This is an article I’ve been working on drawn from client experiences and recent research into the areas of knowledge management leading to workforce integration and connected business strategy. Written for business leaders who are strategizing ways to leverage company knowledge, mitigate the risks of a retiring or transient workforce and build a more agile workplace this article discusses some key concepts to help with an approach.

I’ll break the article down into a multi-part posting… and I welcome your feedback…….

1 – Understand the difference between knowledge and information

Knowledge or the ‘management’ of knowledge is explained in many ways and means different things to different people.

For an organization that wishes to take greater advantage of its knowledge and expertise they have built up it is important for them to define knowledge and to distinguish it from information.

We think of information and data as anything that can be digitized or printed and stored in a system or filing cabinet. Knowledge is what can be found in people’s heads which enables them to do their job or perform a skill. Knowledge is much less tangible and much harder to capture than information. Think of it as the difference between documenting how to build a bicycle versus how to ride one.

Imagine the knowledge and information resources of your company as a carrot growing in the ground. The leafy carrot top is easy to see and represents information. The orange vegetable growing underground represents the knowledge that’s in people’s heads. The soil, containing nutrients that allows the carrot to grow represents the company’s workplace culture and environment.

When people talk about information they may be referring to storing, searching, browsing and retrieving information. Documents, folders, databases, taxonomies are all associated with information. When people talk about knowledge they may be describing actions such as talking, listening, collaborating, discovering and learning. Relationships, communication, action, experimentation and trust are all associated with developing, managing and sharing knowledge.

When the differences are considered between information and knowledge it becomes obvious that different skills and approaches are required to manage them. That is not to say there is no overlap –the use knowledge and information often go hand in hand. For example, the apprentice mechanic will often make notes and refer to an instruction manual while observing his master. The key for any company striving to be connected is to understand these differences and foster the right culture to support. Like nutrients in the soil being a necessity for the carrot to grow, workplace practices must induce the sharing of knowledge as it develops with workers performing their jobs. This is of course in addition to enabling easy access to relevant information as required.

Next: Part Four: - Know what knowledge sharing looks like

Technorati Tags: connected business,strategy,knowledge management,information management,communication,collaboration

Thanks to Shawn Callahan from www.anecdote.com for his iceberg metaphor that inspired me to use the carrot.