Getting Management Buy-in For KM
The objective of this collaborative research project is to discover a variety of strategies for getting management buy-in for knowledge management initiatives. It covers both senior and middle management levels.
In the first phase of this project, we are gathering examples from the practical experience of knowledge management practitioners, where buy-in has been sought, whether or not the attempt was successful. Some early contributions from the ACT-KM Forum are listed below, and you are invited to make your own contribution here.
In the second phase, we will be working with the material gathered and KM practitioners in a number of locations (Singapore, Australia, maybe more) to identify issues, themes and potential approaches. We’ll be using techniques developed by the Cognitive Edge (formerly Cynefin) network.
The results and a write-up of the methodology will be made available to participants and the ACT-KM community. (For an example of an earlier research project about online community culture, see this article).
PLEASE REVIEW THE EXAMPLES BELOW AND ADD A CONTRIBUTION FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE.
You can anonymise the details or refer to an incident “in an organisation you know”. The main thing we want is a description of the incident itself and its consequences, good, bad or interesting. While you might feel like reflecting more generally on what happened or might have happened, we are more interested in the actual story of what happened than getting advice at this stage on how to approach managers for support. The following prompt questions may help:
- Give an example of a time when you needed support from managers for a KM initiative, and either succeeded or failed in getting it
- How have you tried to enlist support for a specific KM initiative? What happened?
- Describe a time when you met challenges from managers while trying to implement a KM initiative. How did you address these challenges? What was the outcome?
- What support or lack of support do you get from managers in your organisation right now in relation to KM? Give an example.
Due to the number of contributions on this page, we have now opened up a supplementary page here.
Many thanks for your participation!
34 Contributions
Experience of getting mgt by in. Examples ofKnowledge Manager positions created :
Office Equipment Co
Joined in the Services Branch in a unit specifically set up to deal with Knowledge Management - Unit included a Business Analyst, Industrial Psychologist, and Knowledge Management Expert (me, last person recruited to the group)Getting buy in - the Mgr who set up the unit, had come up through the ranks, suppose was trusted by the Snr Mgt, was persuasive in selling ideas, a Knowledge approach possibly sold as an effective way to compete in the market (Xerox had implemented a KM program), also he teamed up with the Training Division Mgr(group responsible for trained the service techs) - together they sold the concept, and got the buy in to employ three people.
There wasn’t much evidence of the process / or scope around the objectives of the unit or how it related to the rest of the organisation
The Mgr, left six weeks after I joined. There was no leadership or advocate to carry KM didn’t really take off.
Health NGO
Joined a Health NGO as the Knowledge Manager part of the Mgt TeamGetting buy in - the NGO needed to radically change the way it did things (due to increasing costs, govt requirement to service a wider area) etc, a Snr Director together with the CEO drove process to rethink the service delivery model. This consultative approach over a long period of time (about a year) - the Snr Director was the one behind making the NGO focus on knowledge as a key asset and effective way to delivery services. Snr Director - articulate good and selling ideas, and carried out endless consultations across the organisation, - the Board approved the strategic direction where distribution, contribution to knowledge / information were essential processes, and the Snr Director got the go ahead to appoint a Knowledge Mgr.
In both cases, the mgt buy in, came about through convincing advocates who got to some extend what KM is about, but were not experts, and there was an organisational need for something different, new to happen.
- Nirmala
Here is a simple analogy that I use....
If your destination is the customer…
The roadmap, the business strategy…
The vehicle, the organization…
The champion, the CEO
The engine, the employees…
And the wheels, the business processes…What is the fuel that your business runs on? ("Knowledge!", some bright people may scream out...)
Now, you decide whether this fuel has to be managed or not!
It obviously can’t be managed directly, but the things it’s embedded in (tools, processes, routines, information objects) and the people who play with it and move it around can be managed… and in many cases need to be, if the destination, roadmap, vehicle, engine etc are all to play their roles successfully
- Han van Loon
One of the best ways to getting management buy-in is to directly tie the KM initiative to the business strategy (as Nirmala states), by taking some goals from the strategic plan (or equivalent) and making these the ultimate goals of the KM initiative.
If you can show a direct link on how KM will contribute to the business goals, then it makes it easier for senior managers short of time to quickly read and approve the basics of the KM initiative and for the KM team to get a senior management sponsor and funding.
Agree absolutely - this is our standard approach. It works for senior management buy-in - but what about managers lower down in the organisation, who are less concerned with strategic direction and more with meeting operational goals?
- Han van Loon
The answer is to ask a simple question. “Are the lower level managers aligning their operational goals with the enterprise’s strategic goals?”
If they are not, then they have a problem justifying their operations w.r.t. the enterprise goals and you can help them by giving them knowledge of how to do this.
If they are aligned, then the KM initiative should address some of these goals too. I describe some of these aspects in the STARS book, particularly addressing some of the strategic and operational alignment (and management) aspects, but also the human aspects such as enlightened self interest (that helps others).
- Nirmala
Thanks a lot for the response, Patrick.
I am pondering over your response and what it means in terms of KM strategy formulation and have initiated a related post on my blog as well. Would be thrilled to see your comments on it…
I have been working on a simple premise to get buy-in:
Know how management measures success and arrange KM initiatives to support, enhance, or deliver those measures.
- source of information: Long-term and strategic plans, reports, exhortations, key indicators of successKnow how management grades it’s own performance and you’ll get their attention when you mention something they have to improve for themselves
- source of information: job descriptions or ads, annual reports, speeches, and boss obsessions.On a related item, I work on some generally-recognized KM rules of thumb that give shape to how I approach KM. I recently posted this to my boss and she loved it...it became a framework for identifying and critiquing KM projects. You don’t have to use these ROTs in your work (feel free to write your own!). I did this to create a structure to the flood of in vitro IT projects and “KM” initiatives that were being dumped on my lap.
KM Rules of Thumb
1. Write Once - Use Many Times and Ways
2. Learn and Use Your Institution’s Language of Success
a. Identify what top brass think is important/valuable knowledge and how they measure it
b. Build KM Metrics on Goals
c. Prioritize Info-Flow Problems that are Mission-Critical
3. Seek Feedback from All Quarters
4. No Time to “Do Over”
5. Connect KM to daily work
6. Eat an Elephant One Bite at a Time
7. Plan Convergences Carefully
8. Personalize the Experience of Each Knowledge Worker
9. Protect the Body of Information, Change the Clothing Regularly
10. Don’t Set the Interface in Stone - Throw it out there and modify constantly
11. Rollouts are overrated. Virally Promote the Projects and Grow Support One User at a Time
12. Build Lexicons, Taxonomies, and Dictionaries: They are the Glue that Knowledge Sticks to
13. Circle Back Continuously on Usability
14. The Most Successful Adoption is Done Quietly Without Force
15. The Seemingly Simplest Project May Have the Largest Impact
16. Consider Sustainability Issues When Viewing a Project
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Mark Schenk’s email reminded me of this project. I’m a typical lurker but think this is a very worthwhile sharing.
I have been in this knowledge management role for five and half years and going stronger every year. It’s blessing and it’s also bloody hardwork in the lifecyle of getting management buy-in.
I work in a utility company where ageing workforce and retaining skilled employees have been issues, not only to KM but also to HR and operations. Senior managers support the concept of leveraging and transfer of knowledge for the long-term of the organisation. However, getting drivers and input had been a twisted learning curve.
On top of my head:
- dont have too many fancy words and concepts - keep it simple.
- Dont flaunt KM as it doesnt mean much to them - show them the outcomes achieved by using this process
- Deliver or complete the actions that you promised them
- Continuously be on top of the politics, strategies and people movement
- involve them and other key stakeholders in introducing or chairing knowledge sharing forums, particularly those with a large audience to raise their visibility
- expose them to different technology transfer sessions that have external stakeholders who compliment on the knowledge sharing outcomes
- cant stress enough about working groups, enrol the cluey people in the possibility of doing things differently and they will spread the words for you. I cant thank them enough for word-of-mouth as they are usually technical specialists. And specialists network and listen to other specialists that they trust.
- Make sure KM is an item on the General Manager’s performance agreement or a organisation strategy, possibly on perennial basis
- Align, align, align! with relevant projects and business functions
- Choose a supportive upline management, that’s a bit of luck
- ensure you’ve obtained funding and find out all the ways to align to the funding path. Money talks.
(Happy to talk offline about projects etc as there’s a lot on. If you’re in Australia, tel: 08-9420 2103)
Posted on September 20, 2006 at 03:30 PM | Contribution permalink