Learning Interactions: The Missing Key to KM Success
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

The value of knowledge within an organisation is directly linked to how effectively workers interact with and share that knowledge. Despite years of development, knowledge management tools have yet to fully deliver seamless and effective transfer of knowledge. Could better understanding and integration of the principles of distance learning be the missing factor that can improve KM satisfaction and results?

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Despite the explosive growth in the ways in which we can share information with each other, many organisations continue to be frustrated with the slow progress of knowledge management. In recent customer interviews with enterprise customers, I've even learned that some organisations have taken the step of banning the phrase "knowledge management" from their lexicons, due to the ongoing frustrations of making meaningful progress.

Whilst researching the second edition of "Teach Beyond Your Reach", my book on distance learning, it struck me that a missing element may be the application of distance learning principles to KM initiatives. KM can, after all, be understood as a learning programme: KM instructs workers on where and how to access and apply existing knowledge to current problems.

Reframed as a learning challenge, KM can then benefit from an understanding of the types of interaction essential for meaningful learning experiences.

Interactions of Learning

Learning is not about transfer of information. It is about interaction. For any learning experience, there are three types of interactions that cement and deepen learning. Figure 1 shows these types of interactions.

Figure 1

Interaction with content is the part most of us think about when we consider a learning experience. Software designed to support KM often organises, connects, indexes and delivers content – links to experts, case analyses, guidance on documentation, etc. If that were all it took to create effective KM, then the software would have solved the problem long ago.

The second type – interaction with peers – makes intuitive sense when considering knowledge management. The challenge organisations face is how to make sure everyone "knows what we know", so connecting workers with the full range of their peers who can help them solve the problems on their desks is critical to KM success.

However, interaction with peers does not happen simply because the tools to enable interaction exist. As frequently noted about enterprise collaboration tools, building it is no guarantee that they will come. Effective and consistent interaction with peers has to be fostered by participants and guides.

The third type of interaction is rarely visible in KM programmes: "Interaction with instructor" sounds like something better suited to a formal learning programme than a KM initiative. But "instructor" can mean far more than the person who delivers the content lectures (and in fact should very rarely be the "sage on the stage"), and the instructor role in a KM programme can provide focus, momentum and measurable outcomes.

Within the context of KM, the "instructor":

• Identifies gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed
• Sources content to fill those gaps
• Initiates and fosters interaction amongst peers to support the learning experience
• Evaluates work product and programme results to determine next steps

This role is likely to be played by multiple individuals at any given time. In fact, an "instructor team" is the likeliest approach to success for an organisation with more than a few employees and more than a single location.

Organisations that have knowledge managers, knowledge management officers, heads of knowledge management and similar roles built into their structure may already have the right staff to support this third type of interaction. The key is to understand how best to activate it – and the other two types of interactions – in order to achieve success.

So how might these interactions be applied to different informal learning structures to achieve KM goals? The next article in this series looks through the lens of distance learning interactions to improve a common KM tool: the community of practice.

Articles in series:

• Learning Interactions: The Missing Key to KM Success
• Improving Communities of Practice through Distance Learning Principles
• Distance Learning Has Arrived

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