Knowledge Management   Internal Knowledge Management International Data Corporation estimates the cost of knowledge deficit at Fortune 500 companies to work out to about $5000 per knowledge worker per year. This is money wasted on repeated efforts, time taken to search out information, etc. An internal knowledge management system documents all research and procedures, and makes that information easily accessible to your knowledge workers. Some key points for an internal knowledge management system: It must be simple to update and maintain on a daily basis: The easier it is for your engineers to contribute to it and keep it updated, the more successful the system will be. It must be searchable, so that people looking for a particular type of information can find it quickly. A push system is better than a pull system. People who are known to need particular types of information will be alerted to additions, rather than relying on them to look for it regularly. If left to it’s own devices, Knowledge… Tends to puddle: Instead of the reservoir we want, we get small puddles all over the place. Comes and Goes: Without a plan, one person tends to become an Information Concierge. Too much rides on that one person. If unplanned, departmental managers make the information decisions. Their focus is not company-wide, but on their immediate departmental tasks. Interdepartmental Communication (IDC) suffers, because "need to know" decisions are made within too narrow a focus. The Plan: All knowledge is relayed up the chain. A knowledge manager makes sure the knowledge is available, and a process is in place to efficiently distribute that knowledge to all people who need it.
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