Matrix for 30-second KM Elevator Speech
Audience / Focus / Key Points / Extra (use with any audience)CEO / Cost/resource allocation; results; sustainability / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. It’s estimated that 90% of an organization’s knowledge is in people’s heads (Beazley et al, 2002) and that’s got to be captured/recorded
4. Lost knowledge – lost opportunities**
5. Good news: we’re already doing KM in all our activities (it’s a cross-cutting issue), but we can do it better
6. KM lets staff USE their knowledge and helps produce synergies among teams and projects, which helps build a sustainable technical and programmatic knowledge base / Four keys areas of KM: efficiency; effectiveness, innovation, and empowerment.
Insourcing and downsizing is exacerbating organizational brain drain.
Academic and professional knowledge is valuable but experiential knowledge is also extremely important.
IBM used KM to cut proposal-writing time from an average 200 hours to 30 hours. (McCune, 1999)
KM helps you filter, gather, and interpret competitive intelligence for more efficient use of knowledge assets.
Good KM results in greater productivity, efficiency, and impact!
KM is not just about IT---it’s about knowledge sharing and transfer on a very personal level.
CFO / Cost/resource allocation; efficiency / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based (Wah, 1999) therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. It’s estimated that 90% of an organization’s knowledge is in people’s heads (Beazley et al, 2002) and that’s got to be captured/recorded
4. Lost knowledge = lost opportunities**
5. Good news: we’re already doing KM in all our activities (it’s a cross-cutting issue), but we can do it better
President / SOTA; sustainability; / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based (Wah, 1999) therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. It’s estimated that 90% of an organization’s knowledge is in people’s heads (Beazley et al, 2002) and that’s got to be captured/recorded
4. Lost knowledge = lost opportunities**
5. Good news: we’re already doing KM in all our activities (it’s a cross-cutting issue), but we can do it better
6. KM lets staff USE their knowledge and helps produce synergies among teams and projects, which helps build a sustainable technical and programmatic knowledge base
Board Member / Peers are doing it; responsible management / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based (Wah, 1999) therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. Lost knowledge = lost opportunities**
4. Good news: we’re already doing KM in all our activities (it’s a cross-cutting issue), but we can do it better
COTR / Results; knowledge base to grow next generation of experts; best practices; coordination; data for decision-making / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based (Wah, 1999) therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. It’s estimated that 90% of an organization’s knowledge is in people’s heads (Beazley et al, 2002) and that’s got to be captured/recorded
4. Lost knowledge = lost opportunities**
5. KM lets staff USE their knowledge and helps produce synergies among teams and projects. It helps building the technical and programmatic knowledge base, which helps build a sustainable technical and programmatic knowledge base
Project Director / Project results and impact; staff productivity and efficiency; best practices; coordination; data for decision-making; cost/resource allocation / 1. We live in a knowledge-driven economy and society (Yelden, 2004) and we have to get the right information to the right people at the right time!
2. 99% of work people do is knowledge-based (Wah) therefore its management (KM) drives the bottom line*
3. It’s estimated that 90% of an organization’s knowledge is in people’s heads (Beazley et al, 2002) and that’s got to be captured/recorded
4. Lost knowledge = lost opportunities**
5. Good news: we’re already doing KM in all our activities (it’s a cross-cutting issue), but we can do it better
6. KM lets staff USE their knowledge and helps produce synergies among teams and projects, which helps build a sustainable technical and programmatic knowledge base
*Hoffmann-Roche, the Swiss pharma firm, estimates it saved over U.S. $1 million a day due to its KM activities. Teltech, a KM assistance firm, reports that its clients get an average 12:1 return on investment for their efforts. (Abramson, 1998)
**Huge sums are spent on staff training and development (giving people knowledge). When staff leave (or retire) most of that knowledge goes out the door with them. (Get cost estimate of staff training from your company so you can personalize the numbers.) Example: “Some experts say that as much as 87% of a person’s professional knowledge leaves an organization when someone retires.” IBM lost its original computer source code from the 1950’s and that spawned the Y2K software crisis, which cost businesses worldwide an estimated U.S. $1 trillion! (Petch, 1998)