Encouraging Mindful Knowledge Facilitation by the Individual
To continue on the idea of rethinking how we are obtaining, referencing, discovering, using,
and disposing of our knowledge. This
post discusses how we can encourage individuals to make more mindful decisions
when taking knowledge actions.
In Practicing Mindfulness: An
Introduction to Meditation, Dr.
Mark W. Muesse asserts that many of us go through life not being aware of the
present moment. There are so many
conflicting thoughts in our minds that we are often unaware of the practices,
processes, and efficient handling of information for strategic benefit.
Muesse calls this
"Mindlessness." Meditation has
been shown to allow us to "reprogram our brains to be mindful, be able to
observe the actions our mind actually takes
to accomplish actions." While most of us do not have time to meditate
during our workday, it is possible to
incorporate some mindfulness in the knowledge facilitation we do.
I posit that
mindless facilitation of our knowledge processes serves to severely
short-change the results of our ultimate knowledge actions. Here are the steps
you can take to encourage more mindfulness:
- Disregard
preconceptions. At my organization, a preconception that
I came across was, use "anything except SharePoint". This emotional reaction to a certain
tool created an unnecessary barrier imposed on creating a successful
knowledge solution. "Can't we
just send an email?" is often the sentiment that is pondered when
knowledge workers are asked to use an alternate tool for knowledge sharing.
With the amount, depth and breadth of knowledge assets that we must
navigate, we are no longer able to just send an email to effectively share
knowledge with the appropriate weight and significance. Receiving email is so commonplace, often
important knowledge is overlooked or played down. We must factor in staff's preconceptions
about tools and become better stewards of the knowledge we
"push" out.
- Practice
Alternative Exploration. Take time to
observe how you are obtaining knowledge.
Are you using the same old method?
"We have done it that way for 20 years! Why should we
change?" Individuals that do
not explore new and different ways of doing things do not evolve
intellectually.
Maybe an alternative method will spur an improved or innovative result. Rather than defaulting to old processes, research other ways to perform the task. Discuss task with coworkers, collaborate with the community. Build some additional alternative exploration time into the schedule. It is likely that taking an extra moment to notice the present before acting will result in a solution that saves time in the long run.
- Notice the
Better Result. Often,
we do not give ourselves enough
credit when something we do ends up with a better solution. Find a way to measure your actions. Years ago, my division was mandated to
conduct Level 3 Evaluations for 20% of our courses.
According to the Kirkpatrick Model: Four Levels of
Learning Evaluation,
level 3 evaluates the change in behavior of students once they returned to
the job after training.
Although many reported subjective assertions, we decided to use a different way to document and justify these efforts by using SharePoint. We created an email-enabled SharePoint list for staff blind-copy the list on all emails send out by the staff requesting these evaluations. Benefits seen: All emails sent by all staff for this effort were captured in the SharePoint list automatically with no extra additional effort by the staff member sending the emails. Standardizing the Subject line of the emails, the list documented who sent the emails, to whom, for which course the evaluation was sent out for, when, and how many persons received the survey request, and how many responded. The data was collected automatically.
Other things to note about the task: How long did the action take last time? Can you improve the time? Survey the recipients on the knowledge used. Was the information referenced useful? Collect stories from individuals where an alternative path led to a better result.
- Recognition. When improvements or an increase are realized, make sure that there are public recognitions on that. How else can you get individuals behind practicing mindfulness? Publicize the alternative stories that you have .collected. Mention the person in the newsletter. Have the CEO make a personal call or mention the name of the individual. If we are encouraging taking extra time to facilitate mindful knowledge actions, Individuals will resist this change unless they see the benefits.
How mindful is your
staff's knowledge facilitation? Here is
a short survey you can use to find out.
A Mindfulness Knowledge Facilitation Survey:
- When performing a task, where do you obtain the knowledge to perform the job?
- Determine the knowledge In my head
- Look at the person who did it or the process used last time and repeat
- Both of the above and I also research multiple ways to perform the task.
- Do you ever use an alternative method rather than the standard process used last time?
- No, using the same process is the best
- Yes, but rarely. New processes take more time to discover and implement
- Yes, we have found that using alternative methods have led to valuable innovations.
If
you selected 2c, take a moment to detail what you did differently and how the
result was better.
- Do you currently have time to be mindful and explore alternative methods for handling tasks?
- No, time to complete the task must be shortened at all costs.
- Yes if I make sure the project manager is aware of the need for additional time.
- Yes, extra time for alternative exploration is always available at my discretion
In the Part 3:
Encouraging Organizational Mindful Knowledge Facilitation
