By now, what we call the \u201c2020 Information Age\u201d, knowledge has become an asset. As a business organization, operating to improve and diversify assets, you may be wondering how on earth did an asset become:<\/p>\n
A. Intangible<\/p>\n
B. Immeasurable<\/p>\n
And all the while you thought, your eLearning efforts had been enough to generate \u201cknowledge\u201d within your company to coax in enough ROI, the much anticipated green bills.<\/p>\n
In short, as a dedicated business professional, you believed you had invested enough time, efforts and money to create eLearning courses to generate knowledge within your organization that would in turn bring in profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sorry to burst your bubble! While your intentions are\u00a0pure, your strategy and perspective might not be\u00a0aligned\u00a0with\u00a0your intentions.<\/p>\n
Knowledge within your organization, generated through eLearning is not ready to be consumed or utilized as an organizational asset (knowledge capital) until it is formally managed.<\/p>\n
Think: Knowledge + Management = Knowledge Management.<\/p>\n
Using best practices in knowledge management and eLearning development, you can actually retain the knowledge capital within your organization to perform better and more efficiently, both on the business front and in-house.<\/p>\n
We would like to assure you that this is no new phenomenon or \u201cbuzz word\u201d. It is simply integrating two processes using the many technology tools available to channel knowledge and information to the right place at the right time for the desired business decisions and activities.<\/p>\n
Before we begin, no, this is not \u201cHuman Resources 101\u201d. We are by no means trying to brush up your employee management skills.<\/p>\n
The star of the discussion here is \u201cknowledge\u201d and how it is the key intangible asset that needs to be measured periodically to match your organization goals. As with any business activity or process, we go back to your organization’s goals.<\/p>\n
Think about your core vision as a company. You may be a product or a service oriented business, but your aim is to improve and become the best. You hire experts and you hire experience. You invest in trainings and you want to see a difference.<\/p>\n
What have you invariably generated?<\/p>\n
Knowledge. A knowledge culture. A knowledge culture unique to your organization.<\/p>\n
What you have is tacit<\/i> and explicit <\/i>knowledge in the form of precious intuition, insight, experience, perspective, \u201cknow how\u201d, \u201cknow what\u201d, \u201cbest case scenario\u201d, talent, \u201cinsiders secrets\u201d and lessons learnt.<\/p>\n
But where do these wonderful adjectives exist?<\/p>\n
In the minds of your employees.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Your objective here is to retain this knowledge by organizing the information about it, so that it is managed systematically as haphazardly it is created! You see, anything created by humans is automatically chaotic, until a tool comes to the rescue.<\/p>\n
Knowledge management strategy and tools will help retain and measure your company\u2019s invaluable asset: its knowledge.<\/p>\n
Remember, eLearning is another tool to create <\/i>more knowledge. How can you manage <\/i>and retain<\/i> this knowledge?<\/p>\n
Knowledge is an intangible asset that can be measured by applying knowledge management strategies to your learning management system.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
First things first, let\u2019s look into the definitions and key touch points of the concepts \u201cknowledge management\u201d and \u201ceLearning\u201d. Then attempt to combine both.<\/p>\n
What we get is an informed knowledge and learning management system. Believe us, it is not as easy as it sounds, but critically essential in this \u201c2020 Information Age\u201d.<\/p>\n
Most conventional definitions say: Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and effectively using organizational knowledge.<\/i><\/p>\n
It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.<\/i><\/p>\nWhat is eLearning?<\/b><\/h2>\n
And we know eLearning as: Learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the Internet.<\/i><\/p>\nHow to combine Knowledge Management and eLearning<\/b><\/h2>\n
Best practices in knowledge management indicate overlapping processes between KM and eLearning:<\/p>\n
We simply explained how both KM and eLearning complement each other. But how do you retain knowledge as a valuable asset?<\/p>\n
Knowledge is either tacit or explicit. Tacit knowledge that is unspoken is hard to capture. Explicit knowledge is shared freely in your eLearning courses.<\/p>\n
Research indicates that the best strategies to measure tacit or invisible knowledge is through developing a community of practice (COP) within your learning environment.<\/p>\n
Almost two decades ago, Nonaka and Takeuchi developed the SECI Model for Knowledge Management (Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization).<\/p>\n
Apply this model to your learning management system and your eLearning environment will embody knowledge management. Learning management systems can become excellent resources to develop COP.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n
Most learning management systems are well equipped with enough bells and whistles to take you cross-country, non-stop. What we are merely implying, is that\u00a0in\u00a0general, learning management systems have features that can be utilized to reinforce knowledge management practices, while they\u00a0serve as an eLearning junction within your company’s intranet.<\/p>\n
All you lacked was an insight, an \u201culterior motive\u201d to use your learning management system as a powerful tool that recombines information about knowledge and knowledge about information.<\/p>\n
In the next article, we will explain how the various knowledge management strategies can be integrated in your physical and online learning environment to truly retain your knowledge capital and establish a learning organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By now, what we call the \u201c2020 Information Age\u201d, knowledge has become an asset. As a business organization, operating to improve and diversify assets, you may be wondering how on earth did an asset become: A. Intangible B. Immeasurable And all the while you thought, your eLearning efforts had been enough to generate \u201cknowledge\u201d within […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[168],"class_list":["post-2732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instructional-design","tag-corporate-training"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n