Leader Development

LEARNING HISTORY

Learning history is an effective tool to capture tacit knowledge of employees in the organization. By conducting a series of reflective interviews to learn the organization's methodology history, feedback can be obtained from experienced employees to help the organization assess and evaluate how traditional processes can be enhanced by new processes. The tool also allows lessons learned to be retained and made open and accessible to all employees. This helps everyone to understand the overall mission of the organization and how all of the parts contribute to the whole.

Recording staff members' experiences with projects, change programs, conferences, workshops, etc., can ensure that useful knowledge is not lost, is shared with others in the organization and that mistakes are not repeated.

The following is a suggested structured process for capturing learning history:

Select Candidates to Interview

The selection of interview candidates should include those who initiated, participated in or were affected in any way by a key project or initiative.

Conduct Interviews

Interviews can be done in person or by phone when in-person interviews are not practical. The interviews should average around 45 minutes and, whenever possible, conducted by the same interviewer to maintain consistency. The interviews should be reflective in nature to allow the candidate to speak without the constraints of a structured interview. No more than six general questions should be asked. Suggested questions are:

What was your role in the project?
How would you judge the success of the initiative?
What would you do differently?
What recommendations do you have for other people who might go through a similar process?
What innovative things were done or could have been done?

Record and Transcribe Interviews

Interviews that are recorded ensure accuracy and eliminate the possibility of unclear interpretation. Whenever possible, keep a recording of the interview and also transcribe the interview for written documentation.

Analyze Data

Interviews should be analyzed and sorted to identify like responses and themes among the interviewees. Direct quotes should be identified to support the data accumulated and balance the perspectives.

Document Key Themes and Supporting Quotes

Divide a documentation page into two columns. In the left-hand column of each section, include commentary and potential questions for consideration that relate to the adjacent themes and quotes. This column should reflect comments, questions and conclusions posed by the author for the reader's further reflection. Assemble and record the key themes and supporting quotes into the right-hand column to identify content.

Validate Quotes

Be sure to validate quotes to ensure they were not taken out of context and truly represent the intent of the speaker. Quotes and a copy of the transcript of the interview should be sent to each interviewee for correction and a signature of approval.

Locate the Expertise

How do you know who the knowledge experts are? How do you connect knowledge seekers with knowledge holders and facilitate knowledge exchange? One method used in industry today is the experience locator or "corporate yellow pages." This method could be adapted for a Community of Practice (CoP) to allow for more effective and efficient transfer knowledge. A CoP is a group of employees with a common interest or working practice that solve problems and issues through an informal network that includes knowledge experts.

Each CoP should post a CoP descriptor on the organization's website to provide information to others in the organization about the work of the CoP. This information should be easily accessible by all employees and should provide at a minimum the following information:

Name of CoP
Purpose and scope of CoP
Name of functional sponsor (organization, location, phone number, email)
Name of CoP leader (organization, location, phone number, email)
Name of group members (organization, location, phone number, email)
Member contact information (organization, location, phone number, email) (or direct link to members)
Member profiles (could include key information about members' experience, e.g., top three jobs held, field(s) of expertise, project experience, education, training, certifications and publications)
A listing of (or link to) community knowledge resources

To enhance a CoP Locator of Expertise listing, the following tools can be used:

Key word search capabilities
Instant messaging sessions with a community member identified as a subject-matter expert
Alternative email contact information for the expert if that person is not on line at that moment.

Used by permission. Department of the NAVY Knowledge Management