Distributed Km

8/13/2019 Distributed Km

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Distributed KM - Improving Knowledge Workers'Productivity and Organisational Knowledge

Saring wit Weblog-based Personal Publising

Paper presented to BlogTalk 2.0, "The European Conference onWeblogs", Vienna, ul! th and #th 200$

%artin &'ll

E-Mail [email protected] +49 (351) 8951585Rudolf-Leonhard-tra!e "1#1#9$ %re&den' erman

htt*,,.roell.net

!ontents Introduction / Abstract The failure of "Knowledge Management" to improve Knowledge Workers' roductivit! A better nderstanding of Knowledge Work

The roblem of Invisibilit! Knowledge Work rocesses Interrelatedness of Knowledge Work rocesses and #ocial $onte%t The &mail $lient as a Knowledge Work Tool $onclusions for the evelopment of Knowledge Work Tools

ersonal ublishing( Weblogs Weblogs as a ersonal )iling $abinet Weblogs as Knowledge *ournals Weblogs and )eedback Weblog+$onversations Weblogs and ,etworking

Individual -enefits of ublishing Weblogs .rganising ersonal Information Making #ense of Information ,egotiating Meaning -uilding and Maintaining ersonal $onnections $ollaborating in $ommunities Weblogs as ersonal ublishing Tools + #ummar!

.rganisational -enefits of ersonal ublishing Improving Information Management #!stems ocating &%perts #ocial ,etwork Anal!sis 0educing Misunderstanding .rganisational earning Knowledge #haring through #tor!telling

$onclusion Acknowledgements 0eferences


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Introduction " #bstractImproving the productivit! of knowledge workers is one of the most important challenges forcompanies that face the transition from the industrial econom! to an econom! based oninformation and knowledge 1rucker2 344456 7owever2 most "knowledge management"efforts have failed to address this problem and focused on information management instead6

This paper briefl! e%plores the failure of traditional knowledge management to adress theproblem of knowledge worker productivit! and argues that a deeper understanding ofknowledge work is necessar! to improve it6 It then e%plores knowledge work and how it issupported with information technolog! tools toda!2 focussing speciall! on the email client asa knowledge work tool6

The paper introduces weblogs as personal publishing tools for knowledge workers andshows how personal publishing supports knowledge work processes2 is personall! beneficialto the knowledge worker and helps the dissemination of knowledge through an organisation6

$e %ailure o% &Knowledge Management& toimprove Knowledge Workers' Productivity&arl! "Knowledge Management" initiatives have approached the challenge of improvingknowledge workers' productivit! from an organisational perspective2 treating knowledge asan ob8ect(

"Most of the traditional Knowledge Management #!stems rel! on the assumptionthat knowledge can be assimilated to ob8ects that can be identified2 separatedfrom their initial conte%t2 and handled in information s!stems6" 1,abeth et al629::95

This however was a fallac!( Knowledge is alwa!s bound to human beings and impossible to

digitalise6 .nce it is "e%plicated"2 it becomes information6

(nfor)ation *no+ledge

#tatic !namic

Independent of the individual ependent on individuals

&%plicit Tacit

igital Analogue

&as! to uplicate Must be re+created

&as! to broadcast )ace+to+face mainl!

,o intrinsic meaning Meaning has to be personall! assigned

)igure 3( istinguishment between Information and Knowledge 1#veib!2 344;2 as cited in

Miller2 9::95

)ollowing this definition of knowledge2 "$omputer support for knowledge management is 16665in a sense2 impossible6" 1#tenmark 9::956 This means that2 "knowledge management" ITs!stems are not reall! managing knowledge but information and a large part of what is called"knowledge management" is largel! information management under a new label 1Wilson29::956

Information on its own is not useful however(

"Information 16665 is simpl! the vehicle b! which we attempt to provoke + or evoke+ a human response6 Information on its own is 2

$s2 reports2 letters2 emails2 fa%es2 memos and so on + all waiting to beinterpreted2 all waiting to have meaning attached + b! people6" 1Miller2 9::95

Information needs interpretation b! people( -! knowledge workers6


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.nl! if we understand what knowledge workers do and in what wa! the! use knowledge andinformation to create value2 we can solve the problem of knowledge worker productivit!6 -utdespite all the efforts that have been put into knowledge management2 our understanding ofknowledge work2 concrete approaches to improving knowledge workers' productivit! and2strangel! enough2 even measurement for knowledge worker's performance are still lacking61avenport2 9::?5

"When it comes to knowledge workers2 we prett! much hire smart people andleave them alone6 ,o inci 1see -ritishibrar!2 n6d65 or Thomas &dison 1see McAuliffe2 344C5 it is eas! to see traces of differentprocesses that make up knowledge work and get a feeling for what "knowledge work" is( Acomple% combination of different processes around knowledge2 information2 learning2thinking2 reflecting2 creativit! and communication6

*no+ledge Work ProcessesI will base m! assessment of knowledge work processes on the )ramework for Knowledge

Work Anal!sis developed b! ilia &fimova 1&fimova2 9::B56 It has to be noted that &fimova'swork is based on a stud! of knowledge workers who use weblogsD it is therefore natural thather anal!sis returns especiall! those knowledge processes that become visible through


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weblogging and it ma! be possible that it overlooks other processes that are not supportedb! weblogs6 7owever as her work is firml! grounded in literature and in m! opinion gives anencompassing view of knowledge work2 I believe it is completel! suitable as the base of thisanal!sis6 #ee 1ollard2 9::B5 for a different but resembling view of "knowledge activities"6

)igure 9( )ramework for Knowledge Work Anal!sis 1&fimova2 9::B5

)rom this framework the following processes can be identified(

.rganising personal information 1"ersonal Information Management"5 Making sense of information 1personal5

,egotiating meaning 1social5

"$reating" new ideas

&stablishing and maintaining a personal network

$ollaborating in communties

I add

)inding 1codified5 information

to the list to account for the importance of information seeking2 which I believe also is a ke!process in knowledge work6

*no+ledge Work Processes

)inding 1codified5 Information

.rganising ersonal Information 1IM5

Making #ense of Information

,egotiating Meaning


&stablishing and maintaining a personalnetwork

$ollaborating in $ommunities


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)igure ?( Knowledge Work rocesses 1own illustration2 based on &fimova2 9::B5

(nterrelatedness of *no+ledge Work Processes and -ocial ContetKnowledge work processes are interrelated and often cannot be separated( )inding a piece

of information and putting it into conte%t might start off another search for more information6In a conversation with a colleague2 a knowledge worker might ask for the location of codifiedinformation2 negotiate the meaning of a concept and have a new idea at the same time2 allwhile maintaining the personal relationship6

If we look at the tools that knowledge workers are provided with toda!2 we can see that fewtools e%ist that account for this interrelatedness of processes6 ocument managements!stems onl! help in finding information6 sing information2 sharing it2 making meaning of itand discussing it is done elsewhere6 $ognitive Tools2 such as mindmapping software2 othervisualisation tools or personal information management tools are designed for the solitar!worker and are not addressing the social conte%t of knowledge creation 17aller2 9::92&fimova 9::B56 #till2 one tool has become the dominant support for knowledge work( The

email client6

The E)ail Client as a *no+ledge Work ToolToda!2 the email client arguabl! has become the most intensivel! used knowledge work tool6It is being used for a multitude of different processes that have stretched far from "simplemessage transfer" 1"#MT"2 the most widel! used protocol for sending emails2 stands for"#imple Message Transfer rotocol"5 and range from storing documents and contactinformation2 to filing bookmarks2 literature references and contact information to managingtasks and reminders 1>enolia et al62 9::356

"&mail is often described as "the killer application of the Internet"6 -ased on ourresearch2 we think it is possible to be even more emphaticD email is a serial+killer

applicationE It is seriousl! overloaded and has been co+opted to manage a variet!of tasks that it was not originall! meant to support6" 1ucheneaut F -ellotti2 9::35

The reason for this is email's embeddedness in communicative processes(

"$ommunication is a central part of organi=ed work6 $onse


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.r2 to put it differentl!( &mail is successful because it is personal and social at the sametime6

Conclusions for the /eelop)ent of *no+ledge Work ToolsAnal!sing email as a central tool for knowledge workers toda! and asking the enolia et al62 9::356

.r we need to develop other tools that support knowledge processes better thanemail6

What can be learned from anal!sing email is that knowledge work tools must supportcommunicative processes and must be personal and personalisable6

Personal Publising( Weblogs

Weblogs are personal 8ournals published on the World Wide Web or an Intranet6 Technicall!the! are ver! simple content management s!stems( The! enable individuals to publish te%tand images in a ver! eas! wa!6 &ver! entr! receives a permanent 0I through which it canbe addressed later2 and is archived in a searchable repositor!6

Through 0##2 an HM+based format which is used to aggregate streams 1"feeds"5 ofcontinuousl! updated content2 it is eas! for readers to follow the stream of publishedinformation6 10ichards2 9::B5

Interaction between weblog+writers and +readers is made possible through "commenting"(0eaders can attach comments to individual entries which appear on the weblog visible forthe author and other readers6

Knowledge workers use weblogs to capture and annotate information2 to document currentthoughts2 to reflect and to converse with others6 This wa!2 some of their "hidden" processesbecome visible again6

Weblogs as a Personal iling CabinetA weblog can serve as a personal "filing cabinet" of information 1ollard2 9::?a56 -!"blogging" items + that is( referencing and citing pieces of information2 annotating them andpublishing them on a weblog + a weblog author 1"blogger"5 can build up his own personalinformation repositor!6 The simplicit! of the weblog s!stem encourages filing and annotatingthings that were previousl! left unfiled6 Ths structure of h!perlinks and free te%t and theabsence of imposed hierarch! makes it possible to archive items that could not be organised

well in file s!stems6-! linking to older entries in one's own weblog or to other items found elsewhere2 the usercan build his own personal information structure that is tailored to his needs6 When workingon a specific task the weblog becomes the starting point of a search for information6

Weblogs as *no+ledge ournals*ournal writing has alwa!s been an important task of learners and knowledge workers6Taking notes of things learned and e%patiating thoughts is an important process to intensif!learning 1Kerka2 34456 Weblogs can serve as a medium in which to record ideas andthoughts and reflect on current work and things learnt6 The! become "representations ofpatterns of meaning" 1)iedler2 9::?5 or( representations of knowledge6


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Weblogs and eedbackWeblogs are published in public or at least to a defined audience6 Weblog+authors aretherefore not onl! using weblogs as personal 8ournals but also to get feedback on theirthoughts6 .ften2 weblog+authors will publish "half+baked ideas" to get feedback on them anddevelop them into something more meaningful6 Also2 readers will often help an author with

tips on where to find more information on a topic blogged about6

Weblog1ConersationsWeblogs form networks between eachother( Webloggers read other weblogs and will oftenuse this material to write up own pieces6 A free+flowing conversation ensues between theauthors and members of the audience who chime in6 Technologies such as "Track-ack"1which displa!s "inbound links" to a particular post2 that is( references to a particular postfrom other entries in other locations that reference it5 or referrer+lookup 1anal!sing wheretraffic came from2 made possible b! anal!sing server+logfiles or special web+based tools2such as technorati6com5 make it possible to track these discussions across multiple weblogs6,ew participants can 8oin the discussion an!time b! commenting or writing an entr! on their

own weblog6 These conversations are self+organising and onl! moderated decentrall! b! theindividual weblog+authors6

Weblogs and et+orking-! reading someone elses weblog readers get to know the writer ver! well6 It can be seenthat webloggers who read eachother and use their weblogs to converse with eachother arebuilding up trust6 As a conse


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egotiating %eaning-! letting conversations ensue about topics that are relevant to the organisation2 weblogprovide an "Information &colog!" of different points of view2 different opinions and differentbeliefs6 The! make it possible to test h!potheses against the organisation's "truths" and letpieces of information be interpreted in a wa! that has meaning to the knowledge worker who

is using it6

Building and %aintaining Personal Connections-! publishing weblogs2 knowledge workers can be discovered b! other knowledge workerswho have similar interests6 The barrier to start communicating is ver! low6 This wa!2 looseconnections can develop into deeper relationships6

-! following what others post to their weblogs2 knowledge workers can sta! updated on whatthe! do6 This makes it easier to follow up on conversations2 even if there has been no face+to+face contact or no direct personal conversation for a longer time6

Collaborating in Co))unitiesIt has been pointed out above that networks develop between weblog+authors6 .n the basisof shared understanding and common goals that have been negotiated through weblog+conversations2 these networks can develop into communities of practise6 Working togetherin these communities can be supported b! individual or group weblogs 1ugage2 9::BD 0Lll29::?56

Weblogs as Personal Publishing Tools 1 -u))ar!"I should probabl! 16665 organi=e a better paper+ and hard+drive+filing structure2create some e+mail folders2 stud! how to do better Web searches2 get abusiness card scanner and spend m! airplane time ke!ing phone numbers into

m! cellular phone list6 I have three problems with these virtuous activities2however6 .ne2 I find such tasks e%ceedingl! boring6 Two2 I'm not convinced the!would make me more productiveD 16665 Three2 some of these things I 8ust don'tknow how to do6" 1avenport2 3445

Toda! Tom avenport can be helped( The anal!sis has shown that weblogs support amultitude of knowledge work processes( The! integrate personal information managementand communication2 making them an alternative to using the email client as knowledgerepositor!6 With personal publishing2 knowledge workers can get feedback on their workwitout having to interrupt colleagues and without having to know in advance whom to ask6 -!making thought processes "visible" to others the! encourage communication betweenknowledge workers and open up new possibilities of collaboration6

Whilst the! do not "automate" knowledge work processes2 weblogs do support them in thesense that the! make processes that toda! are not or unsuitabl! supported b! IT tools moreefficient6 -! giving a direct benefit to the user2 the! do not hvae to be "forced" into using thetool( sing them personall! rearding and integrates well into dail! processes6 1#ee1octorow2 9::?5 for a personal stor! of this65

*no+ledge Work Process -upport through Weblogs

)inding 1codified5 Information#earching weblog content0eceiving tips from readers

.rganising ersonal Information 1IM5 ersonal "filing cabinet"

Making sense of information $onte%tualisation)eedback from others

,egotiating meaning Weblog+$onversations


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&stablishing and maintaining a personalnetwork

)inding people of similar interest)ollowing other people's weblogs6

$ollaborating in $ommunitiesWeblogs as team communicationplattforms

)igure C( Knowledge Work rocesses and #upport for them through Weblogs

Organisational )ene%its o% Personal Publising

()proing (nfor)ation %anage)ent -!ste)ssing distributed weblog+based personal publishing s!stems has several advantages(

36 More knowledge is e%plicated and thus available for sharing in IT s!stems

96 Information on the organisation's intranet is more current and complete

?6 The conte%t of information is more apparent and hence richerB6 Information is easier to find

C6 ess effort is needed to persuade individuals to share knowledge

6 Individuals can receive updates on new information from others

1Adapted from ollard2 9::?b5

$ontent of weblogs is also a source of metadata for search engines( The links pointing fromweblogs to other information resources can be mined and used to improve search6 Itemsthat are referenced often are likel! to be of high relevance6

The content of weblogs themselves is a rich information base6 It should be made available

for intranet search engines6

4ocating Eperts-! searching weblog networks it is possible to locate e%perts on given sub8ects6 Anal!singreferences to an e%pert's weblog can help to assess his reputation6

-ocial et+ork 5nal!sisinks between weblogs2 comments and other data that accrues in weblogs can be used forsocial network anal!sis6

&educing %isunderstandingWeblog discussions around pieces of codified information improve clarit! and sharedmeaning( -! discussing2 asking and answering


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"Toda! !ou can be reading a


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octorow2 $or! 19::956 M! -log2 M! .utboard -rain6 .'0eill! ,etwork Web evelopmentev$enter6 http(//www6oreill!net6com/pub/a/8avascript/9::9/:3/:3/cor!6html NAccessedAugust 9Cth 9::BO

rucker2 6 )6 1344456 Knowledge Worker roductivit!( The -iggest $hallenge6 $aliforniaManagement 0eview2 >ol63 ,o6 92 pp6 ;4+4B6

ucheneaut2 ,icolas F -ellotti2 >ictoria 19::356 &mail as habitat( an e%ploration ofembedded personal information management6" Interactions2 1C52 pp6 ?:+?6 Available fromhttp(//www96parc6com/csl/members/nicolas/documents/Interactions6pdf NAccessed *ul! 3st9::BO

ugage2 Martin 19::B56 -logs and $os6 Mopsos6 Weblog &ntr!6http(//blog6mopsos6com/archives/:::::6html NAccessed August 9Cth 9::BO

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)iedler2 #ebastian 19::?56 ersonal webpublishing as a reflective conversational tool for self+

organi=ed learning6 In T6 ,6 -urg 1&d652 -logTalks2 pp634:+936 raft available fromhttp(//seblogging6cognitivearchitects6com/stories/stor!0eaderP4? NAccessed August 9Cth9::BO

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9::BO

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