Losing weight and getting more exercise are always popular. I would propose that everyone should consider making an addition to their list. We should all try to be better knowledge managers!
Why knowledge management? Essentially, we are at a turning point in our history. The cost of storing information has dropped to essentially zero. A five terabyte drive is sold for only two or three hundred dollars. We are not at a point where there is no excuse to delete files. However, one problem remains: it takes time to manage the files.
We all know that we exercise and diet less than we like to. This is in in spite of our best intentions. It is also obvious that we either let information accumulate and clutter our drives. After a while it becomes impossible to find anything even with the best search engines. Basically, we have become buried in information. It is now obvious that better at knowledge management is easier said than done. It takes work to organize information and synthesize it into knowledge so that we make use of it at a later date. It takes even more work for it to useful to others!
A big part of the cost of managing knowledge is the preparation and organization of material, so that it can be effectively used at a later date. No report or study is produced in a vacuum. The report can only be understood with an awareness of the context surrounding its production. A key part of this is always the target readers. Many reports are initially produced with a narrow target audience in mind, yet can become useful to a wider audience if the specialized jargon and context are broadened.
How will we know if we succeed? The first test will be how long it takes to find your own reports. However, the ultimate proof will come if individuals are able find and using your reports without having to ask you for a copy.
So I know what one of my New Years Resolutions will be!
 |
| The Knowledge Management Question is whether to scan these documents in or throw them out |
