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Knowledge Management (KM) is a relatively new business management
methodology, which has it's origin in the IT (Information Technology) arena.
Large businesses have struggled with providing the right resources to the right
people at the right time, every time. This is the foundation of Knowledge
Management processes. While KM has it's beginnings in the business field,
universities and other higher educational organizations are joining in, finding
the processes significantly enhancing their professional development training,
communications and management processes. KM is a very new concept for K-12
educators, with implementation being very limited and disjointed.
Our organization can help your district or school implement KM processes that
will improve communication processes, professional development and enhance
shared decision-making.
Key Benefits
- Offers professional development opportunities that can be accessed by
teachers when THEY need it without having to loose instructional time or
personal/family time.
- Establishes a communication pipeline that offers information and
resources to stakeholders more efficiently and effectively.
- Creates the possibility of timely, effective, efficient and documented
shared decision-making.
Capabilities
Knowledge Management as a leadership tool is a new concept for K-12
educational institutions; therefore, the possibilities for implementation are
infinite, left only to leaders' imaginations. Below are the beginning
possibilities that are available, but feel free to inquire about other
possibilities. Learn more about Knowledge Management
processes.
- Professional Development (Professional Learning
Communities/Communities of Practice)
- Utilizes online discussion boards, online resource-sharing to enhance
face-to-face professional learning communities as well as developing
effective online communities of practice (CoPs). We can assist your
technology personnel with the installation of the needed software and then
provide online, and if possible, face-to-face training in how to integrate
KM processes into your professional development and strategic planning
processes.
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- Communications Development
- In a recent study, five out of six teachers said that they primarily go
to the school secretary for information about what is happening in the
school, policies/procedures, and forms of every type. In the same study, it
was found that four out of six school districts filter information from the
district level solely through school principals, depending on them to
authentically pass on messages to teachers and other stakeholders. This
single-source conduit for information and knowledge had the tendency to
create translation problems (the message was not passed on with the same
emphasis, the same tone, or the same basic information). School systems
wishing to be able to pass information from one level to another had to
conduct multiple face-to-face (f2f) meetings, giving exactly the same
message to multiple people from each site.
With online resource development, your district can communicate with
individuals, small groups, large groups and entire stakeholder communities
so your message gets to the right people at the right time...when THEY need
it.
- Shared Decision-Making
- At the end of the day, teachers are tired, administrators are frazzled
and yet another committee meeting is scheduled. The coach in the back is
jangling his keys, hoping (against all hope) that the English teacher will
not be as verbose as she usually is so they can get out of there. One or two
people (usually the chair person and the teacher who has an opinion about
everything) end up running the meeting and making decisions, while the rest
of the group sits passively by.
We can help your school or district create virtual committee forums where
committee members can participate on their own time. With an
expectation of involvement from all members, committee discussions become
more rich and meaningful, decision-making is more formalized and all
committee agendas and discussions are fully documented for the purpose of
measurement and assessment.
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