Practices

 Practices

V irtually everyone knows at least two methods of getting things done. Under normal circumstances, there’s the authorized way, which includes going through the formal procedures of discussing, planning, and conceptualizing. Then there’s the direct approach, which involves those who actually do the work. These knowledge workers can get something done when it would otherwise be impossible within the constraints imposed by the bureaucracy.

The difference in the two approaches can be described as the process practice gap. Process is routine, managed, official, and based on explicit knowledge. Practice, in contrast, is spontaneous; it sidesteps management and official channels and is based on tacit knowledge and personal connections.

As shown in Figure 4., the role of Knowledge Management is to bridge the process-practice gap. With a KM process in place, best practices quickly become new, standardized processes.



Look at the rolling text below and you will see what some major organizations are doing to manage the process-practice gap. media type="file" key="km practices.swf" width="621" height="453" align="center"

Please click for a text version of

A wide variety of practices and processes are used in knowledge management. Some of the more common ones are shown in the table below:

[[image:table1.png align="center"]]
Table 1. Practices and Processes

Back ................................................................................................................ Next (Assessment)