Employee Integration in Mapping Interviews

Knowledge needs mapping is our first process in organizational knowledge management activities.

The purpose of the mapping process is to identify the organization's main knowledge management needs and outline an initial framework for appropriate activity.

In every organization, knowledge is infinite. In medium and large organizations with numerous knowledge areas, we recommend focusing on an initial mapping examining only about seven topics, from which the first two topics for knowledge management focus are selected. Identifying needs and prioritizing them is done primarily through interviews with role holders in the organization, information producers, and line employees.

Another effective mapping method is convening focus groups. This method is especially effective when there is a tight timeline, and you want to reach many employees quickly. It allows for involving a large number of employees from an early stage in the process.

From our experience, we've learned that combining both methods can take us even one step further:

Employees participating in the focus group can help prioritize the first knowledge topics. Moreover, they can assist in the interview process with relevant role holders and information producers for the needs they raised. We suggest including the participant who raised the need in each interview.

What does the organization gain from this process?

• Justification in the voice of the field: During the interview, the employee who raised the idea presented the need inherent in knowledge management. They have a great advantage over us, the consultants, in this: they know the field, can provide examples, and justify their proposal.

• Broad agreement on the need for change: The presence of an employee from the organization makes the interview multidimensional, a meeting that enables brainstorming and peer learning. It's an opportunity to examine things in depth and decide by majority if the need is justified.

• Reflecting on the choice: If the idea proposed by the employee is not justified, they hear it directly from the interviewee, not through the consultant. This prevents a feeling that there was an arbitrary preference for ideas.

• Recruiting employees to the process from day one! We believe that employees who take part in the process will later become change agents for the activity – they will help spread the message of knowledge management among other employees and take a central role in the implementation process.

Getting Up Tomorrow Morning

Good mapping allows the organization to understand what its tomorrow will look like: it identifies the benefits of knowledge management activities and, no less importantly, provides tools to market the process to its employees. In our view, the "integrated method" opens a broader window to tomorrow morning.

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