Implementing a Knowledge

Action Plan
 1. Background

What Is Knowledge?

Data Information Knowledge

A Record of a Data
Literally…
organized with
Change of what people
State a purpose. A
know
message “that’s not a good
“The flight from Delhi flight; Often busy
“1840KL0617”“
leaves at 18:40 hours and delayed”
a. What is Knowledge Management?

 Knowledge Management is a
collection of activities, processes and
policies that help organizations apply
knowledge to improve effectiveness,
innovation and quality.
 The Purpose of KM is to turn personal
knowledge into corporate knowledge
and corporate knowledge into
personal knowledge.
 Knowledge Management

 Is not an organizational goal in itself

 Is a means to achieving
 Organizational effectiveness and efficiency
 Development results
 Is knowledge sharing
 Strategic, systematic & process oriented
 Requires change management
 Individual attitudes and work habits
 Team building
 Organizational culture
 Best Knowledge
Transfer Technology
• Face-to-Face
Interaction

•Not always possible

but everything else
aspires to it
Best Knowledge Repository
• A Community or Group of people is the best
repository of knowledge
Collection and codification are still important!
b. Snapshot of generic some KM tools

 Learning Hours
 Field Visits
 PACs
 Writing up best practices
 etc
 Levels of Connection
 UNDP internal
 Local, regional, global
 UNCT
 Thematic
 Priority in context of UN reform
 External
 Development partners
 Local capacity building
 South-south cooperation
c. Why KM & Practices for UNDP?
For The Organization:
 Promotes UNDP’s capacity to become a knowledge
organization by drawing on local, regional and
global expertise and promoting the exchange
of more nuanced information. Enhances the
delivery, relevance and effectiveness of our
work and advisory services.
For the thematic community:
 Allows for the development a common language &
understanding of thematic issues.
For the individual:
 Help staff to do their jobs, builds bonds with
peers, keep up to date
d. What is a UNDP Practice?
Practices bring people from different regions, across all Bureaux
and offices together into voluntary, flexible communities, based
on common professional interest, so that they can share and
learn from each other's knowledge and experience and develop
new ideas. They include a wide range of organizational functions
such as knowledge management, advocacy, partnership building,
and professional development.

A UNDP Practice has the following key elements:

 It is flexible
 It is global
 It has a flat framework
 It has a multitude of entry points (Country Offices, BDP Regional
Bureaux, SURFs, HQ)
 All of its elements support the ten objectives of the Practice
architecture
The 5 (6) UNDP Practices
 Democratic Governance
 Poverty Reduction
 Crisis Prevention and Recovery
 Energy and Environment
 HIV/AIDS
 Management
 Crosscutting Areas: Gender, ICTD,
CD
e. Some Corporate Knowledge Tools

 Competency Mapping (PEM & MSI)

 Practice Workspace
 Practice Notes and Compiled
Lessons
 Practice Meetings
 Knowledge Bases
 Quality Products, Toolkits &
Publications
 And…
The Community of Practice (COP)

A community of practice is a group of

people within or outside of an
organization having common
professional interests, concerns and
knowledge needs, who bond
together to build a common identity
as a community.
 Why COPs?

 They spread good ideas and produce innovation.

 They solve problems, save avoidable mistakes,
and increase individual competence.
 They break down organizational silos and
improve the quality of work life.
 They can retain knowledge in “living ways”,
unlike a database or manual
 What are the essential ingredients?-
UNDP’s COP – How do they work?

“CONSOLIDATED
REPLY” “Consider:
-publication of
gender
disaggregated
data on poverty
“Consider: significant sectors
-education” -public spending
on social risk
“Consider: mitigation and
-salary gaps” vulnerability
reduction
programmes”

“QUERY: Selection of
Gender Equity Goals for “Consider:
Poverty Reduction -proportion of women in technical positions
Strategy?” -proportion of administrative and managerial positions held by
women
“Consider: -percentage of parliamentarians and ministers who are women
-land tenure and ownership -trade union membership by women
-access to credit services -number of social and professional organizations headed by
-access to health services” women
-level of gender disaggregation of public data and information. ”
2. What is a Knowledge Action Plan
 4 Key elements of a Knowledge Action
Plan

 Knowledge Networks and Communities

of Practice:

• Knowledge and practice networks

• National communities of practice
• etc
 Competency Mapping and Learning:

• Practice Experience Map

• Mutual Support Initiative
• Learning Plan
• etc
 Partnerships, Communication &
Dissemination of Knowledge

• Partnerships with UNCT

• Partnerships with donors
• Newsletters
• etc
 Codification and Content
Management

• Writing up best practices

• Sharing project documents
• Intranets
• etc
3. Everybody needs to be involved
Key players
 RR/DRRs (senior management)
 Programme staff
 Learning manager
 ICT manager
 Communication Officer
 Practice Implementation Coordinator
(PIC)
 Knowledge Manager
 Project assistants
3. Everybody needs to be involved
Role of senior management
 Motivation
 Leadership
 Vision
 Commitment
 Champion
 Leading by examples/ modeling
 Recognition
 Monitoring compliance
 Accountable
 Providing time and resources
Role of Learning Manager/Committee
 Identify learning needs ( from RCA)
 Learning plan
 Identify learning opportunities and facilitate
 Monitoring plan
 Assuming linkages between Learning Plans
and Knowledge Strategies
 Pushing Senior managers
 Support PIC
 Encourage MSI
Role of KM Manager
 Develop KM plan
 Follow-up on PEM
 Advocacy in CO for KM
 Promote participation
 Supporting the development of CoPs
 Roster management
 Dissemination of knowledge
 Codification
 Assess knowledge gaps
 Implement workshop recommendation
 Develop website content
 Support management and change into a knowledge
organization
Role of ICT Manager
•Website development /maintenance/ update
•Support staff in networks/ MSI / PEM
•Support Learning Manager in technical issues
•Support codification
•Assist in capacity building in IT
•Integration in HQ systems and tools
•Intranet
Role of Communications Officer
 Disseminate information
 Develop communication plan
 Advocacy
 Website update (content)
 Assist with promoting KM strategy to
partners
 Promote networking
 Assist in codifying lessons learnt
Role of Other Staff
 Codification of lessons learnt
 Provide updates for website and intranet
 Show commitment / participate and be proactive
 Participate in networks
 Participate in national CoPs
 Monitoring and backstopping
 Utilize knowledge shared
 Disseminate knowledge to partners
 Effective implementation of the 5% learning
 Develop web content
 Categorize content
4. Available & Forthcoming Resources:
SURF-AS
 Support Knowledge Networks and Communities of Practice:
 Holding Regional sub-practice meetings;
 Leading processes of agenda settings within the region for different
sub-practices
 Developing knowledge products
 Hosting and participating in regional networks and communities of
practice
 Support to Competency Mapping and Learning:
 Maintaining a regional database on the Mutual Support Initiative
 Identification of “internal consultants” for missions or virtual support
 Financial support for funding missions of “internal consultants”
 Support to Knowledge Action Plans through Partnerships:
 Missions by SURF Staff to provide backstopping
 Virtual support and comments
 Support to the mission of “internal consultants”
 Support to Knowledge Codification and Dissemination:
 Best Experts and Expert institutions
 Best Practices and Lessons Learned
 Knowledge-Maps
 Quarterly Digest
 Website
Available & Forthcoming Resources: RBAS
 Prioritizing KM and Practices with Senior Mgmt
and in messaging to COs
 Prioritizing KM and Practices in RBAS workplan
 MSI – networking encouragement and
incentives support
 Regional Tools and sharing initiatives
 such as Best Practices and IT platforms etc
 Corporate Cooperation and Coordination
 Advisory Support
 Focal point Teams
 eg: RBAS Learning & KM Team
(rbas.learning.hq@undp.org)
 Advisors (COD and RPD)
 Regional Training
 Piloting Initiatives
 Such as e-documentation as HQ
 Project Global Database in COs
 Corporate involvement supporting RBAS
goals and priorities
 Lessons Learned
 Team Building and Communication Skills
 HR issues, KM experiences, etc
 Membership in Decision Making Bodies
 SMT and Executive Board
 Learning Advisory Board
 Publications Board, etc
Available & Forthcoming Resources:
OHR
 Practices website: http://practices.undp.org
 What you need to know about Practices
 Corporate messages on Practices
 Presentations on Practices
 Good Practices from Country Offices
 Information on Communities of Practice (concept papers;
action plans)
 List of Practice and Knowledge Networks
 Practice Pass Guidelines + Sample Test + FAQ
 Draft Practice Pass Toolkit (still work in progress – not yet on
website)
 New guidelines for the PEM Novice, Standard and Resource
Person levels
 LRC training opportunities (incl. VDA)
 LRC support to LM Network
 Contact: alketa.shehu@undp.org
Available & Forthcoming Resources:
BDP: Knowledge Project

1. Content Management: Athena, project

data capture
2. Networking and Communities: improve
networks, expand to other UN agencies
3. Staff Policy Alignment: PEM, MSI,
learning modules
4. Technology and Infrastructure:Practice &
Unit Workspaces, Federated Expert
Roster
5.Selecting & developing Incentive Schemes
Codification of lessons learnt: Incentives
•Avoids repetitions/mistakes
•Recognition
•Ease of use
•Appreciation
•Replication
•Dissemination
•Time + Cost + saving
•Learning
•Efficiency
•Promoting good idea
•Access to Resources
•Publicity
•Ease of access
•Institutional memory
•Improvement of performance
Selecting & developing Incentive Schemes
Codification of lessons learnt: Disincentives
•Senior Management (SM) buy-in
•Value-added?
•Culture + attitude
•Frustration
•Time-consuming
•Fear of being framed for consequences
•Feel insecure
•Perceptions
•Disengagement (de-motivation)
•Resources ( human + money)
•Sharing with ( taking versus giving)
•SM’s SM priority
•Time versus work value
•Success versus failure
•Waste of time
•An extra lack of recognition
6. Actions to be taken

 Drawing up Knowledge Action Plan

with inputs from all staff and senior
management
 Include actions to be taken, when,
and by whom
Suggestions for Presentation

 Difference between PEM and MSI

(include slide)
 Process related technical issues:
- Needs assessment for K

Highlighting elements for a successful

plan (linked to challenges)
- Start off with rationale/value added

- Give examples of what is already

happening in CO
- Slide: “What’s in it for me?”
 Provide examples from knowledge
fair fro other COs’ experiences with
KM tools