An administration's success in achieving goals amidst uncertainty is determined by everyday interactive processes that deliver x-enterprise coordination, control, prudence in working, innovation, application of experience for decision making and effective response. These interactive processes are unstructured (USBP), viz., are not conducted in any order and do not have fixed components. The worker decides the next component and collaborators spontaneously. The combination makes the USBP workflow unpredictable and unrepeatable. Achieving efficient knowledge flow in a team can be very frustrating because of problems in co-ordinating the interactive processes - personnel travel, have priorities, may be indisposed, etc. This endangers knowledge application: wishful thinking can replace evaluation, critical knowledge maybe lost, mistakes are likely to repeat, enthusiasm may suffer, and control could become a casualty.

A study of the major constituents of the knowledge exchanged during the interactive processes provides an understanding of the requirements for effective knowledge sharing and application on each issue:

  • Perspective :

Helps to create change scenarios, convert the unexpected to the expected and identify a good position. A reliable perspective promotes strategy to maximize gain and the confidence to cut losses if control is endangered. History and understanding of the forces at play provide perspective.

  • Knowledge Of Patterns :

If strategy is determined by perspective, decision rules and timing for success on the ground are determined by knowledge of the patterns that prevail. Without decision rules it is impossible to focus the motive force to act. The patterns are established by the interplay of the attendant forces. An essential component of experience is knowledge of these patterns.
  • Interpretation of Facts :

Decisions and commitments are, or should be, made on observations, viz., the co-relation of facts. There is real danger of wishful thinking, lingering hope, fear of loss, satisfaction of desire and mindset obfuscating the recognition and interpretation of facts. Misinterpretation can snatch defeat from victory. Interpretation is a zone of true risk. It determines the conclusions that decide action.
  • Principles:

Fear and desire induce indiscretions under the pressure of time and the bottom line. Principles, in particular accountability to performance standards, protect against indiscretions. Delays, failure to respond to priorities, loss of control where time and loss budgets are exceeded are forms of indiscretion. Codes of behaviour also contribute to principles for they directly define a range of indiscretions.

  • Coordination :
The systematic flow of knowledge to experts, with coordination across departments promotes success and crashes cost and time budgets.
  • Innovation:

May be pursued by first following divergence to generate content and then convergence to select and move forward. This approach may be adopted to at first define the problem, next to generate ideas and finally to create the solution. It requires a hierarchy to lead the team through the stages and even engage in iteration for improving upon the result.

  • Systematic Recording:

 

This encompasses capturing the chain of events on an issue, categorizing the issue for swift access and categorizing the opinions exchanged in context for their knowledge content, viz., Perspectives, Principles, Patterns, etc. Systematic recording of content facilitates focused access.
  • The Free Flow Of Knowledge

The availability of knowledge is not enough. It has to be applied continuously along the right path to assure success, for change can rapidly alter circumstances. Free flow of Knowledge distributes responsibility to provide protection against the neglect of pertinent knowledge and increases the number of personnel alert to an issue. The process promotes debate that favors the evaluative over the wishful in interpretation, internalizes experience for its effective reuse, isolates fear and guards against indiscretions. Establishing a reliable way to progress free flow is the only protection against poor knowledge application. Apart from promoting prudence, free flow provides the courage of collective thinking to initiate action.A means for free flow leverages the available competencies and promotes the constant review essential for pursuing a successful strategy. Technically, free flow is achieved by integration of Communication, Collaboration and Coordination. This must be achieved effortlessly for each of the knowledge issues the User is required to attend.

 
  • Continuous Asynchronous Knowledge Exchange :

Continuous and focused sharing of knowledge, viz., Communication, Coordination and Collaboration on an issue, which does not require the personnel to be in contact, is critical to :

  • The crystallization of Perspectives, Patterns and Principles for dealing with uncertainty.
  • The development of scenarios for converting the unexpected to the expected.
  • Appreciation of problems.
  • The emergence of solutions and strategy based on contribution of ideas.
  • The interpretation of facts, free of fear and wishful thinking, to trigger the strategy.
  • Achieving free flow in key decision areas for firm action and collective consciousness.
  • Converting available implicit knowledge on a subject to explicit knowledge which can be recorded systematically to accumulate history and access experience.
  • Follow up of action and review of results achieved.
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    Presently, the successful systems for knowledge work, viz., unrepeatable workflows, are either paper based or demand considerable self-organization or detailed corporate supervision. These systems are either unsuited or excessively expensive for the geographically distributed or large organization. A reliable and addictive means for continuous asynchronous knowledge exchange across space and time differences holds the key for sharing and application of knowledge governed by accountability.

     
    • Failure Of Email For Knowledge Sharing And Application:

    Email is used in default for all electronic Business Interaction. It suffers from the following handicaps: 

  • Emails have no circulation life. They occupy space even if a colleague does needful;
  • Poor at categorization for drilling down to important issues and managing clutter;
  • Does not capture the expectation that initiates interaction. Recipient free not to reply. Outstanding expectations on issues in circulation are a key source of anxiety;
  • Poor tracking, knowledge and control of downstream thinking, action and member response times;
  • Does not categorize the knowledge captured;
  • The Knowledge captured is rarely stored for corporate reuse;
  • The inbox does not distinguish between emails received from colleagues and the internet;
  • Does not provide a structure to assist the effortless routing of intranet interactions;
  • Has to be supplemented by manual effort to integrate all technology like collaboration, document management, etc., on an issue. System shall be unmanageable for the heavy loads common in the daily knowledge work;
  • Requires business process support for innovation, strategy, etc. and motivation programs for pursuit of success.
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    The Need:

    An efficient means for continuous asynchronous knowledge exchange on an issue that shall facilitate Coordination, induce the process of free knowledge flow (Collaboration), enable control and follow up (Communication), promote Accountability and capture all knowledge exchanged in context systematically.