Thought Leader

By JOANNA GOODMAN, business journalist

Compelling reasons to measure KM
As Melissie Clemmons Rumizen puts it in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knowledge Management: “You get what you measure.”

In a presentation at I-KNOW in 2004, Gita Haghi of Hewlett Packard made an effective case for knowledge-management (KM) measurement, stating: “Measurement tells us whether our KM programmes are meeting their targets. Ongoing measurement and analysis will tell us if KM is doing what it is supposed to do. The value and results of KM programmes are only hypothetical unless their effectiveness and their impact on one’s business are measured. By defining and publicising our measures, we also encourage employees to behave in ways that contribute to the achievement of KM results.” KM measurement:

Demonstrates how KM supports the organisation in achieving its business objectives;
Identifies how and where KM programmes and activities add value throughout the organisation;
Shows the extent to which KM strategies are being implemented;
Highlights KM deficits;
Identifies what is and isn’t working and where more attention is needed; and
Communicates KM strategy throughout the enterprise.

Justifying continued investment in KM activities
KM activities, particularly those involving introducing and maintaining new technology and enterprise-wide knowledge resources and changing processes, practices and behaviours, are notoriously costly. In today’s fast moving, technology-driven, highly competitive business environment, few enterprises have the luxury of allocating resources to internal programmes and initiatives such as KM without being required to demonstrate their value. KM measurement provides the metrics to justify the ongoing costs of knowledge resources and initiative to management and other stakeholders, who are looking for hard-dollar returns. Without measurable success – as demonstrated through cost-benefits analysis – support for KM activities is unlikely to continue. Furthermore as KM increasingly focuses on connectivity and relevance, it often takes time to deliver a significant return, so progress and outcomes need to be monitored and communicated from the outset.

Gaining leadership buy-in and support
Measurement is critical to gaining and retaining leadership support for KM and ensuring a commitment to the continued allocation of resources. To get the best return on any KM initiative or programme, it is essential that senior managers recognise the value of KM and are prepared to commit resources to it. Pilot projects and specific knowledge-based initiatives that achieve demonstrable returns provide the numbers that management need to convince them of the actual and potential benefits.

This is an extract taken from the Ark Group report, ‘Measuring the value of knowledge management’, by Joanna Goodman, a freelance journalist and business writer. She can be contacted at joanna.goodman@btinternet.com. For more information on Ark Group reports, please contact Adam Scrimshire at ascrimshire@ark-group.com.