[Sigkm-l] KM Audits

[Jack Bryar]

We have a fairly detailed and efficient methodology for generating such audits. 

I must say, however that the information gathering process is hard to automate. People rarely appreciate what they know & don't know. It really requires 1:1 questioning, and use of followup questions. 

In addition, there are certain "corporate politics" issues which need to be acknowledged. People are not pre-disposed to revealing their information gathering and communication chains. The more impersonal the process of information gathering, the less that will be revealed. Better to make sure you get the information rather than worrying about lowering the cost of gathering it. By far the biggest cost is not getting complete, accurate information.

Jack Bryar
Practice Leader, & Knowledge Officer
Knowledge Consulting Services
NewsEdge, a Thomson Company  

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark A Montgomery [mailto:montgomery_mark at juno.com]
Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 12:41 PM
To: kris.burk at mail.state.ky.us
Cc: sigkm-l at asis.org
Subject: Re: [Sigkm-l] KM Audits


There have been many questions on knowledge audits on-line with few
answers. 

One of the reasons (sadly) is that we have few mechanisms that reward
sharing our most valuable knowledge, and an audit is one of those issues
that represents a substantial portion of the entire body of knowledge for
the consultant (s), whether an individual, team, or organization. In
addition, audits are very confidential, every one I've ever been involved
with requires an nondisclosure agreement for all parties engaged due to
the need to discover and analyze the most sensitive information within
the subject.

We've been working for some time on automating as much of the process
that we find optimum, which is of course a substantial investment that
must be protected, but is only one piece (albeit an essential building
block) of a comprehensive knowledge system.  However, I can share some
personal and general thoughts that may be of some assistance.

Generally speaking about audits ( off the top- sorry I don't have time to
really dig into it ) -

Like any consulting type audit of an organization's processes, structure,
situation,  tools, etc., the audit is an investigative analysis that
attempts to find specific answers to questions (truths) regarding the
topic at hand, eventually providing a critical mass of
information/answers that provide the audit team with a broad accurate
picture of the situation. 

The investigative process should ultimately lead the audit team to
specific conclusions and recommendations for the client. 

Each specific audit topic has specific challenges. From a visual
perspective, each of the specific audits (IT, Marketing, Accounting)
should look like smaller circles overlapping each other with a full blown
organizational audit overlapping all areas. Ideally, the knowledge audit
team leader should have experience with organizational audits.

Knowledge audits are very challenging because it is a multi- disciplinary
field of study that includes several critical areas, each of which
requires substantial knowledge and experience to perform, including at a
minimum: IT organization and systems,  organizational dynamics/culture,
human resources, library & IS, training/education/learning,
communications, intellectual property/law, business & competitive
intelligence. I am also interested in finances, executive office culture
and views, marketing and other areas depending on how the org is
structured.

So you can see that from my perspective, knowledge audits should start
with the existing organizational chart/structure so that the audit can be
tailored to the organization. In large organizations, no question in my
mind that it requires a carefully selected audit team, with a very
exceptional team leader (breadth and depth), and a client team that is
assigned to the task, preferably led by the CEO. 

Audits are a fantastic learning experience, but this is not an area where
experience, education, and/or certification on a resume at this point of
the field's maturity will necessarily reveal a strong audit team. 

Best of luck with your education and your audit!

Mark Montgomery
Founder
KYield



On Fri, 12 Apr 2002 08:16:58 -0400 kris.burk at mail.state.ky.us writes:
> I am a Graduate Student in a Library and Information Science Program
> studying Knowledge Management.  Starting in May, as an independent 
> study, I
> will be conducting an evaluation of an IT corporation's knowledge 
> resources
> (knowledge audit).  Any advice, processes, or resources that anyone 
> would be
> willing to share with me or point me to while I begin planning for 
> the
> initiative?
> 
> Kristiana Burk
> kris.burk at mail.state.ky.us
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Sigkm-l mailing list
> Sigkm-l at asis.org
> http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigkm-l


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