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Subject:A new approach to documentation development From:Ross Squire <KTINY -at- AOL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 28 Dec 1995 09:32:21 -0500
Greetings,
As a new subscriber I wanted to share some insights that my company has
discovered which has significantly altered the way that we approach
documentation and training assignments. The approach, which we call
Knowledge Management, was developed as an outgrowth of a reengineering effort
that my company has been involved with for the past two years. When we were
analyzing why our clients used our services we recognized that the focus of
our business (and in some cases the focus of our clients) was misplaced. For
years we had worked carefully to ensure that deliverable dates were met, that
documents were readable and usable, and that projects came in at or under
budget.
The Knowledge Management approach is rooted in the belief that people develop
documents and training programs to address some business issue, concern or
breakdown. The approach identifies these issues and then provides a method
for evaluating the effectiveness of the development and implementation
process.
Corporate managers that control the purse strings could care less about books
and training programs however they are very interested in solutions that
positively impact financial performance, cycle time, quality or customer
satisfaction.
The Knowledge Management approach has resulted in the creation of more
appropriately-developed solutions for our clients that produce measurable
results. We also find that we are being included in planning sesions with
our clients at a mich higher level within the organization. And we are
having a heck of a good time! Conversations about our services being
"necessary evils" are gone for good.
We will publishing an e-zine on Knowledge Management related issues (it will
also be available via hard-copy and disk). The first issue will be in
February. We are actively seeking contributors. If you would be interested
in contributing or receiving the e-zine please let me know.
Seasons greetings and Happy New Year to all!
Ross Squire
Knowledge Transfer International
ross_squire -at- ktic -dot- com
New York, NY
