Knowledge Manager
- Yuval Markowitz
- Jul 1, 2007
- 4 min read
Written in collaboration with Dr. Moriah Levy
The 21st century is the century of knowledge workers. In his 1999 book "Management Challenges for the 21st Century," Peter Drucker defined this well, outlining his doctrine on this subject and the management roles resulting from this change.
Today, many organizations already understand the importance of knowledge management and appoint someone responsible for this activity, called the "Knowledge Manager." Since knowledge management is an interdisciplinary field composed of project aspects and aspects of culture, process, computing, and content, it is difficult to define such a position. This overview will try to provide tools for defining the role of the Knowledge Manager, their tasks, reporting structure, and the qualities required to fulfill this role in the best possible way.
Organizational Reporting Structure
Prior to defining the Knowledge Manager, the first question asked in any organization is their organizational placement. Since this field is interdisciplinary, there are several alternatives, all valid:
Human Resources - General
Organizational Development
Training
Quality
Organization & Methods
Information Department
Information Technology (IT)
Cross-functional Processes (Safety, Risk Management, and Quality Improvement Teams)
Strategy
And more
Prusak & Davenport, in their book "Working Knowledge," suggest three classic options for integrating the role of Knowledge Manager in an organization:
Human Resources
Information Systems
As an independent position (reporting to the CEO)
They highly recommend the last option
Role
The roles of the Knowledge Manager are diverse:
On the one hand, the knowledge manager must perform long-term strategic planning and manage multi-year change to ensure a future where the organization shares and develops knowledge as part of its conduct. A visionary person is reflected before our eyes. On the other hand, a knowledge manager needs to be practical, know how to manage a project, define specific activities, and strive to achieve short-term results.
On the one hand, the Knowledge Manager needs a technological understanding of the many tools available in the market, a technical understanding of the content organization, and fundamental activity to define correct and efficient work processes. On the other hand, the Knowledge Manager needs to be a soft-skilled person, able to read between the lines, dismantle resistances, and sometimes simply bypass them while sensitively immersing the entire organization in cultural change.
On the one hand, the knowledge manager is required to perform individual work and define specific business outputs for each consumer group in the organization and the derivative activities needed to achieve them. On the other hand, the knowledge manager needs a horizontal view that will ensure the integration of each activity into a shared puzzle, composting, and, ultimately, one common picture.
The Knowledge Manager is a leader and guide, but the Knowledge Manager is also a working person.
As stated, it's a diverse role.
Qualities Contributing to the Success of a Knowledge Manager
As can be understood from the many requirements in defining the role of the Knowledge Manager, this is a very complex position requiring numerous skills. When recruiting a Knowledge Manager, we must choose the most suitable person for the role, someone who will protect the management's interests on one hand and knowledge management interests on the other.
The following qualities may contribute to the success of a Knowledge Manager:
Leadership ability - The Knowledge Manager needs to inspire the organization's managers and employees to change their habits and adopt new, unfamiliar habits and work processes. The purpose of these habits is knowledge sharing and creation, whose benefits are difficult to prove in the short term.
Broad vision and strategic thinking - This quality is required for the Knowledge Manager to envision the complete picture of the knowledge management process in the organization at each stage. This vision will help identify opportunities for planning and implementing cultural changes in the organization and for constantly thinking about ways to lead the organization toward fulfilling the vision.
Initiative, motivation ability, and creativity - As the initiator and implementer of knowledge-sharing activities and new knowledge creation, the Knowledge Manager needs to use creative ways to motivate the organization's managers and employees to plan, establish, and maintain a knowledge-sharing organizational environment.
Good interpersonal communication can greatly contribute to the success of the Knowledge Manager due to working with numerous factors from all corners of the organizational hierarchy. This quality will help the Knowledge Manager externalize interest in knowledge management and especially enable creating connections with organizational factors to demonstrate worthiness and engagement in the process. The knowledge manager must be attentive and open to process partners, receive new ideas, and implement them in the organization.
Good project management and detail management skills - To ensure the practicality of the process and its actual advancement.
In conclusion, managing organizational knowledge is not a simple matter and, therefore, should be done by the most suitable person for the role. The Knowledge Manager in an organization is a critical factor for the success of the entire process (Critical Success Factor). Therefore, it is important to carefully choose the Knowledge Manager. It will likely be difficult to find a Knowledge Manager associated with all the units mentioned (or with a background in all of them), a Knowledge Manager who knows how to perform all components of the role and possesses all the qualities. We must locate the figure closest to what has been defined in the organization and involve an accompanying team that will complement the missing aspects. Sharing, here, too, is probably half the way to victory.
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