It’s not enough to just understand that “knowing how” generates value for the business; it’s also essential to understand which knowledge adds value to the organization.
In numerical terms, 20% of organizational knowledge generates 80% of a company’s intellectual capital, so it’s important to direct knowledge management actions to focus efforts on those critical knowledge areas that are central to the business.
The Experience of TIGO Colombia
At TIGO, based in Medellín, a knowledge management model was developed to identify critical knowledge associated with each role, develop, secure, and create it, all while aligning this model with the organization’s strategic objectives aimed at generating value. This model focused on two areas:
1) Identification of Critical Knowledge: This type of knowledge is linked to the training proposal offered by the Training School under the corporate university’s oversight.
To identify critical knowledge, the process considers the identification of experts, the processes that require the knowledge, and the roles that need the knowledge.
2) Identification of Key/Critical Roles: These roles are associated with the training itinerary assigned to that critical role. At the end of the training plan, individuals can become certified to perform that role within the company.
To identify these key roles, factors such as the processes involved, the critical activities performed by the role, the knowledge required for the activity, and the identification of experts are considered.
Not all knowledge holds the same importance for the business; in fact, some knowledge does not add value.
The criteria for validating the identification of critical knowledge and roles are based on whether a role is difficult to obtain, if few people perform it, if it has a direct impact on customer service delivery, or if it performs critical process activities.
The graph below illustrates the description:
Critical Knowledge at GMI Peru
Another significant case to include in this article is that of our client, Graña y Montero. GMI identifies critical knowledge primarily from documented experiences of past projects.
Mara del Rosario Barrena, Organizational Development Manager at GMI, explains that critical knowledge in her company refers to engineering. For example, if a project has been completed, the plans must be accessible to consult the applied knowledge. This prevents “reinventing the wheel” when someone has to work on a similar project.
Graña y Montero identifies critical knowledge mainly from documented experiences of past projects. Mara del Rosario Barrena, Organizational Development Manager at GMI, explains that critical knowledge in her company refers to engineering. For example, if a project has been completed, the plans must be accessible to consult the applied knowledge. This prevents “reinventing the wheel” when someone has to work on a similar project.
One of the pillars supporting Graña y Montero is “Business Knowledge.” As shown in the following graph, a set of Knowledge Management activities are outlined: identification, capture, organization, and dissemination of what is known.
How is knowledge identified at Graña y Montero? Fundamentally, based on documented experiences from past projects. There is also knowledge closely related to the present, with knowledge generated daily, and another necessary for addressing the future, identified based on the strategy required by the organization’s engineering business.
In this case, it involves looking at where the business is headed and, through this anticipatory exercise, visualizing what will be needed in the future.
