Managing a Lessons Learned and Insights Repository
- Amit Starikovsky
- May 1, 2007
- 6 min read
Establishing a repository of insights and lessons learned is one of the most complex solutions within knowledge management solutions.
The complexity stems not only from the establishment process, which requires considerable skill, but primarily from the ongoing management and maintenance of the repository.
In our previous discussions, we mentioned the lessons learned process as the cream of knowledge management. If so, then the lessons and insights repository is the cherry on top of that.
However, especially in the past year, due to numerous events in the Israeli state and economy, the lessons learned process has become a critical and essential process in organizations. From a perspective that previously saw it as mere cream, now many organizations see it as their bread and butter.
In such a situation, the importance of the lessons and insights repository grows and gains a central place and volume in the organization.
As with any organizational process, the key issue is management –a successful manager must be appointed to create a successful repository.
Moreover, in establishing a lessons and insights repository, successful management is critical for two primary reasons: First, we must ensure that the knowledge in the repository is indeed of high quality and not trivial. Otherwise, the repository's ability to provide real knowledge to employees will be impaired, its credibility will be damaged, and the repository will fail.
Additionally, we must ensure that the existing knowledge in the repository is up-to-date and accurate. Otherwise, an employee seeking knowledge to make a decision may make an incorrect decision based on outdated knowledge in the repository.
If this is the case, then the issue of the repository manager is important and even critical to establishing a lessons and insights repository.
In this review, we will present the repository manager's role in several key aspects: content management, managing the repository's characteristics (content and technical) and work processes with the organization and its users.
In parallel, we will also present several criteria to help implement the optimal selection for the repository manager.
Managing Repository Content First and foremost, the repository manager is responsible for the professional knowledge existing in the repository. They approve new insights and lessons transferred to the repository and must ensure that the existing knowledge is indeed usable and value-added.
This means they must ensure that every insight or lesson updated in the repository is agreed upon, value-added, practical, generalized where possible to other cases, and does not contradict other insights/procedures/lessons. This translates to examining each insight updated to the repository for its consensus.
In practice, they are the content editor of insights and lessons streamed into the repository by users and content experts, and are therefore responsible for:
Improving the wording of lessons and insights - ensuring recommended or mandatory phrasing, emphasizing context, rationale, what is intended to achieve/prevent, and how it will help achieve/prevent.
Generalizing insights and lessons – moving beyond the specific context in which the knowledge was created to additional domains, primarily through attributes.
Merging insights and lessons - combining similar insights and lessons into one significant insight/lesson, to prevent duplications.
Validating and reviewing the lesson and insight currency - periodic checking of content relevance, whose validity period is approaching.
Managing Repository Attributes As mentioned in previous reviews, we attach content attributes and system attributes to enable optimal use of knowledge items in the repository.
Content attributes are the categories that allow associating knowledge items with content domains, and system attributes are those technical attributes, including the item's addition date, knowledge contributor, review dates, etc.
Regarding content attributes, the repository manager is responsible for defining them at two levels:
At the repository level, meaning establishing the list of values for each category representing content domains.
Each item is assigned to the most appropriate and correct category at the knowledge item level.
However, the work does not end with setting categories and assigning one-time items. It is important to continuously adapt the categories to the organizational reality. Therefore, the repository manager must ensure and modify their currency as needed.
In terms of system attributes, the repository manager's responsibilities include:
Setting an expiration date refers to the date when the insight or lesson should be reviewed for validity, if it is different from the repository's default date. This is, of course, to ensure that the knowledge in the repository remains current and relevant.
If relevant, add relevant notes to insights and lessons by noting the context in which the insight was created. This can be important in the case of an item based on multiple events, or an item where it is important to refer to additional important information (for example, an important procedure).
If necessary, add files to the insight, such as attaching the full investigation report in which the insight or lesson was created, or refer to a new procedure written as a result.
Work Processes with the Organization and Internal Users The repository manager has many role partners, some of whom are crucial and equally important to the repository's success.
The primary role partners are content experts and the end-users themselves.
Towards content experts, their activity focuses on several channels:
Collecting and extracting knowledge from the organization and integrating it into the repository – they must initiate processes with content experts to add new knowledge to the repository, by connecting to lesson extraction processes and other routine learning generators in the organization. Examples of learning generators in the organization include: investigations, audits, project summaries, work plans, professional committees, professional forums, etc. Additionally, it is recommended to periodically conduct proactive interviews with leading users who are "knowledge nodes".
Since the repository manager is responsible for approving insights, it is especially important to have a feedback process to standardize insights on one hand, create learning, and enable the content expert's independence in creating insights and lessons on the other.
Towards end-users, the activity also focuses on several channels:
Responding to user feedback – ensuring that every input submitted by a user receives an appropriate response and consideration is particularly important. This is crucial in creating visibility and motivating the employee regarding the repository.
Addressing insights and lessons submitted by employees - For every lesson or insight submitted by employees, it is essential to return it to the knowledge-contributing employee and update them. For example, if it is decided not to publish the lesson/insight, explain the rationale and encourage continued submissions. If changes were made to the lesson/insight, explain them to the employee to create learning and improvement for next time.
Examining repository usage, marketing, and integration into work processes – the repository manager must always keep their "finger on the pulse" to ensure the repository truly meets the needs it is meant to serve. It is important to stay in contact with users, conduct discussions and/or focus groups, and of course, analyze repository usage data, identify popular items, work to add lessons/insights on similar topics, and examine the importance of topics that are not used at all.
Regarding repository manager selection, the selection criteria are derived directly from the job components detailed here:
A content expert in the repository's content domain – a particularly important criterion due to responsibility for repository content.
Possessing a broad view of unit activities – to enable familiarity with existing and future processes and their impact on existing knowledge in the repository.
A figure recognized as a professional authority in the unit – to receive the professional mandate from end-users and content experts to lead the repository professionally.
A senior figure in the unit, but not too senior, so they can allocate time to managing the repository.
A figure who recognizes the need for the repository, its importance, and the benefits of building a repository.
In summary, from the description presented here, this appears to be a critically important and complex role requiring significant resources for implementation in an organization. However, it is important to note that in practice, like any other role, the role holder develops this skill, leading to efficient and optimal performance, like any other organizational routine.
Additionally, it is important to note that in many cases, the repository manager is assisted by an administrative manager responsible for the repository's operational management. Accordingly, two role holders can be defined in advance, with one responsible for the professional aspect and the other for the operational aspect. Usually, the repository manager will report directly to the most senior figure in the organization in the professional domain where the repository exists.
Good luck!
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