ROBUST KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
The knowledge management (KM) initiative in PSI Ethiopia has been working in full force since the second half of 2021 to boost organizational and operational efficiency. What is knowledge management (KM) and how is PSI/E adopting it to impact the culture of storing and sharing knowledge? KM can be complex but the proper application of KM simplifies access to knowledge and information. For instance, if you have ever compiled a categorical documentation list or devised a naming system for storing reports or weekly meeting minutes you have organized and managed knowledge.
To initiate and inform our KM strategy, we surveyed the staff about their knowledge of KM, what it stands for, and the need for KM. The results from the survey showed that people who work in research, learning, and M&E are the sole individuals responsible for Knowledge Management. The results also gave us insight into effective ways to implement a knowledge management system in PSI/E.
After assessing the results and analyzing the learnings from the survey, the communication and knowledge management team understood the need for creating a centralized knowledge management platform because most of the respondents had suggested that despite having platforms like Ms. Teams and Sharepoint, the knowledge should be accessible from one central hub. The biggest advantage we had was the fact that most of the organization’s knowledge and institutional memory was already stored in existing platforms like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. However, this knowledge was stored and organized in a decentralized manner. We also understood the importance of program heads and chief of parties to take lead in facilitating the process of storing, sharing, and reusing knowledge in their respective programs as well as across other programs. In addition to this, we worked on creating a KM strategy, guidelines, and tools that can be used to capture, organize, and share knowledge. For the next step, we organized a centralized knowledge management system, the PSI/E dashboard, that will be promoted organization-wide starting from mid-January 2022.
To facilitate the process of sharing the dashboard, we co-created and adopted simple tools and templates to make it easier to use and worked to change the perception that knowledge capturing and sharing is a burden. After this we held a capacity-building session to train program leads on how they can capture, share, and reuse knowledge using the tools created and the centralized knowledge management platform.
One of the key components of the KM project was selecting KM champions from each programmatic area in PSI/E. KM champions work together with the Knowledge Management and Communications Specialist, Nazrawit Ashenafi, by promoting, supporting, and communicating knowledge management initiatives within their departments. They ensure our new Knowledge Management Strategy can have the best possible starting point.
OUR KNOWLEDGE CHAMPIONS
The other key component we focused on was managing the processes of KM and the use of capturing, sharing, and storing of information. As a team, we started off by mapping existing information that can be shared for all staff while simultaneously working on our other key components and tools. Our dashboard served as one of the biggest tools we leveraged by using MS Teams as a way to store our mapped documents and share them on the PSI/E platform. This platform, “The Knowledge Hub”, is found front and center on our dashboard to access, learn, and share information about every project PSI is working on.
KM helps eliminate information chaos by providing a structure for organizing knowledge.
An organization such as PSI is an increasingly competitive environment for funding, staff, volunteers, and donations. Adopting technologies that improve strategic performance, staff retention, and service delivery can support organizational improvement. As institutional knowledge is one of PSI’s most valuable assets, investing in knowledge management tools and culture today can position PSI to make better decisions and deliver more value to donors and beneficiaries far into the future.
