Customized Implementation
- Sivan Halevy
- Oct 1, 2004
- 2 min read
Co-written with Dr. Moriah Levy
We all recognize the importance of the implementation phase in any organizational project, particularly in knowledge management projects. The weight of implementation in knowledge management activities is so significant that we often say it's preferable to have a solution that's technologically rated 8 if its implementation capability is 8 rather than a solution that's technologically rated 10 but whose implementation chances (due to convenience and customer fit) are only 7.
The million-dollar question is obvious: Given a specific situation, how does one perform optimal implementation?
Here's a tip that can help us increase the chances of successful implementation in practice. The idea is based on two important principles: activity leads to commitment (see ״ From Involvement to Commitment״), and people connect with ideas they initiate.
So what do we do?
We build a general outline of options for key implementation activities. We lead personal meetings with the different team managers and jointly build a work plan tailored to the team's character and the manager's discretion.
How?
The implementation plan is built as a form/template. This template includes a section of possible goals for the specific team, challenges and strengths of the team that can affect the implementation process, and a selection of activities to be performed in the team to realize the implementation and its control. Often, we use dropdown lists that allow us, together with the team leader, to choose what suits them. After filling in the template and when the plan is ready, we ask the team leader and the overall activity manager to sign it, as the plan is theirs and not the knowledge management team's. This act increases commitment and gives added validity to the plan.
In practice, even if implementation plans are very similar (at least 80%), they allow the team manager room to maneuver. This improves implementation by matching the needs of the users and the cultural characteristics of the group.
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