Committees responsible for this British Standard

The preparation of this Published Document was entrusted to Technical Committee KMs/1, Knowledge Management Systems, upon which the following bodies were represented:

British Library

Cass Business school

Commission of the European Communities

Cr2bm

CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals)

Department for Work and Pensions

eGovernment Office

King's College London

NHs Direct Online

Co-opted members

This Published Document, having been prepared under the direction of die Standards Policy and Strategy Committee, was published under the authority of the Standards Committee and comes into effect on 7 October 2005

Acknowledgements

Many people have helped produce this Guide and thanks are due all those who shared their experience and expertise through interviews, participation in workshops and for focus groups. We appreciate the time they so generously gave us and their ability to build on the ideas of others to formulate a Guide to Good Practice.

It is not possible to mention all the organizations we consulted but we wish to acknowledge the following who allowed us time for in-depth interviews. some of these provided the basis for the case studies included in the Guide, others provided invaluable insights into the development of knowledge working.

We would also like to thank the steering group who not only gave direction to the research and asked questions about the analysis, but also ploughed through initial drafts of the Guide and gave feedback. similarly we appreciate the feedback and comments provided by the PAs Committee.

Steeing Group members

Kate Arnold, NHs Direct Online

Nigel Oxbrow, TFPL

David snowden, The Cynefin Centre

Finally, many thanks to the team who helped research the Guide and develop the content-Val skelton, Guy Johnson and Beth Guthrie, to colleagues from TFPL who acted as sounding boards, to Carol Eddleston-the BSR's project manager who provided support with endless patience, and to Mike Rumble for his expert editing advice.

Angela Abell

Foreword

The British standards Institution (BSR) has developed a series of publications that aim to bring 'informed clarity' to the emerging management science commonly known as Knowledge Management (KM). The objective of these publications is to help managers to assess developments in KM and to identify the potential benefits of KM practices to their organizations. Organizations in both the private and public sector have developed and implemented aspects of KM. The BSI Guides are based on the experience of these organizations.

Following the first publication, Knowledge Management: a Guide to Good Practice - PAS 2001, the committee of experts (KMs/1) formed by BSI to steer and review KM publications continued to work on publications which provide in-depth coverage of different the aspects of KM covered in PAs 2001. This Guide is one of the in-depth publications.

For those with limited familiarity with KM we would recommend the first publication

PAs 2001 Knowledge Management: a Guide to Good Practice.

For those seeking more depth to specific aspects of KM the following publications are now available:

PD 7500Knowledge Management Vocabulary

PD 7501Managing culture and knowledge. Guide to good practice

PD 7502Measurements in knowledge management

PD 7503Introduction to knowledge management in construction

PD 7504Knowledge Management in the Public Sector

PD 7505Skills for knowledge working

PD 7506Making KM relevant - a guide to linking KM to other organizational functions and management processes

BSI KM publications are available at www.bsi-km.com

Summary of pages

This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i to viii, pages 1 to 100, an inside back cover and a back cover.

The BSI copyright notice displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued.

Executive Summary

In 2001 the British standards Institution published 'Knowledge Management: a guide to good practice' which provided a practical introduction to mainstream thinking in the field of Knowledge Management (KM). 'skills for knowledge working' is one in a series of Guides which expand the themes covered by the 2001 publication. It focuses on the skills and competencies required in knowledge intensive, networked organizations, and in preparing the Guide we consulted KM leaders in seventy organizations, leading KM consultants and thinkers, and reviewed current literature in a wide range of disciplines. We defined KM as 'the approaches that organizations adopt to mobilize and maximize their ideas, expertise and information in order to meet their business goals'.

Networked organizations - the context

Many organizations are using the connectivity made possible by information and communications technology (ICT) to build their operations and business relationships around networks and teams. These networks provide flexibility in the way internal resources are used; nurture a creative and innovative environment; and facilitate knowledge sharing between customers, suppliers, and regulators.

Management styles and the skills, attitudes and competencies of all staff are critical success factors in successful networked organizations and in knowledge management.

Roles in knowledge enabled organizations

Many roles contribute to the success of knowledge working, and the diverse job titles and descriptions of these roles reflect the different natures of organizations and their environments. However, five generic role groups are present in organizations with active KM approaches.

The Knowledge Worker
Knowledge conscious leaders
Knowledge strategists
Knowledge facilitators
Knowledge specialists

These roles may be filled by different individuals, comprising KM teams or job families, or one person may take on a number of the roles.

Knowledge workers

Knowledge workers are the people whose functions and activities facilitate the main business of the organization and it is proposed that all staff are knowledge workers. Their productivity and contribution to corporate capability is affected by the way they are managed and led. successful knowledge working requires a combination of skills, attitudes and behaviours in addition to professional, technical or administrative expertise. These include:

an ability and willingness to learn;
business awareness and understanding;
collaboration;
communication;
information literacy;
interpersonal skills;
leadership;
networking; and
team working.

Informal networks exist in all organizations and reflect the social characteristics of people working together. They can enable or hinder knowledge flow and KM. Managers need to understand how these networks operate in their particular environment and the different roles people play in sustaining the networks. Many organizations encourage and support formal networks and communities to realize their knowledge working benefits.

Knowledge conscious leaders

A diverse range of roles (including line and project managers, supervisors, executive and senior managers) carry the responsibility of ensuring that teams, groups, departments and organizations meet their targets and achieve their objectives. In modern organizations the competencies required of people in these roles include facilitation, leadership and coaching rather than traditional control and command techniques.

They should ensure that individuals have access to the resources they need to do their job, that work processes enable them to work to their full potential, and that individuals continue to develop appropriate skills and experience. They have a direct influence on how people behave at work and therefore on how well knowledge is created, shared and used.

Knowledge conscious leaders are critical to ensuring that the organization uses the talents of all staff and that the benefits of KM interventions are realized.

Their key skills are:

Knowledge strategists and leaders

KM strategy and direction may be developed and led by a full time 'Chief Knowledge Officer' (CKO), with or without the CKO title, or by a senior executive who takes on the CKO role as part of a broader remit. It may also be developed by a small group of individuals from different functions and business lines, who collectively design the strategy and appoint someone as a visible 'KM leader'. Whatever the approach, senior, visible KM leaders are critical to the success of KM strategies.

Their critical competencies include an outstanding knowledge of the organization and its business, leadership and influencing skills. It is essential that they are respected by their peers and have a high level of credibility amongst the people whose working practices they wish to influence.

Knowledge facilitators

Dispersed throughout the organization are people who have the explicit remit to help their colleagues find, organize, create, use and share knowledge. Their roles may be full-or part-time and designated as KM related (such as community and network facilitators, knowledge navigators, knowledge managers, knowledge stewards, etc.). Or they may be roles not explicitly aligned to KM but which contribute to the knowledge based environment (such as competitive intelligence, market research, or library and information centres).

Sample competencies for knowledge facilitators include:

Knowledge specialists

Small core teams of knowledge specialists support and promote knowledge working through the development of appropriate tools, processes and techniques. They may be made up of people in full-time roles and be a designated KM team. Equally they could be people in roles within a number of support functions who form a virtual team. These roles typically cover the main parameters of KM:

information architecture;
people development;
process design and organizational development; and
technology.

Their key skills are an understanding of the KM tools and processes available and an ability to match them to specific business problems. Other skills in these teams include:

Developing skills for knowledge working

The culture and leadership of the organization affects its knowledge working capability. KM training and development cannot be effective if senior management is not convinced by, and ready to endorse, KM approaches and processes.

Most organizations do not have specific 'KM' or 'knowledge working' training programmes, but many target the development of related KM enabling competencies, such as leadership, facilitation and communication. Workplace learning is a key feature in the development of knowledge working. Competencies and role models, coaching and mentoring, performance management, and a clear articulation of the expectation of 'knowledge working', are all used to develop appropriate behaviors. Performance management systems, which link roles to organizational objectives, enable individuals and teams to understand their contribution to corporate goals. Competency descriptions, providing a consistent and neutral language in which to discuss performance, are emerging as a basis for developing knowledge working capability.

Selection and retention policies contribute to the development of a knowledge working capability. Competency based selection, appraisals and reviews are increasingly used to aid the recruitment of people suited to a KM environment; and to ensure that people continue to develop and understand the knowledge working criteria expected of them.

The Learning Organization

KM and the Learning Organization (OL) are natural collaborators. Their approaches may differ at the strategic level but tactics, processes and actions are often similar. In some organizations the OL Director is also the CKO, or has a CKO role within their department; in others the two functions co-exist. Knowledge working is essential to enable an organization to learn, develop and adapt at the speed required by their market. The development of skills and competencies for knowledge working is, therefore, a critical success factor for today's networked, knowledge intensive organizations.

1 Scope

"The Knowledge Proposition is that significant additional stakeholder value and competitive advantage will be derived if the expertise, information and ideas of employees, partners and customers are continually developed and used in all business and decision-making processes". (Knowledge Leaders 2003) [1]

In 2001 the British standards Institution published "Knowledge Management: a guide to good practice" [2] which provided a practical introduction to mainstream thinking in the field of Knowledge Management (KM), gave an indication of some emerging thinking, and stimulated discussion. since the publication of PAs 2001 the practice of KM has continued to grow in both the private and public sectors. It is still a relatively new and evolving discipline and is developing under a number of labels, but the experience of senior management in 'KM organizations' and of KM practitioners provides a valuable knowledge and learning base.

During the past decade information and communications technology (ICT) has enabled organizations and supply chains to establish networks of diverse participants, often widely dispersed, causing management radically to re-assess ways of working. This Guide looks at the effect that KM and networked working has had on the skills and competencies required in organizations. It illustrates how organizations develop knowledge working through the development of appropriate roles, skills and competencies.

Expertise, information and ideas make up the corporate knowledge base, and people, processes and technology enable knowledge creation, flow and use. The Guide summarizes some of the experience and learning of KM and networked organizations in developing their knowledge base and knowledge flow through people.

Researching the Guide

In preparing this Guide we:

consulted the KM leaders in seventy organizations using interviews, focus groups and workshops;

reviewed current literature in a wide range of disciplines;
consulted KM consultants and thinkers; and
developed a number of short case studies.

In undertaking the research we focused on the roles, skills and competencies that 'made KM happen', but as KM is context specific we explored their development against the background of the organization, its corporate objectives and its vision for KM.

The Guide is based on empirical research. It is about people and their skills and, as this is an evolving area, we felt that a statistical research approach was not appropriate. The outcomes of the interviews and workshops are incorporated in the Guide and may help identify the questions that may need to be asked in a future quantitative study.

We noted that a key factor determining the approach organizations take to developing 'skills for knowledge working' is their level of KM maturity. so that the Guide would reflect experience rather than theory the organizations selected had all achieved some level of KM maturity (Figure 1).

It is worth noting that those organizations which felt that KM was effectively embedded in the way they worked had reached a position where every 'project' was a 'KM project'. All the criteria for effective knowledge creation, sharing, and management was part of the planning process and was in place from the outset.

The conclusions of the study are contained in the following clauses:

Clause 5 identifies the roles, skills and competencies of knowledge workers;
Clause 6 discusses knowledge conscious leadership;
Clause 7 identifies roles throughout the organization that support effective knowledge working;
Clause 8 outlines roles undertaken by knowledge specialists;
Clause 9 looks at the ways organizations are developing skills for knowledge working;
Annex A provides case studies.

2 Definitions

2.1 General definitions

2.2 Role related definitions

3 Networked organizations

3.1 General

3.2 Strategic drivers

3.3 Operational drivers

4 Developing networked organizations

4.1 The characteristics

4.2 Development

4.3 Building a corporate capability for knowledge working

4.4 Knowledge and information flows

4.5 Knowledge architecture

4.6 Supporting knowledge working

4.7 Skills for networked, knowledge intensive organizations

5 Knowledge workers — roles, skills and competencies

5.1 General

5.2 Knowledge workers

5.3 Characteristics of knowledge workers

5.4 Examples of knowledge workers

5.5 Skills and competencies for networked knowledge workers

5.6 Knowledge sharing behaviours

6 Knowledge conscious leaders

6.1 General

6.2 Board and senior management

6.3 Managers, supervisors and project managers

6.4 Skills for knowledge conscious leaders

7 Roles supporting a knowledge enabled workforce

7.1 General

7.2 Knowledge strategists/leaders

7.3 Knowledge facilitators

7.4 Skills for knowledge facilitators

8 Knowledge specialists in core teams

8.1 General

8.2 Infostructure (the core of the architecture)

8.3 Publication and curation processes

8.4 IT infrastructure

8.5 Organizational structures

8.6 Information governance

8.7 Information competencies

8.8 A change management role

8.9 The people development role

8.10 A process improvement role

8.11 Competencies for the core team

9 Developing skills for knowledge working

9.1 General

9.2 Leadership

9.3 Networking

9.4 Performance Management Systems

9.5 Learning, training and development programmes

9.6 Corporate Universities and organizational learning

9.7 Key staff development and cascade

9.8 Selection and retention

References

PD 7505:2005

Skills for knowledge working. A guide to good practice

Current

Published:

7 Oct 2005