Table of Contents
Introduction
Terminology
KCS Scope
KCS Benefits
Adoption overview
Start with a small group to create internal referenceability...... 6
KCS is a journey, not a destination....... 7
Adoption Activities
Phase 1 - Design and Planning
Assessing the Current State
KCS Opportunity Assessment Definition
Supplemental Materials for the KCS Opportunity Assessment
Getting the Right People Involved
KCS Foundations Training
The KCS Design Session
Design Session Deliverables
The Adoption Strategy and Road Map
Criteria for Design Session Success
Setting up the Pilot
Pilot Definition
KCS Roles
Selecting Pilot Team...... 18
Initial Coaching
Establishing Baseline Measures
Phase 2 - Adopting
Conducting a Pilot to Test the Design
KCS Knowledge Contributor Training
Support Analyst Training...... 21
Sampling and Scoring of Articles
Workshops and Activities for the Pilot
KCS Leadership Workshop
KCS Coach Development Program
Technology Update
Exit Criteria for Phase 2
Phase 3 - Proficiency
Workshops and Activities for Establishing Proficiency
Exit Criteria for Phase 3
Phase 4 - Leveraging
Activities and Workshops for Leveraging
Knowledge Domain Expert Workshop
New vs. Known Study
Exit Criteria for Phase 4
Important Lessons Learned
Familiar “Ditches”
Appendix A – Opportunity Assessment Survey
References
Introduction
The KCS Adoption Guideis the accumulation of twenty years of adoption experiences by the staff of theConsortium for Service Innovation. This guide will provide a step-by-step approach for planning a KCS adoption. Our aim is to share what we have learned about what makes for a successful KCS adoption and hopefully help youavoid some of the common mistakes.
This Adoption Guide is meant to complement the KCS Practices Guideand the “Measurement Matters”paper. An understanding of the KCS principles and practices is necessary before this guide will make sense. Readers should especially familiar with the KCS Practices, which are documented in detail in theKCS Practices Guide.
The Practices Guide, the Measurement Matters paper, and other important KCS reference material are available for free from the Consortium and can be downloaded from the web site at
It is our intent to minimize the duplication of information; as a result there are numerous references to details included in both the guide and the paper. However, some level of duplication is unavoidable.
Terminology
Vocabulary is a challenge as different organizations and industries use different terminology for the same or similar things. For example, there are numerous terms used for the support event including: incident, case, trouble ticket, call, or service request. In this guide we will use the term “incident.” We will also use “Support Analyst” to identify the folks in the support organization who solve customer issues.These people are sometimes called support agents, support engineers, or customer support reps (CSR). Support Analysts who are working with a KCS Coach (who are also Support Analysts) on getting licensed as a KCS Contributor or KCS Publisher are referred to as Knowledge Developers. For a complete glossary of terms please see the “Appendix B: Glossary” in the KCS Practices Guide.
KCS Scope
Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) is a robust set of principles and practices for creating, maintaining and leveraging knowledge in an interactive environment. KCS is one important element of an organization’s overall knowledge management strategy. KCS seeks to capture and reuse the knowledge created through interactions. This “just-in-time” content should complement other knowledge management practices that address formal content and include document management processes.
The KCS methodology is based on20 years of academic research, experiences, and investment by the members of the Consortium for Service Innovation.
This evolving methodology is becoming recognized as a best practice for knowledge management in interactive environments.
For KCS to be effective, we must first understand that a document and knowledge are different. Knowledge is intangible, and is measurable by the value it creates for the recipient. Knowledge is information upon which people can act. It includes content and context.
KCS is based on the following characteristics of knowledge:
- It is gained through interaction and experience
- It is never perfect or 100% complete
- It is constantly evolving because we never stop learning
- Our confidence in what we know is gained through use and feedback
KCS is a risk management system that allows us to capitalize on the collective experience of the organization and manages the risks associated with the characteristics of knowledge. This is what makes KCS different from other traditional knowledge management (KM) practices; KCS addresses how, when, and why to capture and structure knowledge.
KCS Benefits
The near-term benefits of KCS as experienced by the Consortium members who have adopted the methodology include:
- Improved resolution times by 25 - 50%
- Improved first call resolution and reduced escalations
- Dramatic improvement in user success with self-help via the web
- Reduced training time for new employees
- ImprovedSupport Analyst job satisfaction and confidence
- Improved user environment by allowing application development using actionable information based on user experience
Adoption overview
The benefits of KCS are compelling. While the basic concepts are quite simple, adoption of the methodology is not. KCS challenges traditional practices in how we think about organizational structure, process and measurements. For most organizations, a successful KCS adoption requires a significant transformation and, as a result, a thoughtful adoption and change management strategy is required.
As the KCS adoption program has evolved, two important principles have emerged from successful adoptions. First, “go with the flow.” Second, start small, create some excitement, and then invite others to join.
We have learned that the best place to start the adoption process is at the point of demand:as close to the customer as possible. The “go with the flow” concept uses the demand for support to drive the adoption. Capturing or framing questions and problems that are presented to level one as a work-in-progress Article draws others in the organization into the knowledge base to add resolutions.
The “start small, create some excitement, and then invite others to join” conceptssuggest starting with a small pilot (20-40 Analysts) andcreate some success and internal referenceability, which in turn will generate curiosity and demand from others to get involved. This will create an environment that draws or invites people into the process. Unlike the traditional technology rollout programs that impose change on people (and which inevitably create resistance), the KCS adoption program is designed to create demand in the organization.
Creating an environment where people see value in and want to learn the KCS practices is key for a healthy and sustainable knowledge-centered organization that will evolve over time and continue to produce value for the Support Analysts, the business, and most importantly:the customers.
The foundation for a successful adoption includes the performance assessment model, workflow, Content Standard, strategic framework and the adoption strategy. These critical foundation elements are developed during the design session, which we will discuss later.
Waves and Phases
We cannot overemphasize the “start small” concept. We have never seen a large scale “everybody starts the KCS journey at the same time” approach work in organizations of more than50 Support Analysts. For most organizations, KCS is a big change and starting small enables us to learn and tune the foundation elements based on experience. It also minimizes the resource impact of coaching during the learning phase.
We call the groups or teams adopting KCS “waves.”Each wave will move through the phases of adoption as they become proficient. The simplest case is an organization of 30 Support Analysts (across levels 1, 2 and 3). They would start the adoption as one wave of adopters. As they learn to do KCS, and the knowledge base grows to include most of what they know, they will move through the phases of adoption.
If the support organization was 280Support Analysts and they all supported the same or similar products or technology, then this would be one adoption but would have multiple waves. The initial wave might be 35 – 40 people (the pilot). The second wave could be 100 people and the third wave would be the balance of the organization (about 150 people). Each wave creates Coaches that support the next wave.
A more complex example would be a large organization that supports different products and/or technologies. They might have multiple KCS adoptions with multiple waves. For example, if the company supports both hardware and software, or perhaps operating systems software and application software, the organizational structure would often reflect two (or more) distinct groups that have very little interaction with each other. In this case, each support group would have their own KCS adoption and each adoption may have multiple waves.Each wave would progress through the phases of adoption based on their proficiency and success. One caveat on this is the move from Phase 3 to Phase 4, as this often requires a majority of the Support Analysts working in a given product area or technology to be ready to move to Phase 4 at the same time.Earlier waves may have to wait for later waves to catch up so the whole support group moves into Phase 4 together.
Determining the waves for adoption will be discussed in the section on the Adoption Strategy and Road Map later in this guide.
The adoption phases are based on key milestones along the KCS journey. Each of the four phases of adoption defines the focus and actions for that phase, as well as the exit criteria. The four phases are:
Phase 1– Planning and Designing
Phase 2– Adopting
Phase 3– Learning
Phase 4 – Leveraging
The chart in the next section shows a sample timeline of the four phases of adoption. Each organization moves at its own pace. Large organizations often have groups or waves of adopters at different phases of adoption at the same time. It is important to transition to the next phase based on the exit criteria identified for each phase, not based on an arbitrary, pre-established timeline.
Adoption Activities
The typical sequence of events for a KCS adoption include:
- KCS Assessment – understanding and sizing the opportunity
- Executive briefing and buy-in
- Selection of the KCS Adoption team
- KCS Foundations workshop
- KCS Design session
- Management workshop
- Wave 1 (pilot)
- Technology update
- Workflow and Content Standard update
- Coach training
- Wave 2
The Adoption Timeline
For each of the four phases, we will provide a:
- Definition
- List of best practices
- Exit criteria to ensure completion of the phase
There is no single most important action that drives a successful KCS adoption. Below are the critical components for success. Organizations must:
- Gain cross-functional buy-in and alignment through thoughtful and continuous communications
- Develop content guidelines and workflows that support a just-in-time publishing model
- Define and practice the workflow before going shopping and buying tools
- Implement training and coaching programs for Support Analysts and managers
- Develop measures and baselines values for the expected results
Phase 1 - Design and Planning
Phase 1 builds the foundation for a successful implementation. It entails:
- Assessing the current state of knowledge practices
- Getting the right people involved across the organization
- Training on KCS
- Designing the future state
- Developing an adoption strategy and road map
- Establishing baseline measures against which we can assess progress
The planning and design phase can take anywhere from four weeks to a number of months depending on the size and diversity of the audience adopting KCS. The KCS Adoption Program Manager coordinates the design activities. In small organizations (10-50 people), this may include program management and project management responsibilities. In large organizations (50-1000s),the KCS Adoption Program Manager will need the support of project managers for each department or support group. It is critical to clearly define responsibility for the adoption activities.
Assessing the Current State
KCS Opportunity Assessment Definition
The KCS Opportunity Assessment evaluates the current processes, content and culture. The assessment identifies the extent to which the current practices align with KCS practices and where they don’t. The evaluator uses the results of the assessment to recommend opportunities for improving the current organizational practices and to quantify the benefits. This is helpful information for the KCS Design session.
The assessment compares the current organizational processes with the KCS practices in areas including:
- Incident management
- Problem solving
- Technology and infrastructure
- Knowledge management
- Leadership and culture
The Approach
The assessment begins with data collection. The KCS Program Manager will complete the KCS Opportunity Assessment Survey (see Appendix A) for the current working environment, culture, tools, and metrics. In addition to the data collection, the evaluator conducts a series of interviews with the representatives from the management team andSupport Analysts.
Assessments are typically done for each product area or technology group. In large global support organizations it is important to include multiple locations to identify variations across geographies. It is also important to include all the levels of support involved in the problem solving process: typically levels 1, 2, and 3. This ensures a complete view of the problem solving process. The results of the assessment will provide background information and highlight areas of focus for the KCS Design Session. A typical KCS Opportunity Assessment takes five days of onsite evaluations, observations, and interviews. If multiple locations are involved in the assessment activities, time and cost adjust accordingly.
In order for the assessment results to have an impact, the Executive Sponsor, the evaluator, and the management team participate in a half-day session to review and discuss the results. The goal of the session is for all participants to gain a general understanding of KCS, how it differs from the current practices, a sizing of the potential benefits and a high level understanding of what needs to be done for the KCS Adoption to be successful.
The evaluator is an objective observer exploring opportunities, not a judging party. It is important for the Executive Sponsor and Project Manager [KM1]to create anopen, non-judgmental environment for the assessment participants.
Supplemental Materials for the KCS Opportunity Assessment
To help facilitate the KCS Opportunity Assessment, the following may be helpful:
- Invitation to participate in the interview process that includes some context for the program
- KCS Opportunity Assessment Survey (see Appendix A)
- Agenda for site visit
- Agenda for results presentation
- KCS Benefits Calculator (available on the KCS Academy web site at
If the sponsor of the Assessment decides to move forward with KCS, the next step is getting the right people involved.
Getting the Right People Involved
The first step is to secure an Executive Sponsor. The Executive Sponsor must have influence on those who will be impacted by the organizational change. It is typically a person holding a VP or Senior Directorof Service Delivery role: an executive whoseorganization includes Support Analysts. The Executive Sponsor acts as the KCS advocate with Finance, hr, and product development. They are not on the Adoption Team, but should receive periodic briefings on the team’s progress. The Executive Sponsor needs to have control of the budget for the KCS initiative and have accountability for the results.
The next step is to create a cross-functional and cross-geographic KCS Adoption Team. In addition to the Executive Sponsor, this team is comprised of the KCS Program Manager (PM), the IT Liaison, the Web Liaison, and Adoption Team members.
KCS Program Manager - Responsible for coordinating the adoption team and the project plan, this person ideally holds a KCS Practices v5 certification from the KCS Academy.
IT Liaison - Responsible for driving the tool functionality, reporting, performance and integration required to support KCS.
Web Liaison - Responsible for ensuring the organization's website protocol is included in the Content Standard.
KCS Adoption Team Members – People in the organization including Managers and Support Analysts representing a cross-section of product teams, geographies, and (if applicable) partners,responsible for creating deliverables during the design session and supporting the pilot adoption.
A role on the Adoption Team is part time. Members continue to be involved in their respective primary role.
KCS Foundations Training
The KCS Adoption team should attend the two and a half day KCS Foundations Workshopand attain the KCS Practices v5 Certification from the KCS Academy. The most successful adoptions have all invested in both training and ongoing communications with the Adoption Team members. This creates the alignment and understanding necessary for a successful adoption.
The KCS Foundations workshop has evolved over the past 15 years as the KCS methodology has evolved. It is a very effective and efficient way to create KCS evangelists. The workshop is a mix of lecture and hands-on experience, and has proven to have high impact. There are a number of KCS Trainers certified by the KCS Academy that offer the KCS Foundations Workshop.
Once the KCS Adoption Team has a good understanding of KCS and how it applies to them, the next step is the KCS Design Session.