Knowledge Brokers New Zealand Speaking

Maybe you know this as something else, but although the art and science of Knowledge Management Planning is not well known, it is a fundamental strategic planning process, using what we know, to differentiate our businesses. With it we can accelerate our businesses profits to far greater heights than our contemporaries, and put our business beyond the reach of any competitor in the marketplace.

It is most often thought of as just explicit Knowledge like registered designs, patents, franchises, licenses, copyrights, trademarks, service marks and brands that can allow you clear space in the marketplace.

That registerable intellectual property [IP] is just 20% of it. But the remaining 80% is tacit or implicit invisible Knowledge and the real, albeit silent, workhorse of our businesses.

Service and operations cannot be separated from ‘how’ they are performed and it is the acts of doing that Knowledge Management Planning covers.

Think of this simple cake analogy – information is in the list of ingredients, Knowledge is in the recipe and service and operations is in the act of doing or making, and the cake is the product of having done.

It stands to reason that if you follow a recipe for a chocolate cake, you will not end up delivering a Madeira cake. Knowledge, service and operations are inextricable linked together.

Consider more ideas about service and operations -

Services and operations are intangible. They cannot be seen or felt or heard.
The customer cannot sample before buying - So managing & planning how things are done is vital.

A service or operations provider cannot be separated from personnel who are providing it. This creates a distribution problem.
In most instances, the customer has to come to the place of service, or the provider has to go to the customer. But the link must be maintained so clear Knowledge of where service or operations is to be performed is sometimes an issue. Offsite or in-house may change your ability to deliver on you promise.

Because the service or operations are inseparable from personnel, there can be great variation in the quality of service provided.
One mechanic at your favourite service station may be exceptionally good and another not, and every great mechanic has an occasional bad day, where service quality suffers. Strategic Knowledge Management Planning [KMP] provides processes and procedures to even out and to deal with this.

Service and operations are perishable. They tend to be only available for a very limited time, and then it become valueless.
Seats on today’s 10.15 flights to Dunedin are worthless at 10.30; today’s urgent delivery is not urgent if it arrives tomorrow. Clear Knowledge management of ‘when’ service or an operation is to be performed is often important.

Service and operations are based on ‘How, what, when, where, why you do things’ and they requires strategic Knowledge Management Planning to maximise value.

For example - Take say the Knowledge of ‘when’ and an office cleaning company. A clean office is a thing, it’s a product you can see and touch etc. - overnight cleaning, is a service or operation.

Strategic Knowledge Management Planning might suggest ‘Midnight Cleaning’ is something that could become a differentiated registered service-marked brand, that clearly stakes out its ownership of a particular service, and therefore becomes a package that is easier to sell, and more profitable.

Knowledge Management Planning - Gives you back time and money:

Create re-usable models and links to knowledge so tasks can be designed by the best brains but delegated to lower cost personnel for action or at least not reinvented. Higher cost staff can be then be released for higher value tasks.
World Bank claim that over 70% of the worlds business is service for pay - so learn something once; manage it strategically, and use it many times. Knowledge can be yours forever.
All organisations are constantly learning but it is more valuable if it doesn’t mean discovering and learning the same things over and over again. Do it once and put it in an accessible Knowledge archive.

KMP Makes you money:

Most products are available from a cheaper supplier but ‘how you do things’ separates you from the opposition. Adding the ‘how’ and the ‘you’ elements can add value. Think of how you are served at a petrol station – if the operator would smile, which is free, or serve you quickly, at a service station pump, would that be enough to get you to return to that place, next time you need a fill? How you operate makes a difference – so mange that process under a Plan.

Locking the opposition out of opportunities by registered designs, patents, franchises, licenses, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, brands can allow you clear space in the marketplace. Send a strong signal that it is your property and you will fight to protect it. The example above of ‘Midnight Cleaning’ differentiated you and is a service that customers can only buy from you if you service market and branded it.

When you make a product and sell it, it is no longer yours. When you sell know-how you still know it, and can sell or lease it again and again, if you structure the sale correctly.

Knowledge Management Planning Saves you money:

Whereas ad hoc methods cannot be replicated, if there is a process you can replicate it and analyse it to reduce costs or to add value.
The cost of training may seem high but the cost of not training is always highest.
Sometimes it’s as simple as know-who to ask, for instance who the best supplier is can save time and money. That’s ‘know-who’ in Knowledge Management Planning terms, staff need to have a place in your systems for it.

Each organisation requires explicit knowledge like brands, trademarks, patents etc and implicit Knowledge - a blend of people, processes and technology.

If you remember nothing more than this – it will help you.
Knowledge Management Planning goes through a 7 step process;

Auditing – list what you know, by each person, each process and each technology.
Coding – common language labels, cross indexed, so you can sort it, with a good chance of retrieval as needed.
Gap analysis – pretty obvious, what don’t you know, that you need know.
Storage and archiving – it’s intangible remember, so this is not as simple as it first might seem. If you cant list what you know then at least list who knows things, and who can work things out for others.
Linking - connecting supply to needs and users.
Marketing – the strategic core reasoning for doing it all, to achieve the organisations goals!
Ultimately valuing – you will be amazed about how much extra money there is in most businesses once you use proactive Knowledge Management Planning.

I hope this will encourage you to look at your own people, processes and technology and to establish your own Knowledge Management Plan. I can help.

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