Managing Knowledge-Based Initiatives

Acknowledgements
Preface
Meet Our Panel of Experts
Section I: Laying the Groundwork
Chapter 1: Baseline Points of Understanding
Gates and Paths
Framing Your Work
Overlaying a Technology and Support Context
Framing: Easier or More Difficult for Knowledge Practitioners?
Engaging First is Key
How You’ll Benefit From Engaging First
Knowledge, Organizational, or Project Management?
Funding Factors
The PMO Factor
The Organizational Design/Alignment Factor
Terms and Definitions in TITLE
Committees
Firm, Corporation, Organization, Company
Friendly Faces
Knowledge Management
How This Book is Organized
Seize the Day
Section II: Ready, Set, Go
Chapter 2: Before You Get Started
Common Misconceptions
Understanding Your Momentum
Isolating Change Factors
Participation
Standards
Scope
Shared Responsibility
Evaluating Your Company From the Outside
Expert Q&A: Joe McGhee
Questions You Should Be Able to Answer
Broad Strokes: Where to Find What You Need
Financial Performance
Evaluating the State of KM Inside Your Company
Where Do You Live?
What Is Your Work Considered?
How Mature is Knowledge Management in Your Firm?
Perception of Knowledge-Based Work in Your Firm
Section III: Organizational Alignment
Chapter 3: Understanding and Mapping Organizational Alignment
Do You See the Big Picture?
What an Aligned Organization Looks Like
Why Firms Care About Organizational Alignment
Alignment Artifacts
Demonstrable Alignment Increases Buy In
The Mission Statement
The Vision Statement
The Values and Beliefs Statement
Example: Ten Things Google Has Found to be True
Operating Imperatives, Goals and Activities
Mapping from Top-Down, or Bottom-Up
Example: Acme Medical Supplies
Why It Pays to Map Backwards
Likely Candidates for Alignment with Knowledge-Based Initiatives
Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
Reduced Administrative Expense
Efficiency
Protection of Firm Assets
Disaster Recovery
Increased Project Governance
Merging of Cultures
Enhancing the Customer Experience
Competitive Intelligence
When Organizational Alignment is a Challenge
How Aligned is Your Organization?
Seeking Alignment in the Unaligned Organization
Do You Need Alternative Alignment?
Identifying Centers of Power at Your Firm
If Your Alignment Isn’t Clear
When Non-Alignment May be Acceptable
Executive Point of View: Michael Jackman
Section IV: Support: Who is on Your Side?
Chapter 4: Executive Sponsorship and Network Building
Cooperative Executive or Executive Sponsor'Telling the Difference
Degrees of Sponsorship
Reaching Up and Out to a Remote Executive Sponsor
What Do You Know About Your Executive Sponsor?
Why Your Sponsor Fills That Role
Resources and Influence
The Buzz
Negotiating Executive Give and Take
Which Areas Will Your Executive Sponsor Help With?
Concept Development
Funding
Politics
Referral
Mentorship
What Does Your Executive Sponsor Expect of You?
Just Ask
What Success Means
Administrative Minutia
Metrics
Your Turn to Support
Five Questions to Ask Your Executive Sponsor
Other Supporters
Executive Advice on Building a Network
Your Own Network Survey
Chapter 5: Executive Sponsorship from the Executive Point of View
Approaching an Executive Sponsor
The Value of Channels
What Sponsorship Means
The Sponsorship World According to McGhee
The Nuts and Bolts of Sponsorship from Michael Jackman
Jane Niederberger’s Rules of the Road
The Question of Money
Sponsorship Tips
Thoughts From the Top
Entrepreneurship, Big Champions and Small Victories
Entrepreneurship, Big Champions and Small Victories
Communication
Style and Choice are Key
Corporate Code, No. Acronyms, Yes.
Cultures and Subcultures
Thoughts on Resistance
When People Want to Shut You Down
It’s Not Personal
Relationships and Behavior Count
Section V: The Value of a Value Prop
Chapter 6: Value Prop 101
Value Proposition Interdependencies
What is a Value Proposition?
Executive Points of View: Jane Niederberger and Santi Kumar
General and Targeted Value Props
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Looking at the Value in Value Proposition
Value Prop: Public or Private?
Before You Begin
Conducting a Cultural Landscape Analysis
Moving From Generic Value to Targeted Value
Planning and Tracking Your Activities: How Value Props Can Help
Developing a Targeted Value Proposition
Step 1: Know Your Constituents
Direct Constituents
Indirect Constituents
Identify Friendly Faces
Step 2: Identify Your Constituents’ Value Hot Buttons
The Formal Route: Alignment Artifacts
The Informal Route: What’s Really Going On
Step 3: Engage Your Executive Sponsor
Step 4: Assemble Additional PMO Artifacts
Step 5: Synthesize Value Prop Components Into Value Docs
Understanding Value Docs
Step 6: Engage Constituents
Timing is Everything
Example: Customer Intimacy at Acme Corporation
Mapping Bidirectional Streams
Chapter 7: Using Your Value Props
Sharing Value Propositions
Nurturing a Value Proposition
Leveraging Value Propositions
Protecting Value Propositions
An Incorrect Value Prop
Finding the Source
A Rebalanced Value Prop
A Diluted Value Prop
A Minimized Value Prop
An Appropriated Value Prop
Knowledge-Based Work Needs to Remain Autonomous
Not Today, Buddy
My Executive Sponsor is Bigger…
I’m Not Sure I Understand
A Repositioned Value Prop
A Rebuked Value Prop
Honoring a Value Proposition
Section VI: Executing on the Groundwork
Chapter 8: Committees, Committees, Committees
Committee Tips
Committees are Just Human, After All
Search Proactively
Help is (Hopefully) Nearby
Engaging Your Legal Department
Your Committee Scavenger Hunt
Follow the Headcount and the Money
Sign-Off in Your Work Area
Committees That Govern the Activities of Your Prime Customers
Supporting Resources
Technology Related Committees
Non-IT Compliance
Funding Escalation Committees
Ongoing Initiatives
Making Sense of the Committees
Grouping Committees
Independent or Defined by Process
Crucial, Procedural, Optional, Irrelevant
The Working Mechanics
Administrative Details
Fishing for Details
Who is Who?
The Importance of Timing
Post-Committee Engagement
Chapter 9: Working with PMOs
More Knowledge, Less Paperwork
Accountability, Sarbanes-Oxley, and PMOs
What is the History of Your PMO
Natural Affinities Between PMOs and Knowledge-Based Work
Making It To Your Corporate Project Roadmap
A Strong Business Case Increases Odds of Longevity
The Importance of a Comprehensive Cost-Benefit Analysis
ROI Figures in Prioritization
Juggling Multiple PMOs
What to Think About First
Can You Just Ignore the PMO?
Barter, Trade, Delay
Funding Creativity: Not a Bad Thing
The Early Bird
Relationships as Key
How Much About Project Management Do You Need to Know?
Triple Constraint: The Questions You Should Always Be Able to Answer
Get On Board: The Customer Experience
Chapter 10: Making Sense of Dollars and Cents
Finance, Procurement and ROI
Before You Begin
Locate Support in Your Network
Locate Pre-existing Staff
Get Organized
Finance and Budgets: How do You Get Money?
High Level Guiding Principles
Questions You Must Be Able to Answer
Unwritten Rules
Use of Surplus Funds
Surplus Consequences
Intentional Overestimation
Intentional Underestimation
Procurement: How Do You Spend Money?
What Procurement Does
Typical Procurement Areas of Influence
Preferred Vendors
Subcontracting Relationships
RFP/RFQ Process and Timelines
Single Sourcing
Supporting Documentation
Procurement as a Supporter
Vendor Relations
Purchase Order Process Details
ROI: What was the Return on the Money You Spent?
Executive Point of View: Jane Niederberger and ROI
ROI Standards
Creativity in ROI?
What ROI Means at Your Firm
Who Cares About ROI at Your Firm
When and What is Actually Used?
Playing Both Ends
Get Help From the Outside
The KM Community at Large
Vendor Assistance
What the Joneses are Up To
Chapter 11: IT – Friend or Foe?
But My Solution Isn’t About Technology
Why You Need IT in Your Court
Learning to Speak IT’s Language
Your Company Standards
Discovering Standard
Commonly Confused Terms and Definitions
Key Areas to Investigate
Perception of Your Work
Consultants – Can They Help?
Operation
How Much Do You Have to Understand?
Methodologies
Service Level Agreements
Your Role in SLAs
Violated SLAs May Trigger Other Inquiries
SLAs as a Compensation Factor
Typical Relevant SLAs
Change Control
Change Control as a Committee
Change Control as an Activity or Artifact
When Change Control is Violated
Typical Change Control Areas
Your Role in Change Control
Archiving: A Compliance and IT Interdependency
The Offsite Component
Determining the Cost of Archiving
Outputs: What Could Be Archived?
How Do Things Get Archived?
How Do Things Get Restored?
How Do Things Stay Safe?
Mediums and Associated Costs
Understanding Offsite Storage Cost
Chapter 12: Expert Q&A With Brandon Goldfedder
Dealing with IT Staff
Personality Traits, Strengths and Weaknesses
Management Tips for the Non-IT Perso
Changes in the World of IT That May Affect You
Communications Basics
Organizational Knowledge
What to Avoid
In Conclusion
Chapter 13: Engaging the Help Desk
Would You Want Their Job
Defining Support
What Type of Support Will Your Work Require?
The Organizational Landscape of Your Help Desk
Who Does the Help Desk Work For?
Blended Modes of Support
Keeping a Strong Relationship with the Help Desk
Why the Help Desk Must Be a Fan
What You Can Learn From the Help Desk
Help Desk and Knowledge Synergies
Engaging Help Desk Leadership
Who, Exactly, is Leadership?
High Level Leadership Must-Knows
Hidden Activities
Planning Support
Communicating: Who, Why, When, and How?
Training: Yours, Mine and Ours
Is There Help Available?
General Use Training Compared to Troubleshooting Training
How Much Do You Need to Know?
General Use Training Compared to Help Desk Process Issues
Understanding Tiers
Training Details
Your Role in Support
Process
Tips for Ensuring a Helpful Help Desk Relationship
Section VII: Communications, Salesmanship and Publicity
Chapter 14: The Corporate Red Carpet
Communications and Selling – the Same or Different?
What Does the Red Carpet Mean?
Focus on Communications
Why More Structure is Necessary Now
Why Communicate?
Communications Guidelines
Before You Begin
Resources at Your Fingertips
Beg or Borrow
Your Sponsor’s Resources
The Source Matters
Understanding Communications Vehicles Available to You
Building a Communications Plan
Who Do You Need to Reach?
Messages and ThemesDetails One or Many?
Sample Communication Plans Elements
Mapping Audiences by Value Prop Elements
Mapping Audience as Primary
Dividing by Responsibility
A Phase-Based Approach
Selling Events
Why Publicity Should Start Early
Ways to Generate Pre-Publicity
The Executive Factor
What Are You Asking For?
Preparing for an Executive Meeting
Before the Meeting
During the Meeting
After the Meeting
Your Selling and Communication Content Toolkit
Baseline Ingredients
The Elevator Pitch
The Power of Multimedia
Charting the Red Carpet at Your Firm
Speaking Opportunities
Road Shows
What Road Show Participation Means
Road Show Expense
Ensuring Your Continued Success
Communicate Constantly
Get Organized
Develop Your Own Scorecard
Network Extensively
Keep a Clipping Folder
Let Your Story Evolve – and Then Publicize It
Chapter 15: Selling Knowledge-Based Work in Real Life
Everyone Sells – and That Means You
The Executive Point of View
Dave Snowden’s Guiding Sales Principles
Do You Understand and Believe What You’re Selling?
The One True Path
Language Matters
Engage Interpreters to Enhance Credibility
Sell the Journey, Not the Destination
Fail-safe or Safe-Fail?
Basic Sales Skills Are Key
Don’t Expect Credit (Even if It’s Due)
Selling Knowledge-Based Work in Australia
Public Sector: Pressing on a Pain Point for Results
Private Sector: Enlisting Superiors at Strategic Junctures
Show and Tell in High Tech Defense
Starting Small Can Increase Sales Leverage

Biography

Raised between the Florida Gulf Coast and the Amazon rainforest, Stacy Land’s interest in Knowledge Management began early – although she didn’t call it that. Growing up among multiple languages and cultures gave her an early marker for understanding context, a lesson that served her well during her studies in comparative literature, graduate work in Linguistics, and early career as a stand-up trainer.Although she began on the technical side of solutions designed to empower and enable knowledge workers, she quickly moved into investigating the question of how to account for the most difficult to quantify variable: the human being in the equation. For the last 18 years, Stacy has maintained that knowledge-based focus, coupled with and around technology, moving between academia and business.In the mid 90s, while working for Indiana’s largest property and casualty insurance company, she led the effort to bring in the Internet, including Internet e-mail, and established the first ever web site for the Indiana-based firm. She also represented Indiana Farm Bureau as a Communications Expert in Central Asia for three weeks in conjunction with the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs and USAID. Later, at Braun Consulting, she co-founded the firm’s first Knowledge Management department, which was developed to help integrate a newly acquired practice into the existing infrastructure.In 2002, at the nation’s largest healthcare provider, Stacy led the first Enterprise Knowledge Management effort, gaining C-level consensus and rolling nearly half of the firm’s teams onto the new collaboration and content platform in less than a year. After spending a few years at a multimillion-dollar management consultancy based out of Atlanta, Georgia, heading their Knowledge Management activities, Land is currently Director of Process and Quality, Senior Medical Management at USA-based WellPoint, Inc. where she holds responsibility around process, knowledge management, and communications.