Knowledge management is for big business. Giant consulting firms have the time and resources to build intricate and expensive IT systems that can be shared between their hundreds of associates in dozens of countries around the world. Small companies and startups believe that they just do not have the time or money to do the same thing. For sure, they know it is a disadvantage, but one of many that small companies face in the context of their larger competitors.
This is the common thinking when it comes to a big phrase like "knowledge management systems". But consider the alternative. Every time one of your associates, partners, freelancers, or employees leave, they take all their knowledge with them. And as you are a much smaller than one of your giant competitors, the percentage of knowledge that you lose when they walk out the door is much more impactful to your business. If a founder leaves, they take with them all the knowledge that it took to create the business. If a sales person leaves, they take away the knowledge that comes with all their collective experience working with your clients and partners. The relative impact to small companies is much more painful than to big companies, and yet small companies still think that knowledge management is too resource intensive to deliver ROI.
Good knowledge management is an equal balance between technology and organizational practice. An IT platform that is not used to its full extent is a waste of money. And good organizational practice without an appropriate IT platform is a waste of effort. Finding the right balance between the two is the definition of sustainable knowledge management practice and has been proven to have a positive financial impact on businesses large and small.
This is the common thinking when it comes to a big phrase like "knowledge management systems". But consider the alternative. Every time one of your associates, partners, freelancers, or employees leave, they take all their knowledge with them. And as you are a much smaller than one of your giant competitors, the percentage of knowledge that you lose when they walk out the door is much more impactful to your business. If a founder leaves, they take with them all the knowledge that it took to create the business. If a sales person leaves, they take away the knowledge that comes with all their collective experience working with your clients and partners. The relative impact to small companies is much more painful than to big companies, and yet small companies still think that knowledge management is too resource intensive to deliver ROI.
Good knowledge management is an equal balance between technology and organizational practice. An IT platform that is not used to its full extent is a waste of money. And good organizational practice without an appropriate IT platform is a waste of effort. Finding the right balance between the two is the definition of sustainable knowledge management practice and has been proven to have a positive financial impact on businesses large and small.
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