Driving business improvement through knowledge-sharing

by iandi_manager on 20th October 2009

Benchmarking is a popular way to define "good practice", measure performance and identify gaps, however these activities can sometime contribute to reducing collaboration between business units and departments by generating a "league table" mentality. Rather than sharing what they know, people start to hoard knowledge because it gives them an advantage over their peers - "knowledge is power". When it comes to the gap analysis, employees can feel that unrealistic targets are imposed on them, with no buy-in and no support to reach out to, resulting in a challenge for implementing change.

This challenge was addressed by Chris Collison and Geoff Purcell whilst at BP, a corporate member of i&i since August 2008. A new approach to benchmarking and self assessment was developed there which overcame these negative aspects and resulted in good practices being discovered and shared. Chris then moved to Centrica (an i&i Member since

April 2009), as Director of Change and Knowledge Management, where this same approach was successfully applied as part of the knowledge-sharing strategy for the group. This approach was called "Performance Improvement benchmarking" and was later adopted by the i&i Members Community of Practice to identify opportunities for learning and sharing across the membership and make valuable connections within the network.

As well as creating a network for business improvement and innovation collaboration, i&i is addressing the challenges faced by business to create environments where:

    * people are willing to ask for help,
    * people network and collaborate to tackle problems,
    * technology helps people to find expertise and information instantly,
    * lessons learned are really learned - not just "lessons identified"
    * people take the time to learn before, during and after activities - because they see the benefits
    * leaders reinforce this through their actions and words

Within the i&i Community of Practice, we believe that ‘knowledge-sharing is power’.

The next Community Network Meeting on the 19th November, has been organised for i&i Members to come together and learn from those that have walked the path already, deploying new approaches to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable the adoption of insights and experiences related to business improvement.

There are many schools of thought on Knowledge Management disciplines and a myriad of books, papers and academic debates have been published over the years, however this meeting will not focus on these debates but on the practical and actionable insights that can be gained from the approaches taken in business and the lessons learned along the way.

Learn from case studies at npower and Credit Suisse. Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning expert Chris Collison will also share the latest lessons learned in the application of this approach in both the private and public sector across an exciting range of case studies including BP, Oracle, UNAIDS, the NHS and Nationwide Building Society.

Where: Covent Garden, London

When: 19th November

Community Network Meetings are a service provided for the membership. A limited number of spaces are available to guests of the network by invitation only. To request an invitation, call +44 (0) 870 145 1616, or complete the form below.

“The purpose of knowledge management is to provide support for improved decision making and innovation throughout the organisation. This is achieved through the effective management of human intuition and experience augmented by the provision of information, processes and technology together with training and mentoring programmes.”

David Snowden

Summary: The next Community Network Meeting on the 19th November, driving business improvement through knowledge-sharing, has been organised for i&i Members to come together and learn from those that have walked the path already.

Contact Name: Sophie Smiles

Contact Phone No: +44 (0) 870 145 1616