Knowledge management in the age of social media. Knowledge management, which is broadly defined as the identification, retention, effective use, and retirement of institutional insight, has been an elusive goal for most large organizations. It is motivated by practical business intent, such as the distribution of knowledge to avoid relearning the same best practices over and over. However, in reality it is a requirement that is remarkably difficult to attain. Some of the smartest people I have worked with have been frustrated by their efforts, not through lack of trying or ability but by the inherent challenges it presents.
The emergence and impact of social media in the enterprise forces us to rethink knowledge management and creates completely new challenges. 1. Behavioral Psychic income earned on your own time might provide incentive for Wikipedia updates, but it doesn’t often translate to well spent effort on company time. 2. Social media completely changes the existing knowledge management paradigm Related: Social Knowledge Management. Social knowledge management. Social media are not only transforming private communication & interaction, they also will transform how people work. With social media knowledge work in organizations can be optimized extremely: like a better distribution/sharing and access to knowledge. This will be more and more important, as in today's business world, speed and complexity increase dramatically, while work environments change constantly .
Social knowledge management is one of the application areas of social media in a business context next to others like sentiment analysis, social learning or social collaboration. Definition[edit] Social knowledge management can be defined as applying social media in the knowledge management context to identify, share, document, transfer, develop, use or evaluate knowledge. Benefits of social Knowledge Management[edit] Benefits are higher user-productivity & performance, when e.g. users can solve problems better & faster. Application scenarios of social Knowledge Management[edit] Social Media versus Knowledge Management - Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald. By Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald | 9:27 AM October 26, 2011 On the surface, social media and knowledge management (KM) seem very similar.
Both involve people using technology to access information. Both require individuals to create information intended for sharing. Both profess to support collaboration. But there’s a big difference. Knowledge management is what company management tells me I need to know, based on what they think is important. These definitions may sound harsh, and biased in favor of social media, and to some extent they are. But, really, is that anyone’s KM reality? KM, in practice, reflects a hierarchical view of knowledge to match the hierarchical view of the organization. Social media looks downright chaotic by comparison. It is no wonder, then, that executives, knowledge managers and software companies seek to offer tools, processes and approaches to tame social media. We’re long past the time to seek control; it’s time to engage people. Social Knowledge Management: A conversation with David Gurteen - DVD Preview. Knowledge Management: News. Knowledge Management Meets Social Business: KM is Dead, Long Live KM!
Have I mentioned recently how much I truly hate the term "social business"? Maybe hate is a bit strong, and it's really not the term, but the way it is used. However, as I was struggling to finalize my contribution to this month's Social Business theme, I was saved by a fellow author's article: Knowledge Management in 2012: Probably Dead by Roan Young (@roanyoung). How did Roan save my bacon? Well, because I really don't agree with the sentiment of his article, I get to write a rebuttal!
Roan opened his article with the following comment: "I know I'd probably receive hate emails and death threats for saying it. Knowledge Management (KM) - as we know it - is dying. Keep your cool. I have no intention of sending any hate mails, nor threats and I applaud Roan for being contentious, after all, it has provoked me into responding. Probably the key words in the sentence that ring the KM death knell are "as we know it. " KM is in Decline — Because We Can't Define It And the Answer is…