KM when things get tough

We are all hoping that we are not in for another big recession, but the financial news this week could could indicate that more companies might get into situations where the word crisis isn't that far. In those situations the question is what will and should happen to initiatives like those focussed on managing the knowledge flow. Unfortunately in the past they got under pressure. The only thing that often counts in those situations is immediate short-term measurable value. But is it really always always, what value looks like? Is everything measurable?

But lets think about it:
- Re-inventing the wheel is a luxury
- Not learning from mistakes is a luxury
- Missing out on innovative ideas on how to be more efficient is a luxury
- Having people work in isolation and not in teams is a luxury

If things are going well you might be able to afford some luxury, but if your organization comes under pressure to be more efficient, do more with less money, do decision makers really think they can afford that type of luxury? I would argue that making best use of existing knowledge is one of the cheapest ways of saving money. Of course if people go into the decision with the view on "Knowledge Management" that starts with technology and is all about buying some "software" or building a "knowledge base", they are probably right. The return of investment might be hard to justify, and who guarantees knowledge actually gets shared. But if on the other hand you focus on some dedicated resources that really think about smart ways of how knowledge can flow from one employee to another, or how they can break down barriers for knowledge flowing, there might actually be some short-term ROI possible.

So instead of large monolithic technology constructs, that you might have a hard time to fill, look at a more holistic way on how you can manage the flow of knowledge.

There is two recommendations I have:
- smaller very focussed initiatives, that provide quick wins
- investment into 1-2 people that drive the enhancement of your knowledge flow instead of investing in technology first
- To a certain degree people are not opposed to sharing knowledge, what keeps them are certain barriers. So if you are in for a pragmatic shorter-term win, why not work on those barriers one-by-one

So in economic tough times it is just the wrong decision to cut your "knowledge management" team, they can actually be very helpful in getting you out of the slump. You will need to put some trust into them and their activities, positive effects are not always measurable immediately and to the exact amount.

To summarize:

Wrong: Kill your KM team
Correct: Build on your employee's knowledge and ideas and find ways on how you can become more effective and innovative - and best to do that with the help of people that know what they do when it comes to knowledge flows.