Capture and share knowledge before staff depart
We have all been in
a situation where our predecessor left no information about the job they had
done. In this circumstance, the new
person must spend a lot of time solving the mystery of how to successfully perform the required job
tasks. They must look for clues in the
paper and network file drives. They must
interview other staff who have minimal availability since they are busy doing
their job. New staff may try to perform a task, fail, and learn from it. You can see that in this scenario, time is
spent looking for information, having conversations with other staff who do not
know the exact details of the job, and trial & error. This is mostly wasted time that did not have
to be spent in this way. Much of this
time could be saved by having a standard
Continuity Protocol followed.
Don't let knowledge
walk out the door!
The Continuity
Protocol involves taking intentional steps to capture and share knowledge before the person
departs. All staff should be documenting
and sharing information about how they perform their job tasks just as a matter
of doing their job. A Continuity Artifact is routinely updated to become a
reflection of the critical knowledge necessary for the job. This artifact is completed and perfected at the Knowledge Continuity Team Meeting. Before they leave, departing persons must participate in a
Knowledge Continuity Team (KCT) meeting. A KCT meeting is a facilitated meeting
with the departing person and several members of their team. At the KCT meeting, essential knowledge-based
questions are discussed, answers recorded, and further explored through Q&A. At this session, knowledge is transferred to
the other persons who will be remaining on the job after the departing person
leaves. Additionally, the departing
person's knowledge processes are examined, transferred, and renewed for
continued use. After the attending their KCT, departing staff have expressed that the KCT meeting gave them a
sense of completion and satisfaction that the "baton was passed" before they left the job. This process documents their legacy! Each staff member
must be aware of and comply with this responsibility. This
process builds a knowledge base containing tailored information about how to
successfully perform the job tasks - the perfect resource for the successor of
the departed person! A Continuity Protocol is basic necessity for success.
In
Part 3 - Invest in Your Staff
No comments:
Post a Comment