People bring to organizations their experiences, values, information and intuition
which cumulatively comprise a huge resource of knowledge. This knowledge is
referred to the organizational knowledge assets.

Capturing, distributing, retaining and effectively using organizational knowledge
consciously and comprehensively is crucial. It cannot be left to ad hoc practices. It
has to done systematically so that overall knowledge acquired is shared, retained
and replenished as required. This is necessary in order to enable employees to
organize and locate relevant knowledge and expertise as and when needed.

For instance, an engineer may be spending a lot of time trying to solve a technical
problem that has already been solved in the past. However, this engineer may have
no access to how this technical problem was solved. A project manager may
encounter an event that delays a project from being completed in time. This event
was not captured as a risk as the relevant people were not involved when the risk
register was developed. A company may have plans to invest into another business
but do have access to the right expertise to guide them along on what exactly are
the pitfalls they have to avoid.

The situations above typify difficulties associated with the ability to systemize the
knowledge base within and from other an organizations or people. Hence it is
necessary to be clear on what tools have to be used to gather, organize, refine and
disseminate knowledge? Where does relevant knowledge originate from and
where is it destined for? What knowledge is critical to an organization? How is this
knowledge organized, shared and retained?

Coming to grips with the above requires a relook at how knowledge is being
managed in an organization. It calls for a comprehensive reassessment of the key
resource people bring to an organization, their knowledge and developing
mechanisms to optimize this resource to stay ahead of the competition.
What is needed is a framework for managing knowledge. Such a framework should
be developed after due consideration is given to the business and operational
needs of the organization.

Developing a framework involves six steps. They include:

1. Establish the desired outcome
2. Clarify the scope in terms of where to focus and the approach to be adopted
3. Specify the main focus, overall approach and time frame required
4. Identify the issues and stakeholders involved
5. Analyze areas for improvement, areas of strength and existing limitations
6. Recommend proposed immediate, short term and long term action plans
based on the analysis carried out

Adopting this six step approach simplifies the process of developing a framework
that is customized and adapted to suit the immediate needs of an organization. It
also provides focus on what is really important at the point in time the knowledge
management initiatives are being introduced.

Developing and enhancing a knowledge management framework must be an
essential, routinized activity that underlies all other activities. To do so, an
organization should start building a strong awareness and understanding among
employees on what is knowledge management all about and why it is so important.

In conclusion, managing knowledge assets is central to the continued success of
any organization. Knowledge assets that exists will only yield positive results if they
are managed systematically and formally. Developing a knowledge management
framework that is customized to meet the needs of the organization is an important
first step. Leveraging on that framework is what makes the real difference between
companies that merely survive and those that succeed.