Number 4 corner2
Title of session: What are some examples of changes in institutional culture as a result of KM strategies?
Initiator: Lucie Lemoureaux
Participants: Leia Isanhart-Balima, Rachel Cardone, Linda Morris, Jessica Lustbader, Nina Hadley, Raylene Simmons, Sarah Crass, Piers Bobcock, Lucie Lemoureaux, Petr Kosina, Daniel Cooney, Abby Clobridge, Anna Curtner, Jeremy Bailey, Sarah Schmidt, Tara Sullivan
Main points: It is important to come to agreement on the kinds of change you wish to see... Is there a specific thing you are trying to change? The group talked about coming up with a value proposition.
Sarah from MSH talk about their efforts with the The Society for Organizational Learning framework. They have done a series of workshops highlighting: 1. Leadership 2. Environment - keeping people motivated and excited. 3. Learning Processes - creating a culture where innovation and experimentation are encouraged. Coaching and mentoring.
How do you involve people in the field offices? Funding is an issue. Hosting workshops online could help, though face-to-face is important.
Professional development budgets tend to be for people to attend conferences. One strategy here is to pool resources together to bring-in a consultant and have staff learn together.
Anna spoke about the importance of using collaborative tools rather than email, as a means to bring more people into institutional dialogue.
One concern is how to address burnout, and how to encourage work/life balance as a way to improve culture. Stronger leadership could help to address these problems. Balance can be difficult when leadership isn't modeling this behavior.
CGIAR is a place where organizational culture is such that Open Access isn't being adopted across the board. Setting up the platforms is not enough. Culture has to change. How does one influence/pressure scientists to get on board?
Intranets are a potential tool, but are staff afraid to participate and share opinions?
One group has had great success with the boss writing a blog.
How to encourage and create incentives? Participation in intranet, blogging, awarding ipads? Knowledge sharing comes from leadership and from junior staff. Knowledge Sharing happens from both sides. Having a plan in place, regarding what works and what does not work anymore is very important. Twitter, WebEx, Intranet, Yammer... different platforms suit different needs, but all can be useful, especially when participation is across the board - including leadership.
Annual Meetings can be a great time to advocate for change, using strong facilitation techniques.
Having strong leadership, social media strategies and internal communications can help to eliminate 'silos' and create a smoother flow of information between departments. In one organization, using these strategies, there has been an obvious tipping point, where KM has been really recognized as being a crucial factor in the success of the organization.
How do encourage organization momentum to create change? Creating leadership opportunities and Communities of Practice help. Giving more people a voice, encourages people to speak up and share knowledge.
