Cross-Organizational Learning Circles - The Cherry on Top
- Amit Starikovsky
- May 1, 2005
- 6 min read
Organizational lessons-learned processes are crucial and central today. Indeed, many organizations conduct them as part of knowledge management activities or through specific debriefings following exceptional failures/successes.
Extracting lessons in an organization practically implements the central ideas of knowledge management: using existing knowledge to prevent recurring failures, reproducing previous successes, and creating new knowledge.
In previous articles, we discussed the topic of lessons learned in all its procedural and cultural complexity and proposed several solutions to address these complexities. We suggested translating the collected outputs into a living, up-to-date, usable, and relevant insights repository at any given moment. We present a complementary activity layer to the lessons-learned processes and insights repository as knowledge management tools: cross-organizational learning circles.
The cross-organizational learning circles process means identifying topics and processes requiring corrective action, organizing them according to criteria important to the organization, defining methods, assigning responsibilities and timelines for treatment, and updating them in the organizational insights repository.
This operational tool enables the reuse of knowledge and addresses the execution stage in these processes. It is a cross-organizational process that can be implemented from the level of an individual work unit to the entire organization. Here is an overview of the process:
Purpose of the Process:
Cross-organizational learning circles address key topics and processes requiring improvement that originate from internal sources (complaints/suggestions from employees and organization members) or external sources (complaints/suggestions from customers, suppliers, etc.). The overarching goal is to identify and focus on addressing failures to increase the satisfaction and loyalty of both employees and customers.
Main Topics Typically Addressed in the Process:
Policy – Strategic company decisions.
Process Engineering – Problems/difficulties arising from existing work processes.
Training – Knowledge gaps, incomplete/partial implementation.
Organizational Information and Knowledge Systems – Missing/unclear information in existing systems.
Information Sources for the Process:
Identification of topics and processes requiring corrective action is done through:
Customer feedback points to a "systemic" failure, not an isolated one. The feedback doesn't necessarily have to be defined as a "complaint," although it usually is.
Feedback from an employee identifying a cumbersome process (internal or directly with a customer) that delays organizational flow.
Structured debriefings and lessons-learned processes – implementation recommendations that emerged from the inquiry.
The various information sources indicate two different approaches to the process:
The passive approach, whereby a topic is found suitable for cross-organizational learning following external feedback, and the active approach encourages employees to increase their involvement, initiate, and raise issues requiring management intervention and organization-wide improvement. The better the organization implements the process and its importance among its employees who participate actively, the more focused, applicable, and successful the process outcomes will be.
Process Execution:
The initial stage in building a cross-organizational learning circles process is similar to building an insights repository but with different emphases:
Collect, through feedback, all exceptional cases handled in the organization during a defined period from the information sources mentioned above, where it's important to define a relevant period relative to the organization's dynamics (a rapidly changing service organization won't find relevance in topics from six months ago, while in relatively static organizations there is relevance). Collection can be done through discussions, individual meetings, or a "cross-organizational learning" form distributed among all relevant parties, where each partner fills in sections relevant to their activity.
Examine whether and which recommendations were formulated and proposed following those previous events/feedback and to whom they were directed for further handling.
Centralize all recommendations that emerged into one repository and examine them according to several criteria:
Relevance – Is the suggestion/recommendation still relevant to the organization? If a suggestion has been implemented, it can be transferred to the organizational insights repository.
Feasibility – Can the suggestion/recommendation be implemented?
Generalization – Is it relevant to additional cases, or is it specific?
A suggestion/recommendation that meets all these criteria is worthy of treatment within the process, as it represents an organizational vulnerability that has not yet been addressed. The examination is done with the content experts responsible for each topic.
After consolidating the list of relevant suggestions, assign responsibilities and timelines for each recommendation.
Hold regular status meetings to examine timeline adherence and task handling and assess implemented recommendations' validity as new/improved lessons for the organizational insights repository.
Role Holders in the Process:
For this process, it is recommended to appoint an executing manager (and, above them, a supervising manager) whose roles are:
Receiving feedback submitted by all employees and responding to it.
Collecting findings and formulating a list of relevant topics.
Meets with relevant content experts to examine the topic, its frequency, and feasibility and formulate and consolidate recommendations.
Distributing various tasks to those responsible for handling them.
Centralizing received responses and monitoring the status of recommendation implementation.
Preparing a summary report for management.
Management Involvement:
The process requires significant management involvement, but the reward is worth it. It allows management to identify organizational vulnerabilities specifically and, in fact, helps map the "organizational genome."
Management should integrate the process into all existing work processes and show great commitment to the process by:
Appointing a body responsible for the learning process as part of its permanent role: Usually, a staff body is recommended, as it is perceived on the one hand as more professional and, on the other hand, as more objective. It's important to grant this body authority; otherwise, it won't be able to carry out the process effectively.
Determining those responsible for handling: In cases where it's unclear who is responsible for handling the topic, a management decision is required. In this act, management creates a commitment from those responsible for handling the process and the management, enhancing its importance.
Requiring activity status: Demanding accountability for handling and its quality. Imposing sanctions for non-performance. Positive sanctions are recommended, especially at the beginning of the process. It's advisable to avoid negative sanctions at the beginning of the process, but non-performance/disrespect for the process should not be overlooked.
Encouraging employees to be involved in the process: They are the main source for identifying topics requiring improvement, and their cooperation will ensure topic identification. Management can increase employee involvement by:
Ensuring anonymity: Employees identifying a failure in their unit will not be eager to report it for fear of their manager. The possibility of anonymous communication will allow them to provide feedback with peace of mind.
Responding to feedback: It's recommended to return a thank-you response for sending the feedback itself, even before handling begins. Example: "Thank you for your feedback; the topic will be examined within the cross-organizational learning circles process." Efficient handling of feedback within a reasonable time frame: Feedback whose handling is delayed will convey a lack of seriousness.
Leveraging successes: There's nothing like successes to encourage people and engage them in new processes. It's important to publish employee suggestions that were implemented as part of the process and give them the credit they deserve.
Prioritizing tasks: It's management's responsibility to prioritize topics for handling according to several criteria:
Feasibility – How feasible the topic is.
Urgency – How urgent the topic is.
Economic viability – Ensuring that the cost does not exceed the benefit.
Generality – The proposed solution can be generalized as much as possible.
In Summary
The cross-organizational learning circles process is a knowledge management activity that can be implemented in any organization. For it to succeed, the organization must recognize this process as central and be willing to invest the resources and inputs required. Such an organization is guaranteed to quickly reap the fruits of its investment.
This process's success can give the organization a real-time picture of its challenges and vulnerabilities at any given moment. The necessary condition is the cooperation of all organization members, from junior employees to senior managers.
Equally important at the end of the process is to translate the relevant successes into insights in the organization's insights repository, thus ensuring the reuse of accumulated organizational knowledge. Of all the components of knowledge management, some see the "insights repository" as the cream of knowledge management.
If that's the cream, then in my opinion, the cross-organizational learning circles process is the cherry on top. And from experience - it's delicious!
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