Knowledge Management Toolkit

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT This Knowledge Management Toolkit has been created by the SDC Knowledge and Learning Processes Division in cooperation with Agridea Lindau. This toolkit is available in English only. Short versions in the form of a Vademecum are available in English, German, French, and Spanish. All texts are also available on the Internet www.daretoshare.ch For further information, please contact one of the members of the Department Knowledge and Learning Processes, [email protected] Published by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Federal of Foreign Affairs (FFA) www.deza.admin.ch Available from SDC Knowledge and Learning Processes Division Freiburgstrasse 130 CH-3003 Berne E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +4131 322 35 79 Fax +4131 324 13 47 Editors SDC, Knowledge and Learning Processes Division, 3003 Bern Ernst Bolliger, Agridea, 8315 Lindau Layout Annemarie Weishaupt, Nicole Moser (Cover) AGRIDEA, 8315 Lindau Photos Karina Muench, 8000 Zurich Copyright SDC 2009 ❑ We know that well proven ❑ methods and knowledge are With many other organisa- ➜ We want to available tions, we are connected and sum up the ➜ As publisher maintain a constructive and ❑ results and the We do have a lot of freedom of the present trusting relationship in organising our work experience of toolkit, the ❑ Reviews, evaluations and our activities, ❑ Only rarely (if ever) do we Knowledge studies help us to under- and to present ask our colleagues about and Learn- stand our activities and their them in a form their experience ing Processes effects that is easy to Division of ❑ We allow ourselves little time ❑ understand SDC supports However, we ourselves do for reading and for not always become aware of ➜ We want our sharing our experience the sharing of knowledge and what in fact we have learnt products to be ❑ We take little time to de- skills ❑ Still we know that sharing available to scribe our own work requires a real interest in the our partner realistically, and to look at it experience of other people organisations critically Our organisation is a Our organisation is learning organisation interconnected Introductory remarks to the toolkit «Sharing Knowledge and Learning» SDC Bern, July 2009 Jörg Frieden, Manuel Flury Our organisation is Our organisation strives closely related to practice for effectiveness ➜ Collaborators ❑ Obtaining the desired effect of SDC use is the best argument for get- ➜ tried and true ting the support necessary This toolkit ❑ A variety of methods exists, methods them- for our activities makes available the meth- and they are easy to apply selves and re- ❑ By making use of know- ods pro ven ❑ We constantly use new flect on them ledge proven in practice, we in practice, methods ➜ will be effective By applying the and thus sup- ❑ Sometimes we become tired methods, we ❑ However, in practice our ports efficient of using new methods and experience the les sons learnt and our and effective keep away from innovations added value successful experience are sharing of they produce not sufficiently taken into knowledge for our practical account when planning fu- work ture activities Contents Contents After Action Review .........................................................................................1 Balanced Scorecard ....................................................................................... 5 Brainstorming ................................................................................................9 Briefing and Debriefing ................................................................................ 15 Collegial Coaching ......................................................................................19 Community of Practice (CoP) ........................................................................ 23 Exit Interviews .............................................................................................. 29 Experience Capitalization ............................................................................. 33 Facilitation ...................................................................................................41 Good Practice ..............................................................................................47 Knowledge Fair ............................................................................................53 Knowledge Map........................................................................................... 57 Knowledge Networks ................................................................................... 63 Lessons Learnt ............................................................................................ 67 Mentoring ................................................................................................... 71 Open Space ................................................................................................ 79 Peer Assist / Peer Review ...............................................................................85 Storytelling .................................................................................................. 91 SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) .................................. 97 Visualisation .............................................................................................. 101 World Café ................................................................................................107 Yellow Pages ..............................................................................................113 Methods for Knowledge Management and their Specific Suitability ...............117 SDC Knowledge Management Toolkit After Action Review After Action Review So as not to regret, but to look back, understand and go on. What are after action reviews? An after action review (AAR) is a discussion of a project or an activity that enables the individuals involved to learn for themselves what happens, why it happened, what went well, what needs improvement and what lessons can be learned from the experience. The spirit of an AAR is one of openness and learning – it is not about problem fixing or allocating blame. Lessons learned are not only tacitly shared on the spot by the individuals involved, but can be explicitly documented and shared with a wider audience. After action reviews were originally developed and are extensively used by the US Army. What are the benefits? What makes after action reviews so powerful is that they can be applied across a wide spectrum of activities, from two individuals conducting a five minute AAR at the end of a short meeting to a day-long AAR held by a project team at the end of a large project. Activities suitable for AARs simply need to have a beginning and an end, an identifiable purpose and some basis on which performance can be assessed. Other than that, there are few limits. Some examples of when to use an AAR are: when you have introduced a new set of procedures or ways of working; after a busy winter season in which capacity was stretched; following the introduction of a new computer system; after a major training activity; after a shift handover; following a piece of research or a clinical trial; after performing surgery; etc. AARs are excellent for making tacit knowledge explicit during the life of a project or activity and thus allowing you to capture it. Learning can be captured before a team disbands, or before people forget what happened and move on to something else. Despite the name (‘after action’), they do not have to be performed at the end of a project or activity. Rather, they can be performed after each identifiable event within a project or major activity, thus becoming a live learning process in which lessons learned can be immediately applied. In fact this is where AARs can add the greatest value. AARs provide insights into exactly what contributes to the strengths and weaknesses of a project or activity, including the performance of each individual involved, of the project leader, the team as a whole, and the various processes involved. SDC Knowledge Management Toolkit 1 After Action Review AARs are also a useful tool for developing your employees, which they do by providing constructive, directly actionable feedback in a non-threatening way because they are not linked to employee assessment. Similarly, they give people an opportunity to share their views and ideas and to be heard. How do I go about it? AARs can be grouped into three types: formal, informal and personal. Although the funda- mental approach involved in each is essentially the same, there is some variation in how they are conducted. Formal AARs tend to be conducted at the end of a major project or event (learning after do- ing). They require some preparation and planning, but are not difficult as they take the form of a simple meeting. This meeting may take place over a couple of hours or a couple of days, depending on the scale of the project. Steps and tips for successful formal AARs include: 1. Call the meeting as soon as possible and invite the right people AARs should be conducted as soon as possible after the event. The reasons are simple: memories are fresh, participants are available and where appropriate, learning can be applied immediately. As well as the project manager and the key members of the project, it may be useful to invite the project client or sponsor and also members of any project teams who are about to embark on a similar project. However, be aware that the presence of external people may inhibit some team members.

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