Using technology to capture an organization’s knowledge and stop reinventing the wheel
In the summer of 1998, when knowledge management was gaining momentum as a conscious business strategy for many organizations, DDI executives came to the realization that what was inside the heads of their associates was as important to their future as the products and services they sell.
DDI (Development Dimensions International) is a global HR consulting firm, headquartered in Pittsburgh with offices in Canada, that specializes in recruitment and leadership development. It was estimated that associates had about half the information needed to do their jobs and spent 30 per cent of their time looking for the other half. And so, it became an organizational imperative to do a better job of managing knowledge.
Specifically, the company sought to examine how it collected, shared and applied organizational information and associate experiences. It needed to manage information in a way that provided value to its customers, increased sales and enhanced productivity.
The vision
To help drive and facilitate knowledge creation, sharing, and use, DDI established the knowledge management group (KMG) in the fall of 1998. The new department combined knowledge management resources and the corporate library into one co-ordinated team reporting to the senior vice-president of marketing.
KMG was responsible for championing knowledge management, managing knowledge-sharing processes, managing areas of knowledge and maintaining partnerships with many other key areas within the company, including human resources and management information systems.
In the spring of 1999, KMG was asked by the executive team to develop a solution for sales and delivery associates that would accomplish three knowledge management objectives:
•ensure product and service integrity by standardizing and sharing best thinking and best practices;
•stop reinventing the wheel by capturing and sharing what and where things have been done; and
•make it easier to find people who have specific knowledge.
After researching the best practices in knowledge management, benchmarking with recognized experts, and analysing user requirements, the knowledge management group finalized the vision for KnowledgeLink, a knowledge management system that enabled the capturing and sharing of knowledge across the organization and would allow the company to learn from others’ successes, while at the same time anticipating and avoiding their pitfalls.
The solution
Culminating more than a year’s worth of effort, KnowledgeLink is a Web-based set of tools that helps employees sell and deliver products, services and solutions. As an up-to-date information delivery medium, it allows any associate in any part of the world to immediately access the same information as associates located at the headquarters.
It makes all time-sensitive information, such as sales strategies, competitive positioning, marketing literature, pricing, product launches, proposals, project information, client success stories, research and resources available instantly to every associate. Prior to KnowledgeLink, sales associates were bombarded with information from many sources as products and services were introduced or updated.
When information was needed, associates were not sure the information they had was current often necessitating a phone call to corporate headquarters. KnowledgeLink serves as a central source of information available just-in-time and accessible 24 hours-a-day. Information is stored and updated in one location, thereby improving efficiency and accuracy.
Since sales and delivery resources are largely remote, this significantly improves workflow and reduces the cost of information dissemination, storage, postage and telephone charges, and eliminates errors made through the use of outdated information. DDI is a global company so this is a critical means to share information worldwide among its 1,000 associates.
The KnowledgeLink system serves not only as a just-in-time resource for sales and delivery associates, but also as a learning and education tool during ramp-up or development.
Rather than needing to interact directly with a technical guru or attend a training session in order to understand technologies and solutions, associates can view the approach, current thinking and best practices for any company capability, product or service directly on KnowledgeLink.
This encourages personal and professional development on an ongoing basis without the need for formal educational events. As one associate commented, “KnowledgeLink contains most if not all of the information I need to do my job as well as expand my knowledge.”
KnowledgeLink consists of a simple, yet comprehensive underlying architecture containing four key elements:
•What do we do? Describes the company’s approach to delivering solutions that create real customer value with expertise in more than 10 capabilities and 30 products and services.
•How do we do it? Offers support tools and guidelines to efficiently follow the core business process of selling and delivering solutions.
•Who are our partners? Provides sites that showcase corporate partners and clients.
•What are the results? Offers sites and links to quickly access bottom-line information.
To meet user requirements, DDI aimed to keep KnowledgeLink:
•Simple and intuitive — The site offers easy-to-use navigation, screen interfaces and site tools. A site map defines the architecture of KnowledgeLink. A site index provides an alphabetical overview of KnowledgeLink with links to appropriate sites.
•Easy to use — There are multiple ways to access information and a help section answers FAQs about KnowledgeLink. A standard header and footer follows users throughout the system to provide easy access to other sites, search tools and KnowledgeLink home. Direct links to frequently accessed sites are included on a sidebar.
•Searchable — Failsafe search mechanisms quickly and easily retrieve information. Search capabilities are incorporated into all of the site’s html pages, databases and PDF files. A fast find feature allows associates to easily search the entire system for a word or phrase. Advanced search options are available for more targeted or expanded searching. Drop-down boxes are provided to enable users to quickly select a corporate capability or product or service.
Two unique features are the “All Capabilities Page,” used to quickly view and link to all company capabilities and the “All Products/Services Page,” a database-driven set of search tools to quickly and efficiently locate the specific product, service or module that will meet a client’s needs through six unique sort and search options.
Also provided on the KnowledgeLink site is an innovative search engine that provides users the ability to search a select group of Web sites that provide interesting useful information. This search engine in essence allows specialized topic access to information on the Web without having to wade through the massive result sets that often appear when using large Internet search engines such as Alta Vista, Lycos or NorthernLight.
•Responsive — A Web-based document management tool called “Inside Information” allows users to search a database of documents, review background records, then view and print the documents.
Built using SQL Server, it serves as the backbone of KnowledgeLink and houses all the PDF and related documents that the system accesses. These include articles, brochures, price sheets, presentations, proposals, project summaries, client success stories and so on. By querying directly into this database, it is possible to present up-to-the-minute document access throughout KnowledgeLink with minimal maintenance.
•Functional — The use of templates and cascading style sheets ensures consistency of content. For example, a set of templates is used within the “What do we do?” portion of KnowledgeLink. Each product, service or capability is populated dynamically using tables and underlying scripts to create a set of quick-loading “tabbed” pages for the user, accomplished without the use of graphics.
Whether the user is in a product, service or capability on KnowledgeLink, he will find the following structure with these common categories (tabs) of information: DDI Approach, Competitive Intelligence, Sales Tools, Delivery Tools, Project Information, Research, Client Results and Related Products/Services. Just clicking on a tab takes the user to the relevant content. This unique process allows for ease-of-content maintenance while presenting knowledge in a user-friendly format.
Another productivity enhancement is the ability to download original files. By clicking on “Download Original File(s)” available from the cover records of certain document types like proposals or presentations, the files will download onto the user’s hard drive for customizing. This ensures up-to-date versions of presentations and proposals are used, capitalizes on previous successes and minimizes rework.
KnowledgeLink uses technology to bring information together in a unique manner, enabling employees to easily find information and perform their jobs better.
Lessons learned
The results of KnowledgeLink have exceeded expectations. Employees around the world have provided enthusiastic feedback. One international associate commented, “Amazing stuff, everyone here is raving about KnowledgeLink... (it) has really stopped the ‘let’s reinvent the wheel’ syndrome.” Management agrees that the system has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of sales and delivery, which positively impacts customer satisfaction and profitability.
The system also helps to ensure technology integrity of projects by standardizing and sharing best thinking and practices. Pete Weaver, DDI’s chief technology officer, has made this prediction, “KnowledgeLink has the potential to vault DDI past all of our competitors and probably most of our customers as well. It’s going to make DDI an even bigger competitive threat.”
DDI recognized the value of human capital and has learned that technology can enable knowledge sharing and performance improvements by creating a system that expands intellectual assets and improves organizational performance.
Karen Lee Colteryahn is the manager of knowledge management for Development Dimensions International, www.ddiworld.com. She can be reached at (412)257-0600 or at [email protected].
DDI (Development Dimensions International) is a global HR consulting firm, headquartered in Pittsburgh with offices in Canada, that specializes in recruitment and leadership development. It was estimated that associates had about half the information needed to do their jobs and spent 30 per cent of their time looking for the other half. And so, it became an organizational imperative to do a better job of managing knowledge.
Specifically, the company sought to examine how it collected, shared and applied organizational information and associate experiences. It needed to manage information in a way that provided value to its customers, increased sales and enhanced productivity.
The vision
To help drive and facilitate knowledge creation, sharing, and use, DDI established the knowledge management group (KMG) in the fall of 1998. The new department combined knowledge management resources and the corporate library into one co-ordinated team reporting to the senior vice-president of marketing.
KMG was responsible for championing knowledge management, managing knowledge-sharing processes, managing areas of knowledge and maintaining partnerships with many other key areas within the company, including human resources and management information systems.
In the spring of 1999, KMG was asked by the executive team to develop a solution for sales and delivery associates that would accomplish three knowledge management objectives:
•ensure product and service integrity by standardizing and sharing best thinking and best practices;
•stop reinventing the wheel by capturing and sharing what and where things have been done; and
•make it easier to find people who have specific knowledge.
After researching the best practices in knowledge management, benchmarking with recognized experts, and analysing user requirements, the knowledge management group finalized the vision for KnowledgeLink, a knowledge management system that enabled the capturing and sharing of knowledge across the organization and would allow the company to learn from others’ successes, while at the same time anticipating and avoiding their pitfalls.
The solution
Culminating more than a year’s worth of effort, KnowledgeLink is a Web-based set of tools that helps employees sell and deliver products, services and solutions. As an up-to-date information delivery medium, it allows any associate in any part of the world to immediately access the same information as associates located at the headquarters.
It makes all time-sensitive information, such as sales strategies, competitive positioning, marketing literature, pricing, product launches, proposals, project information, client success stories, research and resources available instantly to every associate. Prior to KnowledgeLink, sales associates were bombarded with information from many sources as products and services were introduced or updated.
When information was needed, associates were not sure the information they had was current often necessitating a phone call to corporate headquarters. KnowledgeLink serves as a central source of information available just-in-time and accessible 24 hours-a-day. Information is stored and updated in one location, thereby improving efficiency and accuracy.
Since sales and delivery resources are largely remote, this significantly improves workflow and reduces the cost of information dissemination, storage, postage and telephone charges, and eliminates errors made through the use of outdated information. DDI is a global company so this is a critical means to share information worldwide among its 1,000 associates.
The KnowledgeLink system serves not only as a just-in-time resource for sales and delivery associates, but also as a learning and education tool during ramp-up or development.
Rather than needing to interact directly with a technical guru or attend a training session in order to understand technologies and solutions, associates can view the approach, current thinking and best practices for any company capability, product or service directly on KnowledgeLink.
This encourages personal and professional development on an ongoing basis without the need for formal educational events. As one associate commented, “KnowledgeLink contains most if not all of the information I need to do my job as well as expand my knowledge.”
KnowledgeLink consists of a simple, yet comprehensive underlying architecture containing four key elements:
•What do we do? Describes the company’s approach to delivering solutions that create real customer value with expertise in more than 10 capabilities and 30 products and services.
•How do we do it? Offers support tools and guidelines to efficiently follow the core business process of selling and delivering solutions.
•Who are our partners? Provides sites that showcase corporate partners and clients.
•What are the results? Offers sites and links to quickly access bottom-line information.
To meet user requirements, DDI aimed to keep KnowledgeLink:
•Simple and intuitive — The site offers easy-to-use navigation, screen interfaces and site tools. A site map defines the architecture of KnowledgeLink. A site index provides an alphabetical overview of KnowledgeLink with links to appropriate sites.
•Easy to use — There are multiple ways to access information and a help section answers FAQs about KnowledgeLink. A standard header and footer follows users throughout the system to provide easy access to other sites, search tools and KnowledgeLink home. Direct links to frequently accessed sites are included on a sidebar.
•Searchable — Failsafe search mechanisms quickly and easily retrieve information. Search capabilities are incorporated into all of the site’s html pages, databases and PDF files. A fast find feature allows associates to easily search the entire system for a word or phrase. Advanced search options are available for more targeted or expanded searching. Drop-down boxes are provided to enable users to quickly select a corporate capability or product or service.
Two unique features are the “All Capabilities Page,” used to quickly view and link to all company capabilities and the “All Products/Services Page,” a database-driven set of search tools to quickly and efficiently locate the specific product, service or module that will meet a client’s needs through six unique sort and search options.
Also provided on the KnowledgeLink site is an innovative search engine that provides users the ability to search a select group of Web sites that provide interesting useful information. This search engine in essence allows specialized topic access to information on the Web without having to wade through the massive result sets that often appear when using large Internet search engines such as Alta Vista, Lycos or NorthernLight.
•Responsive — A Web-based document management tool called “Inside Information” allows users to search a database of documents, review background records, then view and print the documents.
Built using SQL Server, it serves as the backbone of KnowledgeLink and houses all the PDF and related documents that the system accesses. These include articles, brochures, price sheets, presentations, proposals, project summaries, client success stories and so on. By querying directly into this database, it is possible to present up-to-the-minute document access throughout KnowledgeLink with minimal maintenance.
•Functional — The use of templates and cascading style sheets ensures consistency of content. For example, a set of templates is used within the “What do we do?” portion of KnowledgeLink. Each product, service or capability is populated dynamically using tables and underlying scripts to create a set of quick-loading “tabbed” pages for the user, accomplished without the use of graphics.
Whether the user is in a product, service or capability on KnowledgeLink, he will find the following structure with these common categories (tabs) of information: DDI Approach, Competitive Intelligence, Sales Tools, Delivery Tools, Project Information, Research, Client Results and Related Products/Services. Just clicking on a tab takes the user to the relevant content. This unique process allows for ease-of-content maintenance while presenting knowledge in a user-friendly format.
Another productivity enhancement is the ability to download original files. By clicking on “Download Original File(s)” available from the cover records of certain document types like proposals or presentations, the files will download onto the user’s hard drive for customizing. This ensures up-to-date versions of presentations and proposals are used, capitalizes on previous successes and minimizes rework.
KnowledgeLink uses technology to bring information together in a unique manner, enabling employees to easily find information and perform their jobs better.
Lessons learned
The results of KnowledgeLink have exceeded expectations. Employees around the world have provided enthusiastic feedback. One international associate commented, “Amazing stuff, everyone here is raving about KnowledgeLink... (it) has really stopped the ‘let’s reinvent the wheel’ syndrome.” Management agrees that the system has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of sales and delivery, which positively impacts customer satisfaction and profitability.
The system also helps to ensure technology integrity of projects by standardizing and sharing best thinking and practices. Pete Weaver, DDI’s chief technology officer, has made this prediction, “KnowledgeLink has the potential to vault DDI past all of our competitors and probably most of our customers as well. It’s going to make DDI an even bigger competitive threat.”
DDI recognized the value of human capital and has learned that technology can enable knowledge sharing and performance improvements by creating a system that expands intellectual assets and improves organizational performance.
Karen Lee Colteryahn is the manager of knowledge management for Development Dimensions International, www.ddiworld.com. She can be reached at (412)257-0600 or at [email protected].
