Stuart Rance wrote in a
blog “Knowledge only has value when it is available to someone, either
because they remember it or because they are guided towards it at the time they
need it”. One of the key elements in support of CSI is Knowledge
Management. An organization must continually gather knowledge about its
services and support processes in order to look for trends, find improvement
opportunities and develop strategies that will move them into the future.
The philosopher and essayist George Santayana wrote, “Those that cannot
remember the past are doomed to repeat it”.
In today’s reality of
increased rates of change, increased employee turnover, increased access to
information and greater market completion it is ever more critical to build
meaningful knowledge bases that allow an organization can create and capture
value by insuring that data, information, knowledge and wisdom are being
brought forward to benefit how and what the ITSM organization does to support
business outcomes.
Through this
undertaking, we can optimize the benefits of these lessons learned and in turn:
- Enhance the organizations overall effectiveness by basing decisions on this valid information and knowledge.
- Encourage greater customer supplier relationships, through increased cooperation from mutually advantageous experiences and information.
- Continually improved ITSM and business processes from lessons learned from previous iterations and changes.
There are two important
elements that all organizations must engage in order for there to be a
successful Knowledge Management / CSI initiative:
- Open culture, which maybe one of the more difficult undertakings to accomplish, because it so heavily relies on people changing the way people think and act with one another. Best practices, lessons learned and tribal knowledge has to be shared across individuals, groups, departments and the whole organization. This practice needs to be encouraged and rewarded, so involvement from the HR department can be essential for its success. Growing the knowledge base for all will present opportunities for all to grow and learn.
- Infrastructure will be needed to support this open culture. This can come in the form of technical application or systems which enable and enhance the ability to record, store and share knowledge and experiences. It also can be in the form of processes which allow individuals to have a defined methodology for ensuring these activities take place.
Data, information and
knowledge can be captured throughout the entire lifecycle. It is critical
that it be gathered, recorded, organized and accessible by all stakeholders.
Using best practice Knowledge Management techniques ensures it enhances any CSI
initiative.
In addition to education
opportunities be sure to check out some of the resources at this site: www.itsmacademy.com
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