I’ve been advising a multi-national company here in Australia about knowledge management practices. Apparently, though, there’s only a small window of opportunity for them to install some new software, so their plan is to do the technology installation first and then train people to use it.

It reminded me of Taylor’s Industrial Age and how the introduction of new technologies back then meant improved efficiency. I know many managers today who also hold to this premise, so they seek out software that will deliver them better compliance and improved risk management capability, particularly in the area of electronic document management and recordkeeping. Some even believe that it will deliver improved efficiency for the findability of information by staff and  an improved capacity for knowledge management.

What often results, though, is the introduction of new ways of working that:

• Do not align with the way individuals currently work or even want to work
• Enforces a way of thinking of information that does not match the way people think about the information they use or want to use

The outcome is a diminished capacity to realise the return on investment and an increase in the amount of change management required to change the way staff think and behave. Personally, I’ve found that when risk and records management are involved in the equation that demand a set way of working, people simply become non-compliant and develop work-arounds to suit the way they want to work — and no amount of training will change the way they work.

To achieve the best return on investment then, work needs to be designed to more closely aligned to the way people think and the way they behave. Logically, only then should technology decisions be made and introduced.

Those organisations who are leveraging social computing tools in the workplace are discovering that because people know how to use these tools, because they like using these tools, and because it has an immediate ‘whats in it for me‘ factor, their introduction at the enterprise-level brings an immediate ROI without training.

The way to achieve this is to apply user-centred design principles:

1. understand how people want to work and how they think about information
2. design and identify tools that best align with workers thinking and behaviour

Forrester’s POST methodology for introducing tools into an enterprise summarises this approach well:

1. People: know how they think and behave
2. Objectives: determine what behaviour you want to reinforce or change
3. Strategy: work out how you intend on delivering your objectives and the ROI you’re seeking
4. Technology: match the people, objectives and strategy with an appropriate technology

This approach essentially puts the proverbial cart back to where it belongs — after the horse — and therefore achieves efficiency that it seeks.

M