Dear all,
my company in the next future will have probably to manage a number of R&D consultancy contracts with experts belonging to the academic world. This is a rather new topic for us and I was wondering which are the most effective ways to do that. Which are the best methods to capitalize the knowledge created outside the company? Which are the technological tools used in the best practices?
Thank you very much
Chiara

Hi,
In my opinnion ad regarding my own long experience regarding this point, 2 Pre requisites must be reached before strating anathing:
- Involve top management in defining scope, KM objectives and requirements
- Identify in the perimeter the potential leader for collaborative purposes and sharing culture
Good luck
If I can help
Best regards
Vincent

In working in an envirnment where we engage consultants and contractors on projects we have found the most effective tool for absorbing the external knowledge is to assign a shadow or apprentice whose role is to assist the consultant but to also to learn.

We identify this as one of the deliverables for the consultant in their contract.

Reliance on technology tools to get knowledge transfer over a short period of time is a high risk endeavour.

Cory Banks

Specialist Knowledge Management
Corporate Projects Division
Suncorp

Hi,
the use of Collaborative Platform could also help you, if all project stakeholder use it. You can build project team and workspace in which one intern collaborator will work as controller. All infos and knowledge which are created during the projects are saved in a central path and is every time available. The organisation of meeting for Return of experiences project is also helpful.

In our company I am responsible for the implementation of a such platform which works on Internet. It makes decentralised work possible. If you want more information about it, please contact me

Regards
Sébastien Soubaigné
Knowledge Management
AIMT Holding GmbH (Germany)

Many software companies have essential platforms especially suited to centralizing project plans and management tools. It is essential that your KM tools are easily accessible and since these tools have been development for this purpose, if you use them you can utilize their power. Along with collaborative tools, file servers, file indexing, and search tools you can use to interface with users to display historical information such as pervious benchmarks through best practices and lesson learned. It is important that you create mechanisms and business processes that oblige employees to use the database. Creating a benchmark database such as measurements of project processes that might be repeated in other projects, such as setting up an email server, configuration of a network, the laying of a foundation, or hanging of a proprietary door, windows, or other building fixture. Allowing project managers to access these databases allow them to create and build benchmarks. One idea is to use previous experiences processes and triangulate a median for that particular experience giving juniors an ideal of the benchmark they need to incorporate into their project plans. The key factor for tool development is ease-of-use, users will not use the application if it is not easy to use and they cannot get information they want and can use. The integration of tools such as project management, collaborative, and office automation is a great starting point for endeavors.

>>Manage R&D consultancy contracts with experts belonging to the academic world:

You need to manage it the way you manage the internal projects. Defining requirements, project team, skills, roles and responsibility, schedule and so on are essential.

>>Best methods to capitalize the knowledge created outside the company:

In general, Community of Practice (CoP) is useful. In this case of serious R&D projects (either internal or external), CoP can be one of the practices. More than CoP you will require the Project KM system and you need an innovative knowledge portal to connect people, collaborate and facilitate knowledge sharing across various boundaries. Time management and task management facilitated by KPIs should be an integral part as well.


>> Which are the technological tools used in the best practices?

http://www.lpcube.com/genie for effectively building the knowledge base and accessing it efficiently.

http://www.lpcube.com/wise/project for managing the project (R&D) knowledge in a systematic way.

Chiara, since knowledge transfer (cpaitalizing expert knowledge understood as one scenario of k transfer) always depends on...
the sender, the receiver, the content (type of knowledge) and the (technicla and social) environment; a generic communication model. According to my experience: two crucial considerations are valuable:
- rely on already existing communication channels and habits, less disturbance possible
- combine personal (highly adaptive) with technology-based (structured, documentable) methods.
Personal communication: The "shadow" (or tandem) is very useful for non-formalised knowledge. Consider personal features for building the "tandem". Technology-based: Use the already existing documentation guidelines/habits of project management in the company, combined with technology-supported communication, e.g. discussion forums. It all depends on the behaviour of the participating parties. My experience is that the less disturbance you create by trying to capture knowledge the better. Thus, I would recommend to rely heavily on the experts way of communicating, and the habits inside the (recieving) company.

Best wishes, Dr. Katja Pook
Knowledge Analysis and Transfer
reinisch AG, Germany

2. We as knowledge workers all are attempting to create a shared vision in our organizations and project managers have the challenging task of interpreting the organizational vision and translating that vision to the project level. What tools do you use to translate and align your project visions with your organizational visions, especially with the challenges of globalization, virtual project teams, the busyness of very day corporate life? How do we then create project teams that learn making our teams learning teams? Finally, how do we experience facilitate the transfer of our organizational shared visions?

Many of our organizations are attempting to globalize. Here in the States, like all over the world, we have teams that stretch across states boards, times zones, national, and continental barriers through the democratization of the Internet. We face challenges such as cultural differences, language and dialect barriers, as well as legal and moral barriers. Project Managers are faced with an increasing number of challenges they must learn to navigate all of these rough waters, which sometimes place us in paradoxical positions. For example, we face the problems between working with a government that has different opinions of corporate legal and moral responsibility than those of the home country of the multinational.

Project Managers are expected to be team member mentors, champions, supervisor, manager, subject matter expert, accountant, scheduler, gatekeeper, documenter, planner, risk mangers, diplomat, and other “functions” that might come up during the day. Sometimes we have to face these dualities as they become incongruent to one another. What are the solutions you have developed in handling these incongruities? How does your organization share and transfer these “Best Practices” and “Lessons Learned” throughout the organization? What tools do you use to get your “Project Notebook” off the shelf and share/transfer your knowledge with others including project mangers, team members, and other stakeholders such as those in the “C-Suite”?

Dr. Dedrick: Your observation was quite enlightening. A PM is expected to be a "Jack of All trades and Master of Some". In essence, yes, a PM is expected to have a breadth of knowledge suitable for the work on hand. How does one achieve it? How does an organization share its knowledge base to those who need it the most? The question turns around to, what practices does the organization have to help continuously improve its people? There is no silver bullet. The road to success is one where there is a hand holding that needs to be done from both ends viz PM and the Organization at large. In some of the big companies we have had experience with, this task is taken seriously, with separate groups dedicated for Knowledge Libraries, maintainence and the appropriate dissemination of it. Hope it partly answers some of the issues you raised.

Ved
ProplanX.com
Management & IT Solutions