Electronic Performance Support Systems

The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology defines EPSS ase an extension and further development of the workplace job aid. As described by Rossett & Gautier-Downes (1991), job aids support work and activity, are external to the individual and have three discrete functions, which are:

1. providing information,
2. supporting procedures, and
3. guiding decision making.

When these three functions of job aids interconnect within an integrated technology-based system, a “highly sophisticated technological job aid” called an electronic performance support system results (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2004, p. 71). Characteristic advantages of an EPSS over a traditional non-technology based job aid include:

* user ability to quickly access large quantities of information,
* support for multiple users anywhere at any time the delivery technology is available, and
* user ability to receive interactive coaching and guidance.

Electronic Performance Support Systems

Gloria J. Gery, a consultant in the fields of business learning and electronic performance support, is the author of "Electronic Performance Support Systems" (Gery Performance Press, 1991), the seminal book on EPSS.

Gloria Gery published a book in 1991 that defines electronic performance support systems (EPSS) as
"an integrated electronic environment that is available to and easily accessible by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit job performance with minimal support and intervention by others."

Every article that I researched start with Gery's definition. She is concerned the expert of EPSS.

Also in 1991, Barry Raybould gave a shorter definition:

a computer-based system that improves worker productivity by providing on-the-job access to integrated information, advice, and learning experiences.

According to an article that I found entitled, Types of Electronic Performance Support Systems:Their Characteristics and Range of Designs by Deborah Alpert Sleight in 1993 who is an Educational Psychologist at Michigan State University, types are some common uses for EPSS.

An electronic performance support system (EPSS) displays some or all of the following characteristics.

Computer-based: EPSSs are computer-based, which is what the "electronic" in their name indicates. There have been older attempts at performance support systems, such as a series of manuals, job aids, and other paper material. But it wasn't until the advent of powerful multimedia computers that optimal performance support could be made possible. Optimal support includes quick and easy access to the information needed at the time the task is being performed.

Access during task: EPSSs provide access to the discrete, specific information needed to perform a task at the time the task is to be performed. This is a two-part characteristic: 1) access to the specific information needed to perform a task, and 2) access to the information at the time the task is to be performed. If one part of this characteristic does not exist, then the characteristic changes and is no longer a performance support characteristic. The discrete, specific information provided may be:

* data: the type of data may be textual or numeric, such as prices, locations, and names. Or they may be visual, such as photographs and motion video footage. Or they may be audio, such as conversations, speeches, and music.
* instruction: the instruction may be a list of steps to take, a motion video showing a procedure, or a simulation of a task that allows the user to practice.
* advice: the advice may be an expert system that asks the user questions, then suggests the most appropriate procedure or step to do next.
* tools: the software tools may be a spreadsheet, a statistical analysis package, and a program that controls industrial robots.

This availability of information, instruction, advice and tools makes much prior training unnecessary.

This makes EPSS versatile and user adaptive.

She states that the benefits of EPSS are:
Used on the job: An EPSS provides information to people at their workstation on the job, or in simulations or other practice of the job. The information is provided at the worker's workstation as the worker sees a need for it. The EPSS can be used in simulations or other practice of the job, so that the worker learns both the information he or she will probably need when doing the job, and how to use the EPSS itself.

Controlled by the worker: The worker decides when and what information is needed. There is no need for a teacher, as the worker is guided by the needs of the task. The motivation is provided by the worker's desire to accomplish the task.

Reduce the need for prior training: The easy availability of the information needed to perform a task reduces the need for much (but probably not all) prior training in order to accomplish the task.

Easily updated: The very nature of an EPSS, that it provides the information needed to perform a task, requires that it be easily updatable, in order to keep the information that it provides current. The computerized nature of an EPSS makes updating faster and easier in some ways than in other media, such as print, video, or audio.

Fast access to information: The user must be able to access the needed information quickly when it is needed on the job. Otherwise the EPSS is no better than a set of manuals, which probably contain the information, but the information is difficult to find when needed.

Irrelevant information not included: The user is able to access only the specific, discrete information needed at that instant, instead of having to wade through loads of irrelevant information to find the few details needed. This is one of the problems with instruction that is not specific to a task; it forces the user to sift through it looking for the details needed. This sifting not only slows the user down, but can result in confusion.

Allow for different levels of knowledge in users: In order to speed up information access and understanding, an EPSS can provide minimal information for those who do not want details, yet, through the hypertext links in the databases and through optional tutorials, provide detail for those who do want more.

Allow for different learning styles: Through multimedia, an EPSS can accommodate users with varied learning styles, thus providing more optimal learning. The same information can be presented in visual, textual, and audio formats, with the user selecting the format.

Integrate information, advice, and learning experiences: An EPSS can integrate information, advice, and learning experiences for the user. For example, a database entry might describe a procedure. The user may not know if the procedure is the proper one to use, so he or she might turn to the advisor to find out. The advisor would ask the user some questions about what he or she needs to accomplish, then would suggest which procedure to use. The user might then access a tutorial on using the procedure, and practice it through a simulation, before actually performing the procedure.

Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence is an essential characteristic of EPSSs, according to Carr (Carr, 1992), but not according to Gery. I think that at this early stage of performance support system design and use, AI is not essential, but that eventually it will be one of the defining characteristics of EPSS. This will happen when research on EPSS and on AI has progressed further.

An EPSS is not an absolute system that contains all these characteristics. Rather, different systems will fall on a continuum of these characteristics. An EPSS displaying all these characteristics would be the ideal. Since performance support systems are still young, it is more likely that many will display only the key characteristics.

Learning management System

Being new to all of the terms, I goggled LMS. Wikipedia defines LMS as is software for delivering, tracking and managing training/education. LMSs range from systems for managing training/educational records to software for distributing courses over the Internet and offering features for online collaboration. In many instances, corporate training departments purchase LMSs to automate record-keeping as well as the registration of employees for classroom and online courses.
I found in my searching the BlackBoard is a LMS offered by the Dell corporation. WOW! Something that I could visibly see.

This is Dell description of BlackBoard on Dell.com. "Blackboard is software for delivering, tracking and managing training/education. LMSs range from systems for managing training/educational records to software for distributing courses over the Internet and offering features for online collaboration. In many instances, corporate training departments purchase LMSs to automate record-keeping as well as the registration of employees for classroom and online courses".

LMS allow educational organization the ability to modified and republish single courses to various audiences while maintaining different versions and history. The objects stored in the centralized repository can be made available to course developer and content experts throughout and organization for potential reuse and re purpose. The eliminates duplicate development effort and allow for the rapid assemble of customized content which is very cost-effective.


I do not know all the capabilities of Blackboard due to limited usages, but I find it to be okay. I really do not have anything to compare it to. It has met all of my educational needs.

According to Renee Greene of ehow.com, here are some to the cons with LMS.Learning does not happen in a vacuum,~~ according to Godfrey Parkin, a specialist in online strategy and marketing innovation. "...an LMS, as available today, is not a universal solution for a corporation's e-learning problems. In fact, an LMS is often the albatross around the neck of progress in technology-enhanced learning." He believes that the vendors of these software systems remove control from end-users--the instructors and learners. In an exaggerated effort to "do it all," LMS appears to cause more confusion than it resolves. Centralized learning, Parkin says, limit options in that they are more focused on tools and the warm bodies who use them than the needs of the instructor to maintain flexibility in his teaching methods.
I agree.
All though there are some cons, the positives of LMS are tremendous. According to an article that I found on a website called NetDimension, these just to few of the pros to using a LMS and their product which is Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP).

A learning management system is now used not only to implement an organization's learning development but also to measure and report on training delivery, ensure employee compliance, automate reporting and tracking, as well as deliver assessment and testing.

Whether your organization is starting a departmental pilot or rolling-out a global installation, NetDimensions' Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP) learning management system, is secure, reliable, easy to use and quick to implement.
EKP enables you to manage:

* Performance appraisals
* Training programs
* License and certification requirements
* Competencies
* Compliance initiatives
* Succession planning

NetDimensions' learning management system will help you:

* Improve the efficiency of compliance programs.
* Increase knowledge retention and make learning more efficient.
* Measure the effectiveness of training.
* Identify skills and competencies.
* Decrease operational and travel costs.



EKP is a powerful, multilingual learning management system that manages the entire training and development process from delivering and tracking to testing and reporting.
EKP is optimized for:

* Reporting & Tracking
* Assessments, compliance procedures and licensing
* Managing employee competencies and performance
* Centralizing global knowledge
* Transforming the learning process
* Managing information – Integrate & Disseminate
* Enhancing the front-end learning experience (EKP Portal Toolkit)
* e-Commerce Management

EKP Features List:

* Automated reporting and tracking
* Standardized procedures
* Centralized global knowledge into one system
* Increased organizational interaction and exchange of knowledge
* Tracked regulatory compliance
* Access, monitor, review and update materials anytime, anywhere 24/7
* Integrated management of your entire training process
* Supports 30+ languages

Change Management

I was unfamiliar with the term change management in respect to instructional technology. I want to find a simple explanation for this terminology.

According to website wikipedia, change management is an IT Service Management discipline. The objective of Change Management in this context is to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to controlled IT infrastructure, in order to minimize the number and impact of any related incidents upon service. Changes in the IT infrastructure may arise reactively in response to problems or externally imposed requirements, e.g. legislative changes, or proactively from seeking imposed efficiency and effectiveness or to enable or reflect business initiatives, or from programs, projects or service improvement initiatives. Change Management can ensure standardized methods, processes and procedures are used for all changes, facilitate efficient and prompt handling of all changes, and maintain the proper balance between the need for change and the potential detrimental impact of changes.

I have find the article explaining ten principles of change management.

10 Principles of Change Management
By John Jones, DeAnne Aguirre, and Matthew Calderone

4/15/04 Tools and techniques to help companies transform quickly.

In this article, the authors discuss how in 2004 senior executives in large companies had a simple goal for themselves and their organizations: stability. This stability would give their shareholders the safe, more than predictable earnings growth. Five years later, during the recession, that is still have very prevalent concern.

This presents most senior executives with an unfamiliar challenge. In major transformations of large enterprises, they and their advisors conventionally focus their attention on devising the best strategic and tactical plans. But to succeed, they also must have an intimate understanding of the human side of change management — the alignment of the company’s culture, values, people, and behaviors — to encourage the desired results. Plans themselves do not capture value; value is realized only through the sustained, collective actions of the thousands — perhaps the tens of thousands — of employees who are responsible for designing, executing, and living with the changed environment.

Long-term structural transformation has four characteristics:

• scale (the change affects all or most of the organization),

• magnitude (it involves significant alterations of the status quo),

• duration (it lasts for months, if not years), and

• strategic importance.

Yet companies will reap the rewards only when change occurs at the level of the individual employee.

No single methodology fits every company, but there is a set of practices, tools, and techniques that can be adapted to a variety of situations. What follows is a “Top 10” list of guiding principles for change management. Using these as a systematic, comprehensive framework, executives can understand what to expect, how to manage their own personal change, and how to engage the entire organization in the process.

1. Address the “human side” systematically.

• Any significant transformation creates “people issues.” New leaders will be asked to step up, jobs will be changed, new skills and capabilities must be developed, and employees will be uncertain and resistant. Dealing with these issues on a reactive, case-by-case basis puts speed, morale, and results at risk.
  

• A formal approach for managing change — beginning with the leadership team and then engaging key stakeholders and leaders — should be developed early, and adapted often as change moves through the organization.
  

• This demands as much data collection and analysis, planning, and implementation discipline as does a redesign of strategy, systems, or processes.
  

• The change-management approach should be fully integrated into program design and decision making, both informing and enabling strategic direction. It should be based on a realistic assessment of the organization’s history, readiness, and capacity to change.
  

2. Start at the top. Because change is inherently unsettling for people at all levels of an organization, when it is on the horizon, all eyes will turn to the CEO and the leadership team for strength, support, and direction. The leaders themselves must embrace the new approaches first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution. They must speak with one voice and model the desired behaviors. The executive team also needs to understand that, although its public face may be one of unity, it, too, is composed of individuals who are going through stressful times and need to be supported.

Executive teams that work well together are best positioned for success. They are aligned and committed to the direction of change, understand the culture and behaviors the changes intend to introduce, and can model those changes themselves. At one large transportation company, the senior team rolled out an initiative to improve the efficiency and performance of its corporate and field staff before addressing change issues at the officer level. The initiative realized initial cost savings but stalled as employees began to question the leadership team’s vision and commitment. Only after the leadership team went through the process of aligning and committing to the change initiative was the work force able to deliver downstream results.

3. Involve every layer. As transformation programs progress from defining strategy and setting targets to design and implementation, they affect different levels of the organization. Change efforts must include plans for identifying leaders throughout the company and pushing responsibility for design and implementation down, so that change “cascades” through the organization. At each layer of the organization, the leaders who are identified and trained must be aligned to the company’s vision, equipped to execute their specific mission, and motivated to make change happen.

A major multiline insurer with consistently flat earnings decided to change performance and behavior in preparation for going public. The company followed this “cascading leadership” methodology, training and supporting teams at each stage. First, 10 officers set the strategy, vision, and targets. Next, more than 60 senior executives and managers designed the core of the change initiative. Then 500 leaders from the field drove implementation. The structure remained in place throughout the change program, which doubled the company’s earnings far ahead of schedule. This approach is also a superb way for a company to identify its next generation of leadership.

4. Make the formal case. Individuals are inherently rational and will question to what extent change is needed, whether the company is headed in the right direction, and whether they want to commit personally to making change happen. They will look to the leadership for answers. The articulation of a formal case for change and the creation of a written vision statement are invaluable opportunities to create or compel leadership-team alignment.

Three steps should be followed in developing the case: First, confront reality and articulate a convincing need for change. Second, demonstrate faith that the company has a viable future and the leadership to get there. Finally, provide a road map to guide behavior and decision making. Leaders must then customize this message for various internal audiences, describing the pending change in terms that matter to the individuals.

A consumer packaged-goods company experiencing years of steadily declining earnings determined that it needed to significantly restructure its operations — instituting, among other things, a 30 percent work force reduction — to remain competitive. In a series of offsite meetings, the executive team built a brutally honest business case that downsizing was the only way to keep the business viable, and drew on the company’s proud heritage to craft a compelling vision to lead the company forward. By confronting reality and helping employees understand the necessity for change, leaders were able to motivate the organization to follow the new direction in the midst of the largest downsizing in the company’s history. Instead of being shell-shocked and demoralized, those who stayed felt a renewed resolve to help the enterprise advance.

5. Create ownership. Leaders of large change programs must overperform during the transformation and be the zealots who create a critical mass among the work force in favor of change. This requires more than mere buy-in or passive agreement that the direction of change is acceptable. It demands ownership by leaders willing to accept responsibility for making change happen in all of the areas they influence or control. Ownership is often best created by involving people in identifying problems and crafting solutions. It is reinforced by incentives and rewards. These can be tangible (for example, financial compensation) or psychological (for example, camaraderie and a sense of shared destiny).

At a large health-care organization that was moving to a shared-services model for administrative support, the first department to create detailed designs for the new organization was human resources. Its personnel worked with advisors in cross-functional teams for more than six months. But as the designs were being finalized, top departmental executives began to resist the move to implementation. While agreeing that the work was top-notch, the executives realized they hadn’t invested enough individual time in the design process to feel the ownership required to begin implementation. On the basis of their feedback, the process was modified to include a “deep dive.” The departmental executives worked with the design teams to learn more, and get further exposure to changes that would occur. This was the turning point; the transition then happened quickly. It also created a forum for top executives to work as a team, creating a sense of alignment and unity that the group hadn’t felt before.

6. Communicate the message. Too often, change leaders make the mistake of believing that others understand the issues, feel the need to change, and see the new direction as clearly as they do. The best change programs reinforce core messages through regular, timely advice that is both inspirational and practicable. Communications flow in from the bottom and out from the top, and are targeted to provide employees the right information at the right time and to solicit their input and feedback. Often this will require overcommunication through multiple, redundant channels.

In the late 1990s, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Charles O. Rossotti, had a vision: The IRS could treat taxpayers as customers and turn a feared bureaucracy into a world-class service organization. Getting more than 100,000 employees to think and act differently required more than just systems redesign and process change. IRS leadership designed and executed an ambitious communications program including daily voice mails from the commissioner and his top staff, training sessions, videotapes, newsletters, and town hall meetings that continued through the transformation. Timely, constant, practical communication was at the heart of the program, which brought the IRS’s customer ratings from the lowest in various surveys to its current ranking above the likes of McDonald’s and most airlines.

7. Assess the cultural landscape. Successful change programs pick up speed and intensity as they cascade down, making it critically important that leaders understand and account for culture and behaviors at each level of the organization. Companies often make the mistake of assessing culture either too late or not at all. Thorough cultural diagnostics can assess organizational readiness to change, bring major problems to the surface, identify conflicts, and define factors that can recognize and influence sources of leadership and resistance. These diagnostics identify the core values, beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions that must be taken into account for successful change to occur. They serve as the common baseline for designing essential change elements, such as the new corporate vision, and building the infrastructure and programs needed to drive change.

8. Address culture explicitly. Once the culture is understood, it should be addressed as thoroughly as any other area in a change program. Leaders should be explicit about the culture and underlying behaviors that will best support the new way of doing business, and find opportunities to model and reward those behaviors. This requires developing a baseline, defining an explicit end-state or desired culture, and devising detailed plans to make the transition.

Company culture is an amalgam of shared history, explicit values and beliefs, and common attitudes and behaviors. Change programs can involve creating a culture (in new companies or those built through multiple acquisitions), combining cultures (in mergers or acquisitions of large companies), or reinforcing cultures (in, say, long-established consumer goods or manufacturing companies). Understanding that all companies have a cultural center — the locus of thought, activity, influence, or personal identification — is often an effective way to jump-start culture change.

A consumer goods company with a suite of premium brands determined that business realities demanded a greater focus on profitability and bottom-line accountability. In addition to redesigning metrics and incentives, it developed a plan to systematically change the company’s culture, beginning with marketing, the company’s historical center. It brought the marketing staff into the process early to create enthusiasts for the new philosophy who adapted marketing campaigns, spending plans, and incentive programs to be more accountable. Seeing these culture leaders grab onto the new program, the rest of the company quickly fell in line.

9. Prepare for the unexpected. No change program goes completely according to plan. People react in unexpected ways; areas of anticipated resistance fall away; and the external environment shifts. Effectively managing change requires continual reassessment of its impact and the organization’s willingness and ability to adopt the next wave of transformation. Fed by real data from the field and supported by information and solid decision-making processes, change leaders can then make the adjustments necessary to maintain momentum and drive results.

A leading U.S. health-care company was facing competitive and financial pressures from its inability to react to changes in the marketplace. A diagnosis revealed shortcomings in its organizational structure and governance, and the company decided to implement a new operating model. In the midst of detailed design, a new CEO and leadership team took over. The new team was initially skeptical, but was ultimately convinced that a solid case for change, grounded in facts and supported by the organization at large, existed. Some adjustments were made to the speed and sequence of implementation, but the fundamentals of the new operating model remained unchanged.

10. Speak to the individual. Change is both an institutional journey and a very personal one. People spend many hours each week at work; many think of their colleagues as a second family. Individuals (or teams of individuals) need to know how their work will change, what is expected of them during and after the change program, how they will be measured, and what success or failure will mean for them and those around them. Team leaders should be as honest and explicit as possible. People will react to what they see and hear around them, and need to be involved in the change process. Highly visible rewards, such as promotion, recognition, and bonuses, should be provided as dramatic reinforcement for embracing change. Sanction or removal of people standing in the way of change will reinforce the institution’s commitment.

Most leaders contemplating change know that people matter. It is all too tempting, however, to dwell on the plans and processes, which don’t talk back and don’t respond emotionally, rather than face up to the more difficult and more critical human issues. But mastering the “soft” side of change management needn’t be a mystery.

Competency Modeling

Organizations typically envision competency models as providing a unifying framework among the different human resource functions. As a building block toward an integrated human resource system, competency models provide a broad overview of the capabilities required to perform successfully within an organization. Given that many personnel functions are subject to legal scrutiny and to ensure the utility of these programs, HumRRO follows a rigorous process when developing competency models for clients.

Entrenched with traditional job analytic information (i.e., knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics [KSAOs]), the resulting competency models provide a solid foundation upon which various human resource programs can be based. To achieve this end, HumRRO works with job incumbents, supervisors, managers and executives to identify the critical KSAOs. This includes conducting interview and focus groups, as well as administering surveys to capture the requisite KSAOs. Then, in collaboration with the client, HumRRO translates these data into meaningful competencies. The resulting competency model and associated definitions are reviewed by both the client and HumRRO to ensure clarity, relevance and consistency with the job analytic data.

HumRRO has extensive experience in developing customized competency models tailored to the client's individual needs and goals. Recently, for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), HumRRO developed a competency model specific to the agency's criminal investigator positions. HumRRO also developed a nontechnical competency model for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This competency model was developed for all of the FAA's employees, nonsupervisory through executive ranks. For the Education and Training Administration of the Department of Labor, HumRRO developed a competency model that focuses on the leadership requirements for all levels of employees. And, for the Girl Scouts of the USA, HumRRO completed a competency modeling study of the council membership job.

The competency models that resulted from these efforts served as the foundation for a variety of human resource programs including selection, training, performance management, and the development. The diversity of clients as well as purposes for the competency models accents the benefits of our tailored and thorough methodologies.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Suzanne Tsacoumis or Research Notes

Competency modeling

For most of my blogs thus far, I have been seek out the most technical information that I could find. I have read about ten articles on each topic before I blogged it. I have gotten the full understanding of one them yet. So I am trying a new approach. This is a research paper on the competency modeling approach.

Career and Competency Pathing: The Competency Modeling Approach
By Maggie LaRocca

Maggie LaRocca
Learning Program Manager
Hewlett-Packard Company
maggie.larocca@hp.com

LaRocca opens by explaining that competencies are behaviors that encompass the knowledge, skills, and attributes required for successful performance. In addition to intelligence and aptitude, the underlying characteristics of a person, such as traits, habits, motives, social roles, and self-image, as well as the environment around them, enable a person to deliver superior performance in a given job, role, or situation. I am able to clearly understand all of the factors that she has attributed to the approach. The focus of her paper is to describe how organizations identify their core competencies and how they are applying this competency data to improve performance, which she clearly stated.

Chris Wright is the founder, President and CEO of Reliant (www.reliantlive.com). Dr. Wright leads the development of Reliant's Strategic Talent Management products and content.

Leadership is an outcome

For example, Leadership is not a competency. Effective leadership is an outcome. To be an effective leader, one must possess many core competencies including, but not limited to motivating intrinsically, strategic planning, initiation, decisiveness, people reading, public presentation, information integration, and industry knowledge.

Good competency models will contain definitions and behavioral elements that are highly specific and well defined. If a competency model is based on scientific research, the vendor can provide you with the corresponding articles.

You may also find it useful to create a competency model based on your specific organization. Below is a step-by-step process for creating a competency model and utilizing that model within your organization.

1. Identify the high-impact jobs or positions within your organization.
2. Determine the outcomes expected as a result of successful performance within this position. These outcomes should be directly linked to the organizational objectives.
3. Identify the technical and behavior competencies necessary in achieving the desired outcomes.
4. Assess the candidate using behavioral assessments that have been validated against your competency model.
5. Create and utilize behaviorally-based interview questions that compliment the behavioral assessments and are mapped directly to the competencies.
6. Develop learning opportunities to foster growth in the core competencies necessary for success.
7. Institute performance management and developmental processes around the competency model.
8. Integrate the competency model within your succession planning strategies to identify and develop candidates for succession into your critical jobs.

Competency modeling is an important step in the development of an effective talent management strategy. It can greatly increase the hiring manager’s success rates in finding and developing the talent needed to keep their organizations competitive.

Knowledge Management Systems

How to Create a Knowledge Management System
By Adaptive Leadership SystemsLLC, eHow Member


According to the website, www.ehow.com, knowledge can be defined as actionable information which has been refined for a specific purpose. It was expressed that leaders, managers, and subordinate employees of many organizations may possess information that can be refined for specific business use. The author or the article feel that by sharing this knowledge it may be possible to elevate the collective ability of employees within the organization. Knowledge Management systems are designed to efficiently share this information with other employees to help them with their work responsibilities. This article listed six step needed in creating a knowledge management system.

Step One-Determine a design for knowledge management system

*A system may come in various forms (intranet, internet, virtual private network)
*Design should be comparable to organizational needs
It was noted that an Information Technology (IT) consultant who is well-informed on information security may be able to assist with determining what type of users should be granted access and the best type of information security systems for the organization’s needs.
The tools should not be too complicated for employees to learn. This would hinder the Knowledge Management efforts.

Step Two- Determine the knowledge to be shared based on organizational goals

Determine the design of the system, leaders and managers should consider the type of knowledge that should be placed on the network. The knowledge should be industry or organization-specific information and should be designed to help employees do their jobs better. It may also be designed to allow multiple employees perform the same or similar work functions. This may result in increased efficiency.

Step Three-Hire Information Technology consultants or use in-house IT staff to build the network.

Organizations must determine whether it is more cost-effective for them to build the system themselves or to hire an outside consultant to perform the endeavor. The organization may lack the appropriate staff to build the database, set up the user permissions, and maintain the system. If this is the case it may be more effective to hire a consultant. Requests For Proposals (RFP’s) may be distributed to several vendors to determine the best price and the most qualified company. I like!

Step Four- Train employees how access and to load information into the Knowledge Management system.

Employee should be trained on how effective use the system or it will not be useful.

Step Five- Obtain feedback in the form of surveys and/or informal meetings to determine the effectiveness of the Knowledge Management system.

The system should be helping to improve employee effectiveness, efficiency, and overall productivity. If it is not accomplishing this, it may need to be adapted.

Step Six- Implement changes and make improvement and feedback an iterative process.

Organizations may decide to consider making improvements on the Knowledge Management system based on feedback provided by users. If this type of system is not improved over time and adapted to fit the changes in the organization it may become obsolete. Incremental improvements may help the system to become better over time and may help keep employees motivated to continue sharing their knowledge to improve the organization as a whole.


This article was quite useful in assisting my understanding the uses of a knowledge management system. I work for an organization that could use this type of system. We are constantly having to re-do tasks do to lack of understanding of information by everyone involved. We are always 3 steps behind the pack. Administration would benefit for a knowledge management system. There is little motivation on the behalf of employees to do better than the minimal.