Knowledge Management Resource to Support Strategic Workforce Development for Transit Agencies (2017) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 33-57
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3-1 Chapter 3: Knowledge Management Planning Knowledge management planning refers to the activities required for understanding a transit agency's KM needs and determining how KM can fit into existing processes to bring benefits to a transit agency. Chapter Overview This chapter addresses planning for the integration of various KM strategies into a transit agency.
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3-2 When planning for KM, it is also important to consider obstacles the transit agency may encounter. By understanding and evaluating these challenges, transit agencies can be prepared to overcome or lessen the impact of the obstacles to KM within their organization.
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3-3 Getting Started with KM It is important to begin KM planning by determining what type of knowledge transit agency employees have pertaining to each functional area of the transit agency. Next, the transit agency will need to identify who holds all the component pieces of that knowledge.
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3-4 Action Plan D: Inventory Existing Transit Agency Practices That Support KM Summary: Taking an inventory of KM-related practices that already exist in a transit agency feeds into the initial planning and set up of a KM function. This activity should span the entire transit agency to identify the practices, resources, and IT platforms already in place that can support KM.
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3-5 Action Plan D: Inventory Existing Transit Agency Practices That Support KM Implementation Factors and Timeframe Type of Knowledge Addressed Explicit Tacit Embedded Estimated Time to Fully Implement 0–3 months 3–6 months 6 months–1 year More than 1 year Time Required to Realize Results 0–2 years 2–5 years More than 5 years Relevant Positions or Types of Work: All positions and types of work. Documentation of current resources from across the transit agency should be considered and reviewed.
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3-6 Action Plan D: Inventory Existing Transit Agency Practices That Support KM practice captures, and how to access the knowledge. For example, the inventory could include categories such as: Tool/process that supports KM (e.g., team meetings, intranet, databases)
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3-7 + Action Plan D: Inventory Existing Transit Agency Practices That Support KM Impact and Cautionary Considerations Positive Outcomes of the Strategy Gap Identification: A transit agency can identify gaps between KM-related practices that it is currently using and those needed to manage knowledge more effectively. Additionally, inventories may help identify opportunities to improve coordination of and access to commonly needed information.
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3-8 Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps Summary: Creating knowledge networks is used to assess the knowledge available in the organization and determine where the knowledge resides. As a part of this process, a transit agency can learn how knowledge flows through the organization, thus providing a better understanding of how to maximize knowledge capture, retention, and transfer.
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3-9 Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps Action Plan Highlights Knowledge networks identify what knowledge a transit agency has available and where it can be found. This allows the organization to recognize knowledge gaps that could have an impact on how efficiently and effectively the organization is run.
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3-10 Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps happen more frequently over a period of time and can be conducted by an employee's manager. In either case, information gathered from knowledge holders should include the processes and procedures they follow, where these processes and procedures are documented, with whom in the transit agency they need to share information and from whom they need to gather information, and anything else that is pertinent to the expertise and skills of the knowledge holder.
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3-11 Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps Example Knowledge Network Elements and How to Create a Knowledge Network Example of Partially Populated Knowledge Network Knowledge Capture Knowledge Retention KM Planning Knowledge Transfer KM Culture Intro to KM
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3-12 + Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps implementing, sustaining, and evaluating knowledge mapping initiatives. Interview protocols to gather information about knowledge across the transit agency.
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3-13 Action Plan E: Prepare Knowledge Networks to Identify Knowledge Gaps Identifies Opportunities for Learning: Opportunities for learning and leveraging knowledge are illuminated through knowledge networks. With areas in which there is a lack of shared knowledge or there are few employees who hold a certain type of knowledge identified, transit agencies can determine how to take action to transfer and share knowledge to ensure that it is not lost.
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3-14 Action Plan F: Utilize Process Mapping to Facilitate KM Planning To be effective, process maps need to be directed by best practices in business process improvement and lay out the steps and knowledge necessary to carry out transit agency activities and meet responsibilities. Visualizing and documenting a process through process mapping helps to ensure that the knowledge associated with the process stays with a transit agency when employees retire or otherwise leave the organization.
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3-15 Implementation Plan Action Lead(s) Staff member with KM lead responsibilities Agency's training staff Targeted Audience(s)
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3-16 Action Plan F: Utilize Process Mapping to Facilitate KM Planning 5. Sequence Steps in the Process: Once all steps in the process have been listed, they should be sequenced to indicate the order in which the steps must occur, identify decision points, and identify the relationship between steps.
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3-17 Useful Internal and External Resources Resources for Strategy Implementation Dedicated staff member responsible for implementing and sustaining the program. List of processes and leads for creating each map.
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3-18 + Examples of Effective Programs The Human Resources (HR) Department of a large transit agency has binders that include how-to guides about completing processes and work tasks within the transit agency, such as how to post and edit jobs on the website.
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3-19 Action Plan F: Utilize Process Mapping to Facilitate KM Planning Cautionary Considerations or Potential Negative Outcomes of the Strategy maps can quickly become outdated if mapping is not conducted on a regular basis. New processes and procedures are constantly implemented and there is staff turnover, which can result in changes in the way knowledge is transferred and shared.
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3-20 Action Plan G: Identify Critical Succession Planning Needs Summary: Succession planning identifies and develops new leaders for advancement or promotion and addresses the need to develop employees to replace experienced individuals in critical technical skill–related positions. For continued transit agency success, it is important to develop internal employees who have the potential to fill key transit agency leadership and other critical positions when they are vacated.
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3-21 Implementation Plan Action Lead(s) HR professionals Staff member with KM lead responsibilities Targeted Audience(s)
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3-22 Action Plan G: Identify Critical Succession Planning Needs Steps to Implement a Succession Planning Program 1. Identify Critical Positions: Transit agencies must identify critical positions that, if vacated, would be a significant deficit for the transit agency.
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3-23 Action Plan G: Identify Critical Succession Planning Needs Additionally, this can be a chance to give less experienced transit employees an opportunity to advance within the transit agency. Many young people enthusiastically enter the industry and then, finding few opportunities for advancement, leave.
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3-24 Action Plan G: Identify Critical Succession Planning Needs The Director of Transit Operations in one transit agency shared that his transit agency will typically hire an upcoming retiree's replacement three to four months in advance of the retirement. The two employees can then work side-by-side, giving the experienced employee the opportunity to transfer knowledge to the new employee.
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3-25 Action Plan G: Identify Critical Succession Planning Needs Reduces Need for External Hiring: Having a succession plan and promoting internal transit employees helps counter the increasing difficulty and costs of recruiting employees externally. Significant time and resources can be spent on marketing for these critical positions and finding an appropriate candidate who is able to step into the role.
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