What is Knowledge Management?

May 18, 2012 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

Knowledge Management Gone Wrong

There are a lot of mixed opinions regarding the definition of Knowledge Management (KM).  Knowledge Management is a powerful business development tool, but is hard to describe.  All KM programs are different, therefore the definition of Knowledge Management should be far reaching.  It is not proper to define something by using it in the definition; however the simplest explanation of KM is the ‘management of knowledge.’

But what is the knowledge that is being managed? Continue Reading…

Listen Better, Understand More

April 25, 2012 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments


It is rare in the busy world we live in to find a person that will listen, be present, and pay attention. This is evident by how much we treasure the people in our lives that DO listen. We hold these friends closer. We even pay these therapists more money. We go through a lot to get a few moments with someone who will pay attention and listen. What is more interesting than how important a listener can be is how much we fight to not actively listen in our day-to-day lives.

Think about the respect you have for the people in your life that listen to you. If you start genuinely listening to everyone you meet, imagine how big your network of connections would become. At work you will instantly see a change in attitude and behaviour from co-workers. All of the sudden you will be the go-to guy or girl. Listeners understand issues and problems faster, which allows for faster resolutions and solutions to be found.

Listening should be made more specific and be described as Being Present and Focus or Paying Attention. When you are speaking with someone, pay attention to them. When you are in a meeting at work, be present and focus on the meeting. Continue Reading…

Accountability When Finger-Pointers Run the Game

April 1, 2012 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

One month ago my store began to experience a water leak in our front window display. A customer walking by thankfully came inside and pointed out the problem. Unfortunately, she noticed the problem after a $1300 hand-painted leather bag was ruined. A decorative chair was also stained by the dripping water, but luckily it was only a decorative prop and replaceable. Since there are no water pipes in that area of the building, we believed the water was from the air-conditioning unit on the roof. The store manager called the AC repairman and scheduled an appointment to fix the problem.

Visit #1: The AC repairman came to the store the next day to inspect the AC unit and the leak. After his investigation he determined that the AC was properly draining and that the leak was not caused by any AC or HVAC (AC ducts) equipment. Basically, the repairman said he did his job and anything else was not his responsibility.

Our first mistake was assuming that this visit meant the problem was fixed. Within a week the leak reappeared. Luckily, there was no damage to merchandise in our display. This time the water leak did not last very long and the store’s staff was able to clean up the mess without anymore cause for concern. The second mistake was not identifying this occurrence as evidence that the AC repairman did not fix the problem and we should seek a solution elsewhere.

Two weeks went by before another major episode occurred. The leak appeared again and it was clear that the issue had not been remedied by the AC repairman. The store manager contacted the AC repairman again and scheduled another appointment to fix the leak.

Visit #2: The AC repairman performed the same investigation from his first visit and came to the same conclusion. Management continued to accept his answers as evidence that the problem had been fixed. It was clear that neither the store management nor the AC repairman wanted to accept responsibility for the situation and were happy to point fingers at possible scapegoats.

One week later there was a large amount of water dripping into the window display. This time the water was inches away from a $700 pair of suede shoes. There was, however, damage to another chair. Rather than continuing to point fingers and blaming other people I decided it was time to take action. Continue Reading…

Make Goals For Yourself

January 19, 2012 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

One of the top complaints from the entry-level workers is that they are bored or do not feel challenged.  If you fit into this category, the best remedy is to make goals for yourself.  If your manager is not focused on pushing you to the next level, challenge yourself to reach your potential.  Goals are a simple a powerful tool that can help you succeed.

  • An effective goal is properly focused.

Ask yourself ‘Why?’ until the answer is ‘Because.’

Example:  If your goal is to make more money this year, why?  What is the money going to be used for?  Will you pay off your credit card debt?  Will you take a trip to Hawaii?  Your goal should be focused on the END and not the MEANS.  The more focused your goal, the more motivation it will provide.

  • Make a goal you can accomplish NOW.

This goes along with the concept that you don’t know what you want until it’s in front of you.  Unless you have been making goals for a while you should not start with goals that take more than a few months to accomplish.  Firstly, it’s hard to stay motivated when the finish line is far away.  Secondly, it can be difficult to stay on the right track and lose focus.  Thirdly, it can be upsetting when, after a period of time, your goal changes and the work you’ve done seems to have been for nothing.

  • Make realistic goals.

Shooting for the stars is great and I am a dreamer myself, but the Go Big or Go Home attitude does not work well with goal setting, at least for beginners.  It is more important to set goals and consistently accomplish them than to make outlandish goals that fade away and provide not lessons for improvement.  If you do have a BIG goal try to break it down into steps.  Small steps for small feet.

  • Focus on results

A wonderful quote from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People regarding goals nearly explains it all.

An effective goal focuses primarily on results rather than activity.  It identifies where you want to be, and, in the process, helps you how to get there, and it tells you when you have arrived.

Making your own goals help guide you towards things your enjoy doing and want to pursue.  Carefully think about them and put energy into what they are.  And don’t forget to check out the rest of this series to Motivate Yourself When You Feel Stuck.

Good Days.

Mistakes, A Broken Belt Sander, and Stupid Questions

December 8, 2011 in If it were me... with 5 Comments

These boys know how to work hard.

This is the story about mistakes that led to a broken belt sander.  I’m not proud of what I did, only that I haven’t done it since.

The day started like most days started that summer.  My brother and I woke up at 7am and slowly shuffled to the kitchen for breakfast.  There, on the counter, courtesy of our dad was our list for the day.

“This is dumb!  There is no way we can get all of this done!  Seriously!?!  This can’t be right.  This must be a list for the whole week.”

Wrong.  I didn’t appreciate it then, but these impossible lists are very effective.  It guaranteed that we would stay busy all day.  We rarely had moments that we needed to ask for something to do because the list was brutally long.  This lesson didn’t sink in until I started writing lists of my own  for people.  Revenge is a sweet mistress!

After breakfast my brother and I made our way outside to get started.  First we needed to hook up our box trailer to our truck.  We had this down to a science and could basically do it with our eyes closed.  (No way! I would never hook up a trailer with my eyes closed.  That’s dumb.)  Now that we finished that fun, it was time to go.

“Let’s check what’s in the trailer.”

“Should we tie down the belt sander?…”

“Naaaahhhhhh.  That things weighs about 800lbs.  There’s no way it will fall over.  Leave it.”

“You’re right.  Let’s go.”

(Names have been omitted for the protection of those involved.  Only Jordan and I know the truth.)

It takes a certain precision and finesse to navigate a 30-foot box trailer being pulled behind a F-350 dually crew cab truck.  You need to know how to check your mirrors, watch corners when you turn, adjust your brakes and…what’s the last one?..

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! Continue Reading…

Good Communication: Only psychics read minds

December 7, 2011 in Knowledge Management with 1 Comment

communicationThis is a note on the importance of GOOD communication.  It is part of the Motivate Yourself When You Feel Stuck series.  Check out the homepage for the series to get more lessons on how to motivate yourself.

Poor communication can have negative effects on a work community.  When a message does not clearly display the author’s meaning, workers start to play guessing games to fill in the blanks.  Sometimes we forget how important the audience is when we communicate.

If we constantly accuse people of misinterpreting our e-mails, memos, and speeches it’s time to evaluate our communication skills.  Unless our coworkers are psychics we should not be upset when they cannot read our minds.  We should not assume that our audience can decipher our messages.  What is obvious to us might be obscure to the audience.  In order to get the results we want we need to develop good communication skills.

Often we put blinders on and forget that people see things differently.  It is nearly impossible to unlearn something, but before we communicate we should always consider our audience and how they view the message.  If our audience does not possess essential information is our message going to be understood?  Probably not.  Clear communication is happy communication.  Imagine a report that left no room for questions.  (I’m not underestimating how important feedback and questions can be.)  What if questions were answered before they were asked?  Timesaver? You bet.  If there is a difference between what we say and what we mean it is difficult for our audience to arrive at the results we expect.

It is a skill to communicate with someone and be understood.  Imagine how much simpler and productive a workday without questions such as, “What did you mean by this?” would be.

Next time we talk to coworkers, or write an email, let’s ask if it will take a mind reader to understand our message.  Let’s concentrate on matching the message with our meaning.  Or if that seems too ambiguous, think about the questions coworkers might ask and include them in the presentation.  Be honest either way.  Clear communication is one way to build a strong and happy community at work.  Together we can make life at work a little easier.  

And don’t forget to check out the rest of this series to Motivate Yourself When You Feel Stuck.

Good Days.

Work Hard for Yourself

December 6, 2011 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

What is the first thing most of us do after we wrap up a big project, close a big sale, or give a great presentation?  We hunt someone down and tell them what we did.  Deep down we have a desire to be congratulated and acknowledged for how great we are.  This habit appears harmless, but can grow into an annoying routine that prompts eye-rolling from coworkers.  Why do we need this extra boost to our egos?  (More on your EGO here.)  Do we work hard because we know Jim, our cubicle neighbor is going to give us a thumbs up?  Why do you work hard?

Break down your response to its simplest form and discover that you work hard for self-serving reasons.  This is not a bad thing.  Scream it from the mountain tops.

I WORK HARD FOR MYSELF!

There.  You did it.  Now that you admit that you work hard for yourself you can let go of Jim and your need for his approval.  Once you start working hard for yourself it is much easier to let accomplishments speak for themselves.  Before you know it, your performance record will ring louder than any ‘Look what I did’ speech ever could.

Wait!  There’s more.

Before you start giving Jim the silent treatment, there is a RIGHT way to share.  Make sure that when you share it is to provide helpful information.  Another reason to share is to receive critical feedback to help increase performance.  It all comes down to this:

SHARE TO CREATE VALUE.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and find it a useful tool to motivate yourself.  Please check out the complete series: Motivate Yourself When You Feel Stuck.

If you implement this strategy I would love to hear your story and feedback in the comments section.  And remember, it’s okay to be a little selfish.  Work Hard for yourself and not for Jim.  Sorry Jim.

Good Days.

Motivate Yourself When You Feel Stuck

December 4, 2011 in Knowledge Management with 1 Comment

motivateI am not a motivational speaker, but I have been on a few roller-coaster rides of motivation at work.  I have had motivating bosses, and bosses that couldn’t care less about employee morale.  This series is designed to help you MOTIVATE YOURSELF.  Most of us do not have the luxury of choosing our boss or workplace conditions, but  each of us CAN control the items mentioned in this series.

As an entry-level employee a lot of your time is allocated to training.  You have probably experienced the honey-moon phase that begins when you start a new job.  You work hard.  You are full of new ideas and strategies to increase performance and production.  You are learning a lot.  You are motivated because everything is new and exciting.

It might take you 3 months, 6 months, or even a year, but sooner or later you will wake up and feel like you are stuck in a rut.  Unfortunately,  your boss believes that motivating you is not as important as teaching you a new software system or operating procedure.  When your leader is spending more time in his office than he is rallying his team it can be difficult to find ways to stay focused and strive for greatness.

There will be 10 posts that will follow-up with each of the listed methods for increasing motivation.  Each idea is written for entry-level workers that are not receiving the motivation they desire to have in the workplace.

Here is a rough table of contents the series will follow:

I’m calling this a ‘rough’ table of contents because I am reading a lot about this subject and testing ideas constantly.  If you have any of your own methods to motivate yourself or coworkers I would love to hear them.

Comment on this post if you would like me to include your idea in the series.  Or just comment because you like commenting.  Either reason works for me because I like comments.

Good Days.

Employers Want Writing Skills From New Employees

November 30, 2011 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

Writing assignments focus on following protocol and not on developing clear, concise thoughts, opinions, and explanations.  The quality of writing from graduates is on the decline.  It’s time to inject more critical thinking into the curriculum.  And if schools won’t do it then students and graduates should because it’s what Employers Want.

This report should be no shorter than 1 page and no longer than 3 pages.  It will be graded based on the criteria listed on the assignment sheet.  If you want an ‘A’ on this assignment all you need to do is follow the check-list line by line and fill in the blanks.  This assignment will not require you to do any high-level thinking, problem solving, or generate authentic ideas or opinions.

Most teachers don’t phrase it quite like this, but the above blurb will sound familiar to someone who received a writing assignment in high school or college.

The number 1 skill on the USA Today list of what employers want is WRITING.  Employers want you to get to the point when you write.  Writing that includes too much jargon and too many metaphors is not helpful.  Communication should be clear, concise, and easy to read.

Take lessons from people who get paid to write, review, and edit business reports.  Angry Sub-Editor has a fun top-ten list for better business writing.  His blog is also full of articles that will help you write better.

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston writes a Business Writing blog focusing on tips and tools for better Business Writing.  She deals with current situations in the workplace and job market and answers questions asked by readers.

Learning how to write better takes practice.  Get started today by checking out the two blogs mentioned earlier.  A great place to start is by incorporating lessons you learn into your daily e-mails and correspondence.  Good Days.

3 Ways to Feel Empowered and Increase Productivity at Work

November 28, 2011 in Knowledge Management with 0 Comments

It’s easy to feel powerless as an entry-level employee.  When everything you do needs to be checked by your boss you start to feel like a warm body collecting a paycheck.  Or maybe you’re not fortunate enough to only have one person that gives you orders and get buried in red tape.  Whatever your situation, here are 3 things you can do to feel more empowered and increase productivity at work. Continue Reading…

Page 1 of 512345»