knowledge management is dead but it won’t lie down: a 10 year review of a KIM initiative

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In the past few months I’ve heard talk of a resurgence in knowledge management.  km conferences are once again burgeoning; the UK’s Civil Service now has knowledge & information management as one of 22 recognised professions; last week while in Portugal I learned that the legal industry is now km aware; and many of my peers in the industry are finding themselves busier than ever providing advice to help organisations set up km initiatives across the globe.

One downside of providing external advice and assistance to organisations is that you are not always around to see the outcomes of your work especially when its  knowledge and information management related.  Occasionally you get the chance to get back under the covers and see how clients have implemented km style tools and techniques.

back under the covers

Such an opportunity took place at the end of December when I went back to the 7th largest global reinsurance broker (BMS) to see Phil Hill the Chief Information Officer I first worked alongside in 2001.

Reinsurance brokers are arbitrageurs: they place risk on behalf of large global organisations. They use knowledge of a client’s specific needs and apply that to find the best market to take the risk. They must know about clients and markets and manage relationships in both.

At the turn of the Millennium BMS was a top ten broker with aspirations to grow internationally and make better use of the combined knowledge of its dozen or so operating entities. It was dipping its toe into the document, records and information management waters and attempting to provide a technological backbone to support a growing demand for relevant and timely information. It had a very embryonic intranet.

Today BMS has broadened its business focus; it has expanded beyond reinsurance into underwriting working with a number of trusted partners. And it has focused much of its activity on building US based business development and transactional processing capability.  Seamless connectivity and access to internal and external information on clients, markets and BMS’ own resources are support prerequisites.

So how has it managed this transition and what are the significant milestones in its journey that has seen it become one of the most admired and technologically advanced practitioners in the market? One that is:

  • at the forefront of electronic placement; is regularly up for awards for innovation;
  • whose CIO Phil is a frequent and sought after speaker and panellist on industry platforms?

BMS is now an institution where joiners get a preloaded iPad with 24×7 access to the latest global and internal information as well as the ‘big data’ (catastrophe modelling in BMS’ case) that has become must have software in the insurance/reinsurance industry.

a decade reviewed

In the 2001 knowledge and information audit I conducted I noted that:

  • More than 60% of all items saved on the common H drive had been put in the ‘miscellaneous’ folder; there was no common terminology about how documents were to be named or catalogued; and no central place to find information on markets and clients.
  • As was common around that time there was limited collaboration between the various businesses and as a result potential for pursuing the same clients.
  • New joiners relied on traditional role shadowing and a tour of the building (s) to get up to speed.
  • BMS was spread out across a couple of locations and on different floors in a building at Aldgate which discouraged informal interactions.
  • Recognition of the concept of critical knowledge assets was a long way off and the words knowledge management dismissed as being jargon.  Busy people at the business end had no real interest in filing documents let alone thinking about how they might be reused; even in 2001 everyone expected the system to do it for them and the idea of ‘drag and drop’ from one platform to another was still in its infancy.

The shocking events of 9/11 in the US provided the ‘burning platform’ moment for a change in attitudes. Everyone wanted up to date consolidated news and opinion. The Intranet, website and content management system were approved as a combined project and with my assistance the newly formed Marketing & Communications (Marcoms) Team set about creating BMS Today and building up a cadre of volunteers willing to help identify the critical knowledge and information that should be captured and stored.

A definition or aim for the system emerged:

adopting a publish once use many basis provide a one screen view of activity with clients and the markets in which they operate and a central hub for knowledge and information on the organisation and its operations.

Here’s what BMS Today eventually became:

Intranet Home Page

Corporate Calendar

Though at the cutting edge of intranets BMS Today was not enough. The Marcoms team needed to go further to encourage knowledge sharing so concurrent with a relocation to One America Sq they began a series of Learn@Lunch and Breakfast Briefings aimed at showcasing different aspects of the business.

Still collaboration was a distant objective though the move to One America Square in 2008 did throw up an interesting opportunity to introduce social media.  One of the team (who been enrolled on a journalist programme) was deployed among the builders and fitters on site to provide a regular ‘blog from the battlements’.  Widely read at the time it provided an insight into life at the soon to be occupied premises and a metaphorical bridge to help people acclimate to the new surroundings.

One America Square enabled BMS to plan collaborative physical spaces in which to hold breakfast briefings and learn@lunch sessions. There was a lot of discussion about the efficacy of such a space.  ‘Connexions’ as it became known was a hub for meetings and with a business lounge in close proximity it enabled serendipitous meetings at the coffee machine (and water cooler) to continue in a relaxed but more formal setting.Connexions 600x400

And of course the best coffee, subsidized snacks and rapid internet access were made available to encourage traffic to the site and make external visitors feel welcome.

changing focus & new technologies

A change of focus combined with the arrival of disruptive technology proved a challenge and an opportunity. The broking teams needed improved access to information on the move and an easy way to demonstrate the modelling systems that enable risk to be better evaluated. But technology costs and the benefits of investment are not always easy to quantify. So CIO Phil (aided and abetted by Philip Gibson of Sparknow) used a traditional storytelling technique and the idea of developing a set of personae as a way of illustrating what BMS’ world might look like in a few years time if some technological improvements were introduced. Here’s an extract from one of the scenarios:

Jade Thompson is 35 and has worked in the London Market for 14 years. She has agreed to join BMS as a senior underwriter, moving on from one of the big managing agents. She wants to work for a company that really supports her initiative and drive – not one that swaddles her in red tape.

The week before Jade joins, she receives at home via courier a package from BMS.

Inside she finds an iPad, with a BMS logo with the slogan: “Using clever technology”. There’s also an iPhone, also with a BMS logo and her name.

She reads the attached note, welcoming her to BMS and giving her the logon and password information she needs to use the equipment. “Wow!” she says to herself, “this is great – they really know how to make you feel special.” Jade switches on the iPad and logs on as instructed. There‘s an icon on the first screen, “Welcome”. Touching the icon starts a video of the CEO welcoming her to the company. Various members of the board and HR provide insights into BMS and what she might expect in her first few days.

There is also a pointer to other information on the iPad, such as all aspects of the induction procedure including health and safety. Thrilling, she thinks to herself…

This scenario has come to fruition thanks to the investment in technology (in this case iPads) made by the BMS board which has continued to support further development on BMS Today and a decade on, this is where many of the ideas and initiatives outlined above merge.

BMS Box Office Soon all 9 BMS offices will be able to log into the new intranet irrespective of domicile. It will meet the original aim of providing a one screen view of all activity with a client as well as providing real time access to the latest social media applications and real time information.

Submission to the corporate document storage system is a simple drag and drop process that recognises and acknowledges peoples preference for an Outlook Mail style filing BMS Searchstructure. ‘Stuff’ can be easily located via a search engine that accesses all operating systems via iPads which permit electronic placement.

 

takeaways

The team and I drew on techniques found in business development, communications, marketing, information and project management, engagement, facilitation as well as knowledge management to provide an infrastructure and ways of working that formed a backdrop to the continued expansion and development of the business.

Many who work in the knowledge & information arena would recognise most of the above activities, its what they do on a regular basis.  Yet at no point during the years I worked alongside the team at BMS was km used as a phrase or established as a discipline.

That a decade on BMS is thriving is an illustration that km by any name takes time but has value.

And finally by way of acknowledgement I should mention the names of those people with whom I worked most closely during my time as Advisor.  They were from BMS: Phil Hill, CIO; Roger Cooper, COO; Jeff Martin, Director; Anne-Marie Hawtin, Manager; and John Spencer Former CEO. From Intranet Focus: Martin White, CEO.

eat or heat: making the most of surplus food in 2013

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A perfect food storm in 2013?

The rising cost of energy, food and transport combined with an effective reduction in disposable incomes meant many people went without this Christmas. Add in the Government’s drive for savings in the benefits budget, the cap on housing benefit and insufficient social housing and there are all the ingredients for the perfect food storm in 2013.  For the first time food is being delivered to centres in Lewes and there is talk of a Food Bank being set up mirroring initiatives in Uckfield, Heathfield, Hailsham and across the South. Many are now making eat or heat decisions and the growth in the incidence of food shoplifting bears witness to an increasing sense of desperation.

FareShare, Foodbanks and Plan Zheroes

Schemes such as FareShare (surplus food logistics) and Tressell Trust (Food Banks) tackle this need by redistributing surplus packaged food and tinned goods donated by supermarkets, food outlets and faith centres that would otherwise have gone straight to landfill.  Despite this the UK Food industry still sends millions of tonnes of prepared and cooked food to waste each year.  A group of London citizens believed it didn’t have to be this way and set up Plan Zheroes a charitable organisation that helps redistribute surplus food from restaurants,  food retailers, cafes and supermarkets to charities who then use it to feed those who are struggling to feed themselves.

Its so simple: the donor registers as a regular or occasional donor and indicates what surplus they are likely to have and when; the recipient registers to receive food specifying the type and quantity they are likely to require and how they’d like to pick it up or receive it.

Plan Zheroes in Sussex

Now this scheme is operating in Sussex and this Monday the V-Project set up in Lewes by a group of youngsters keen to provide a space for peer mentoring became the first recipient charity to sign up to take surplus food from Lewes based donors, East Sussex County Council, The Pelham Arms and Le Magasin.

In partnership with FareShare, Brighton, PlanZheroes is working on setting up new supply chains in Newhaven with NCDA and The Foyer (Salvation Army Housing Association residence for young people) and Uckfield.  More charity recipients and food donors are needed in Brighton, Lewes, Newhaven and Uckfield; all it takes is a couple of minutes to register on the PlanZheroes food map which you can find via their website.

One of our strongest supporters has been Councillor Ruth O’Keeffe who apart from promoting the Plan Zheroes initiative via her Radio Lewes programme has set up a meeting early in 2013 to try and consolidate all the various actitivities around making use of surplus food: Ruth helped launch the FareShare deliveries to Lewes and works tirelessly to ensure the less fortunate members of her consituencies have food on their tables.

And finally during a visit to Waitrose Lewes on Sunday afternoon I came across dozens of ‘unwanted’ red cabbages that were marked down in price.  Thanks to one of the partners Nikki we are now in dialogue with their local management about enrolling them as an occasional donor working alongside their other surplus food distribution channels.

an Austrian war hero, surplus food and corporate social responsibility

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Lotti Henley is remarkable. She was described earlier this year by the London Sustainable Development Commission as:

‘…an 86 year old war hero; an Austrian aristocrat who was forced to eat scraps of food from bins to survive during the Second World War...She says her lasting memory of hunger is the motivation behind her new campaign, Plan Zheroes, which aims to link up hundreds of shops, supermarkets and other food outlets across the capital with local charities in need of free food.’

I met Lotti on Thursday when she hosted the Plan Zheroes weekly team meeting. Articulate, witty and sharp she is an inspiration exuding the passion common in the volunteers who make up the PZ network.  And she makes a great soup!

Other than describing to the group the process by which I set up and run the Lewes Knowledge Cafe (encouragingly they’ve turned it into a blueprint for future sessions) I was there to hear about PZ’s continued progress in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility.  And its impressive.

Plan Zheroes have developed and run programmes for organisations who invest in corporate social responsibility. In short, organisations who care: about the environment in which they work; their staff; and their impact on the local community. And the programmes tick many of the boxes CSR/HR/Marketing professionals look for in running an event:

The formats are brilliantly simple:

  • One off team building events for 150 or so wherein teams compete to see who can sign up the most food outlets and charities to the Plan Zheroes map.
  • Incremental competitive volunteering wherein staff use ‘CSR’ time to sign up outlets over an extended period with progress measured on the PZ food map.

A recent event conducted for 130 graduate trainees of a construction group generated:

  • Visits to 20 charities, all of who are now registered as recipients of food.
  • Contact with over 150 food outlets, of which 80 have now signed up to the map and are committed to giving surplus food on a regular basis.

It’s a great way for organisations to make a tangible difference and bring a CSR initiative to life and one of PZ’s biggest supporters Paul UK has just won the 2012 Springboard Award for Excellence for Corporate Social Responsibility.

Back in Sussex, I am about to meet a local volunteer organisation who are keen to be the first to sign up to the PZ map and donate surplus food. Expect an announcement shortly. I’m told it takes time to get early adopters willing to donate surplus food, charities willing to accept the food and intermediaries willing to bridge the logistics gap.

Food Banks: from Chicago to Coventry

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On Tuesday night the BBC ran a programme about a food bank in Coventry. Last night I attended a thought provoking lecture at Chatham House on the future prospects for the US economy. I intend to show you why I think the two are connected.

Dr DeAnne Julius the speaker at Chatham House is an influential economist on both sides of ‘The Pond’ and was a founding member of the UK’s Monetary Policy Committee.  Her assessment of what the incoming President will face over the next four years is chilling:

  • Continued low growth of 2% p.a. and high unemployment of above 8%;
  • Increased inequality between haves and have nots resulting in children being tied to the social class of their parents, signalling in effect the death of the American dream – no longer will the next generation be better off than the last;
  • Deadlocked legislature placing a constraint on the President resulting in increased State level involvement who will implement experimental local policies and taxes; and
  • Continued growth of voluntary sector (church groups and baby boomers with time on their hands) as middle and low income jobs are replaced by technology and, with increased globalisation, outsourced to lower cost markets.

The demographic similarities with the UK are striking: fewer young people going to University; a growth in the number of single parent families; a rise in short term and part time contracts; graduates doing unpaid internships (where they can get them) as a precursor to employment; and a declining population supporting an aging population with unsustainable pensions and benefits.  One in six Americans are on food stamps and US debt is at historically high levels being 7% of GDP (remember those aspirational times in Europe when country debt was not supposed to exceed 3% of GDP).

You get the picture: the recovery in the US will be long and painful for an increasing number; more and more people will end up relying on food handouts and support; and it is less likely that any recovery in the UK will be fuelled by one from the US.

Britain’s Hidden Hungry broadcast on Tuesday night investigated the growing importance of charity foodbanks to thousands of hungry people across the UK by following the stories of three users of a foodbank in Coventry. Here’s a taster:

Care-leaver Charlotte eats just one meal a day. It’s all she can afford, so she starves herself till evening. Sandra, middle class mother of five, is embarrassed that all she can give her son for his school packed lunch is bread and butter. Middle manager Kelly, mother of two, hasn’t eaten for two days. Meet Britain’s hidden hungry – and they’re not what you’d expect.

As of 2012, more than 170,000 people are believed to be dependent on a chain of 300 foodbanks run by a Christian charity, the Trussell Trust.

 

Coventry food bank volunteeers (courtesy of BBC)

 

 

A month ago I ran a Knowledge Cafe in Lewes that looked at the potential to make better use of surplus food using a model developed by Plan Zheroes in London. Among those attending were volunteers from church groups, councils and local interest groups. There was broad agreement that with next April’s changes to housing and benefit entitlement there would be an increase in the number of people torn between food and heating or children’s clothing. As the write up said quoting local councillor Ruth O’Keeffe, ‘this is a theme which has reached its moment… there is definitely a need for this’. 

Just down the road Newhaven shoppers have been doing their bit to help (mirroring one approach shown on the BBC programme). ‘Generous shoppers in Newhaven help to donate 6,000 meals to needy’ was the headline in the local Sussex Express applauding the joint efforts of Sainsbury’s and FareShare in giving food for onward distribution to those who need it.

Next week I will be attending my first PlanZheroes meeting in London.  My aim is to see how (having established there is an issue to be addressed in Sussex and beyond) the PZ Map can augment the excellent efforts already in place and mobilise additional surplus food.  Watch this space and please if you are interested in helping get in touch.

 

 

 

 

“four legs bad two legs better”: when people leave they take their knowledge with them…

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One of the big topics that comes up time and again in conversations with businesses is how to handle the loss of knowledge when people leave or get relocated. I took these notes during an interview a couple of months back with a former CEO about how he felt having exited the business after 8 years at the helm:

Too often an outgoing official feels let down by the process: using an analogy from Animal Farm, he described the environment in the aftermath of his departure as being ‘four legs bad two legs better’. The new team had little interest in understanding how decisions had been reached and maintaining the networks he considered it vital to maintain.

I remember reading Animal Farm a couple of times: the pigs take control and the mantra changes from ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ to ‘four legs good, two legs better’ as they adopt the practices of the old regime they’d previously rubbished.  It was a vivid illustration of how damaging a process leaving a business can be.

It’s not just about suddenly making provision to capture knowledge for people about to leave. Effective knowledge retention starts when a new member of staff joins: they bring fresh ideas and in many cases experiences that can be valuable additions to an organization’s corporate memory. It continues throughout their tenure (when they are involved in projects, have to make decisions, handle difficult situations, engage with stakeholders, develop policy, etc) and beyond – when they leave to become part of the alumni network.

As part of my ongoing association with Sparknow we are going to be running a knowledge retention masterclass in Singapore. To find out more about that and look at the latest blog on this subject posted today on Sparknow’s site please go to ‘knowledge retention in Asia’

It promises to be an exciting few months.