategies and resources SOCIAL LEARNING & COMMUNITIES Communities of Practice (CoPs) Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... 39 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs KM Outcomes Before outcome measures can be deﬁned, it is helpful to deﬁne expectations for each KM activity or initiative. Key types of outcomes for KM implementation include: adaptability/agility, creativity, institutional memory building, organizational internal eﬀectiveness, and organizational external eﬀectiveness. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... 40 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Accelerated transfer and use of existing know-how for increased learning. Decreased learning curve for new employees. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... 41 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Figure 6. Virginia DOT Measurement Framework for KM Outcomes (ROI = return of investment) Read the entire page →
From page 42... ... 42 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Read the entire page →

From page 17...

... 17 Guide to Agency-Wide Knowledge Management for State DOTs Implementing KM "If you don't know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else." – Yogi Berra Step 1: Assess Risks and Opportunities The ﬁrst step in implementing an agency-wide approach to KM is to identify focus areas based on an assessment of agency risks and opportunities. Purpose of a Knowledge Assessment Identify current areas of vulnerability – e.g., employees of retirement age with valuable and diﬃcult to replace knowledge.