Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
FOR MAIN ROADS WA
management
T
A
WH
IS
N
K
What is Knowledge
Management?
The Australian Standard on Knowledge Management
(5037-2005) defines knowledge management as:
A trans-disciplinary approach to
improving organisational outcomes and
learning, through maximising the use
of knowledge. It involves the design,
implementation and review of social and
technological activities and processes
to improve the creating, sharing, and
applying or using of knowledge.
Knowledge management is concerned
with innovation and sharing
behaviours, managing complexity and
ambiguity through knowledge networks
and connections, exploring smart
processes, and deploying people-centric
technologies.
The traditional view of knowledge management refers to
the achievement of a combination of goals and actions
around three key areas of focus:
People
Process
Technology
However, to make this strategy more contemporary and
relevant to the Main Roads context, the three areas of
focus have been customised to be:
People
Engagement
Methodology
Refining
and
improving
The K
nowledge
Management
Cycle
Learning
from
others
Sharing
lessons
learned
What Benefits
Will This
Strategy Deliver?
Strengthening our approach to knowledge
management will have many benefits for the
future of Main Roads, some of which include:
Creating a positive workplace culture which
values the knowledge and experience of
employees and rewards them for sharing this
with others.
Increasing opportunities for innovation, creating
a free flow of ideas and working collaboratively
to build on, develop and create new knowledge.
Retention of employees who will feel more
valued and appreciated for their wealth of
knowledge and expertise, and employees who
will have better access to knowledge and the
opportunity to learn from the experts.
Retention of corporate, technical and
professional knowledge through improved
and targeted knowledge sharing practices.
Better informed and more responsive
decision making.
Putting it into
Practice: Our
Knowledge
Management Guiding
Principles
Underpinning this strategy are a number of guiding
principles:
Sharing and identifying critical knowledge and
making it available to everyone who needs it.
Building and creating new knowledge.
Storing and capturing knowledge effectively.
Rewarding and recognising those who show
initiative in sharing knowledge and provide an
incentive for others to make it part of their
work practice.
Empowering employees with the appropriate
knowledge and skills to enable them to
perform their jobs effectively.
Teamwork, to facilitate knowledge sharing
and prevent knowledge being isolated with
individuals, branches or Directorates.
Commitment, to ensure the momentum for
knowledge management is sustained and
becomes part of the organisational culture.
Creating better relationships within and
between branches and regions, with internal
and external customers and to knowledge
sources.
Innovation, striving to be creative and think
outside the box when implementing knowledge
management initiatives.
Flexibility, introducing the right knowledge
management initiative to fit the context,
people and knowledge available.
Learning by doing, so that wherever possible,
employees obtain hands-on technical
experience and can learn from direct
involvement in engineering projects.
I
G
E
T
A
STR
its
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B
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T
I
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T
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P
P
O
ppen
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wil
Our Opportunities
PEOPLe
- Supportive leadership
- Knowledge Champions
- Knowledge Management
Coordinators
- Technical knowledge Mentors
LEADERSHIP
ENGAGEMENT
- Centres of Expertise
- Communities of Practice
Campf ire knowledge sharing
- Sharing Lessons Learned
- Documenting knowledge
- Mentoring program
METHODOLoGY
- Intranet knowledge
repository
- Online discussion
board
- Electronic
records system
People:
Strong leadersh
ip/corporate culture
which
suppor ts, promotes,
encourages, values,
recognises and reward
s knowledge manage
ment
initiatives.
Knowledge Ch
ampions to provide str
ategic
direction and to drive
, guide and encourage
knowledge manageme
nt initiatives which ad
dress
the needs of their Di
rectorate.
Knowledge Ma
nagement Coordinator
s in critical
high risk functions to
facilitate the sharing
and
passing-on of experti
se.
Technical know
ledge Mentors who are
willing to
share their knowledge
and expertise with em
ployees
who want to learn.
Recognising an
d valuing individual ex
pertise and
encouraging knowled
ge sharing.
Engagement:
Centres of Expe
rtise established in cri
tical areas
to develop and promo
te best practices and
to be a
centre of expertise.
Communities of
Practice (campfire kn
owledge sharing
discussions) establis
hed around particular
projects
and specific issues to
discuss, share and lea
rn
from each other to bu
ild expertise and deve
lop
best
practice outcomes.
Capturing and
sharing lessons learne
d from each
project to share and
build up corporate tec
hnical
knowledge so these
lessons can be appli
ed
to other
projects.
Documenting kn
owledge in manuals,
repor ts and
databases as a proce
ss of storing knowled
ge that can
be easily retrieved an
d accessed by others
.
A pilot mentorin
g program in the Mid
West which will
include coaching and
mentoring training for
selected
experienced staff so
they can transfer the
ir knowledge
to new staff in an eff
ective and suppor tiv
e way.
Methodology:
Internal Intranet
sites used as a repos
itory of, and
providing links to, Br
anch, Directorate an
d Corporate
knowledge documents
, repor ts, policies, ma
nuals,
guidelines, electronic
databases, reference
material
and other information
for employees.
Online discuss
ion boards to be create
d to provide for
collaborative on-line
discussion and the sh
aring and
building of knowledge
around specific subje
cts or topics.
Electronic record
s systems which conta
in readily
accessible shared inf
ormation, which will
regularly be
updated and maintain
ed.
e
t
g
n
d
e
e
m
l
e
g
ow
a
n
n
K
Ma
Towards 2012
Opportunities
from 2k12
Knowledge Management is an enabling strategy that
applies to and underpins all of the Strategic Areas
of Focus in the Main Roads 2k12 Strategic Plan.
Examples include:
Leadership
Knowledge management directly relates to Inspiring
Leadership in three ways.
Firstly, leadership support is essential for good
knowledge management practices. Strong leadership
is required to support, promote, encourage, recognise
and reward knowledge management initiatives.
Secondly, we can all demonstrate leadership
behaviours by participating in the building of
knowledge and other knowledge management
initiatives on a regular basis, and by incorporating
these into our daily work. Simply, we all possess
valuable knowledge that, if shared, will positively
impact on Main Roads long term viability and
prosperity.
Thirdly, organisational knowledge is an invaluable
resource that can be used to guide, develop and
inform current and future leaders across Main Roads.
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