Synchroni's Knowledge Management Forum revolves around a series of visits and workshops to leading KM practitioners in the UK; some of these from the 2003 programme are summarised below.

To take a short cut to the topics discussed, click on the subject title:

Contact and Networking Session
Links across Government Functions
Connecting Researchers and Knowledge Workers, with TWI
Global Operations, with Schlumberger
KM and Business Strategy at Barclay's Bank
KM's Role in Business, with Sainsbury's
KM implementation at Balfour Beatty
International Communities, with Linklaters
Implementing KM globally at Xerox Corporation

• On January 22nd the visit programme commenced with a Knowledge Exchange Workshop at the Department of Trade and Industry Conference Centre, 1 Victoria Street, London.

  Many of you have asked for more direct contact and networking between members to facilitate direct fast exchange of winning strategies and operational processes in key areas. This opening session for the Forum members was a special knowledge exchange event to get us off on a flying start for sharing learning across the membership....
  
  In the run-up to Christmas we talked with each of the lead contacts for your organisations and confirmed broadly the key challenges and areas of KM activity which are 'hot' for each of you. We used the collective picture as the focus for our knowledge exchange workshop on 22nd. The areas for focus were:

  • Winning hearts and minds - Getting Commitment
    

  • Embedding KM in business processes - Doing it
    

  • Recognising the benefit - The Justification
    

  The DTI team, which is well known to the Forum, kindly agreed to host this session for us. This was a key session, not only for surfacing key learning around these collective topics of interest but also a great opportunity to establish contacts and linkages in the network.

   

• The next meeting, on 18th February 2003 was a visit to Cabinet Office, Office of the E-envoy at the Admiralty Arch in  London.

  The leader of the knowledge network team gave us insights into this network that links up skilled people across Government functions (e.g. 6000 Government lawyers are linked up through the LION network), and where it is planned to go in the future. The Head of Content then explained the activity in place to ensure effective content is developed and ownership maintained.
  
  This was an insightful visit into KM within a complex distributed organisation with a strong focus on moving 'beyond technology', getting ownership and developing effective content.

   

• The visit for 19th March 2003 was to TWI in Cambridge.

  TWI's Head of KM, shared how TWI, which is the world's premier Materials Joining Institute, manages an innovation and research community around the world with 5000 paying members. TWI have also just completed a major building programme with state of the art facilities to link researchers and knowledge workers. TWI's KM Head is also a leading member of the Open University KM course team.

   

• On the 16th April 2003, we visited Schlumberger, also in Cambridge.

  Schlumberger explained how their world beating Communities of Practice and Technical Information Centres operate on a global scale.

   

• Our next visit, on 13th May 2003, was to Barclays Bank at the Institute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, in London.

  The Head of KM at Barclays explained how KM is now embedded into the Business Strategy rather than a separate activity, and how KM is positioned as an organisational capability to deliver the business strategy. The team talked about how their KM strategy has been developed and implemented to encourage information and knowledge to flow around Barclays, and how the intranet now acts as a conduit encouraging joined-up business practice.

   

• The June meeting, arranged for the 26th, was to Sainsbury's.

  We are delighted to welcome Sainsbury's as a new Member to the Forum and the Business Sponsor. Knowledge Managers at Sainsbury's shared the story of transition and evolution for their intranet, and KM's role in new business development. This meeting gave us a chance to hear  the Business Sponsor of Knowledge Management at Sainsbury’s and her colleagues talking about:
  - How KM is done at Sainsbury’s 
  - Using Customer Data 
  - Sainsbury’s Supplier Collaborative Systems and Processes.
  This was a fascinating meeting, looking at the application of KM across a very wide range of areas in a customer-driven retail environment, which rests on a complex supply chain.
  It was followed by a Midsummer Reunion with friends from previous Forum programmes.

   

• The October 14th meeting was to Balfour Beatty was held at their London Headquarters.

  The head of the KM operation at Balfour Beatty is an old friend of the Forum and has been active in KM for a number of years.  At the meeting he profiled the latest phase of the KM implementation at BB, and where it is heading.
  This visit delved into experiences and learning relevant across many of your organisations - these being:
  - Capturing Knowledge in a project based organisation
  - Promoting KM in a devolved business
  - “We're too busy for KM - leave us alone !!” Making KM visible and compelling

   

• In November we held a Specialist Communities Workshop hosted by Linklaters in London.

  Our special meeting with the International Communities expert was a great success.  He is a very experienced consultant in the US with specialist expertise in building and managing communities of practice. We at Synchroni know him well, having been in working sessions with him and have been impressed by his insight into the communities subject and his openness and willingness to share his experiences. This was a chance to work closely with a leading world figure in KM.

   

• Our December visit was to Xerox and was held at the Institute of Physics, 76 Portland Street,  London.

  The final meeting of this year's Forum programme was the opportunity to hear from one of the world's leaders in KM - Xerox - who shared with us how KM has been implemented globally at Xerox Corporation.