Technology for KM

Knowledge management in any organisation is a important aspect to focus on. As knowledge is a invisible force which drives a organisation to have more competitive edge and more profits, it is really difficult to manage it.

PROBLEMS IN ALBION FABRICS:

Albion fabrics is a organisation with about fifty employees who form into teams and will take care of our clients. We take bulk orders from our clients and get them manufactured from other textile industries. The major problems Albion is now facing are with the manufacturing units, staff turnover and communication between staff, teams, managers and CEO. Here technology can serve as a solution to staff turnover and communication between the employees.

Communication between employees of Albion fabrics is really tough because each of the groups work for different clients and different textile units. This may be because of the time factor, and work load. So I think we can use technology for engaging employees in meetings on a regular or weekly basis. We also think that communication between staff, managers and top level management is very important in our model of KM. We think that any kind of knowledge acquired must be shared effectively from top level managers to the staff and vice-versa. And one of the team members will be outdoors taking care of the quality and technical specifications of the manufactured items in the textile industries. So communication with this person is must.

TECHNOLOGY FOR PROBLEM SOLVING:

Here in Albion fabrics we usually maintain a large repository where staff can find solution to problems possibly, we have internet, intranet, and email. Apart from this we are processing the idea of using video-conferencing regularly where each member of the staff can directly interact with the top level management. We make it a point that every individual must be participating in video conferencing and we also make it accessible from anywhere ie: laptops will be provided to each member of the staff. By this we think that a healthy CoP can be maintained.

We think this can be a great platform to share their knowledge and problems they face while negotiating with the clients or textile units. Also by this we can create a friendly work environment where everyone can feel free to share their opinions.

We have a repository where each problem and the solution will be recorded and stored, also the telephonic conversations between staff where one gives solution to a particular problem will be recorded and we also encourage our employees to share their knowledge acquired by letting the staff know about the problem before it exist. All this will be recorded and monitored by our KM team and will be made accessible to everyone by Podcasting.

By podcasting them every member of the staff will be provided with sufficient knowledge to solve possible problems with ease. By this we are not only providing knowledge in a easy way but also educating the staff continuously with in less time.

We are also thinking of other options such as a Albion radio where each of our staff take turns to be a radio jockey and host the programs. There they can tell us their experiences and discuss the problems faced and someone might be able to give a solution for that problem. This will be a costly option but it can create friendly environment with some fun and knowledge will be provided to everyone(from top level to every member of the staff)