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Quick Look Course Summary:Applying the Principles of Knowledge Management (3 days)
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Length: 3 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 14,997 EX VAT 3 Person R 11,205 EX VAT 10 Person R 8,042 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Applying the Principles of Knowledge Management (3 days)
A practical knowledge management plan for your unit, so critical know-how is captured, shared and kept when people move on.
Every organisation loses knowledge every day – when an experienced employee retires or resigns, when a project ends and its lessons stay in someone's inbox, or when two teams solve the same problem twice. In South Africa, where scarce skills and staff turnover are constant pressures, that loss shows up as rework, slower decisions and long learning curves for new people. This knowledge management training shows managers how to stop the leak.
Over three days, delegates build a working understanding of knowledge management and apply it to their own unit. Day one covers the concepts: data, information and knowledge, tacit versus explicit knowledge, the knowledge life cycle, and the people, process and technology parts of a knowledge management system. Day two is a structured review of the delegate's own unit against the organisation's policies: a knowledge audit, critical-knowledge mapping, knowledge-loss risks and the barriers to sharing. Day three turns those findings into an implementation plan with objectives, initiatives, owners, measures and a timeline.
The course is built around a workplace project. Delegates bring information about their own department and leave with a draft plan they can present to their manager.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Critical knowledge identified and protected before key people leave
- Faster onboarding and fewer repeated mistakes
- Better decisions based on what the organisation already knows
- A practical, owned knowledge management plan for each unit
For your delegates
- A clear grasp of knowledge management concepts and tools
- A completed knowledge audit of your own unit
- A draft implementation plan ready to present
- Practical techniques for capturing and sharing know-how that lives in people's heads
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain the key ideas of knowledge management and why they matter to the business
- Distinguish tacit from explicit knowledge and choose suitable ways to capture each
- Describe the people, process and technology parts of a knowledge management system
- Review your unit against the organisation's knowledge, records and information policies
- Map critical knowledge, the people who hold it and the risk of losing it
- Identify barriers to sharing and ways to build a knowledge-sharing culture
- Draw up an implementation plan with objectives, owners, measures and timelines
- Present the plan and set up a simple way to monitor progress
Who should attend
Heads of department, section and divisional managers, team leaders, HR and learning and development practitioners, knowledge and information officers, and project managers – anyone responsible for a unit whose performance depends on what its people know. Delegates should be able to bring basic information about their own unit's work and staffing.
Course outline
Day 1 – Knowledge management concepts and components
Why knowledge management matters
- The cost of lost knowledge: rework, delays and risk
- Knowledge as a business asset
- Retirements, resignations and scarce skills in the South African workplace
- How knowledge management links to strategy, quality, risk and learning
Data, information and knowledge
- From data to information to knowledge and judgement
- Tacit and explicit knowledge
- Individual, team and organisational knowledge
- Communities of practice and expert networks
The knowledge life cycle
- Creating and acquiring knowledge
- Capturing and storing it
- Sharing and transferring it
- Applying, reviewing and retiring it
Parts of a knowledge management system
- People: roles, behaviours and incentives
- Process: lessons learned, after-action reviews, handovers and mentoring
- Technology: intranets, document libraries, wikis and collaboration tools
- Governance: policy, ownership and information security, including POPIA
Knowledge management in practice
- Examples from manufacturing, services and the public sector
- Common reasons knowledge management initiatives fail
- Group exercise: which knowledge would hurt most to lose?
Day 2 – Analysing your unit
Your organisation's knowledge management policy
- What the policy says and who owns it
- Related policies: records, information security, training and succession
- Gaps between policy and everyday practice
- Working without a formal policy
Conducting a knowledge audit
- Mapping the unit's key processes and decisions
- Identifying critical knowledge and who holds it
- Rating knowledge-loss risk: retirement, turnover and single points of failure
- Where knowledge is kept today: in heads, files and systems
Knowledge flows and barriers
- How knowledge moves within and beyond the unit
- Cultural, structural and technical barriers to sharing
- Trust, recognition and time as enablers
Workplace project, part 1
- Completing the knowledge audit for your own unit
- Prioritising the knowledge areas to act on
- Peer review and facilitator feedback
Day 3 – Planning implementation
Choosing knowledge management initiatives
- Matching the tool to the problem: connect people or codify content
- Mentoring, job shadowing and structured handovers
- Lessons-learned and after-action reviews
- Knowledge repositories and collaborative platforms
Building the implementation plan
- Objectives linked to unit and business goals
- Initiatives, owners, resources and timelines
- Change management and getting buy-in
- Measures: leading and lagging indicators
Monitoring and sustaining the effort
- Tracking progress and reporting
- Keeping content current and retiring outdated material
- Building knowledge sharing into roles and performance discussions
Workplace project, part 2
- Drafting your unit's implementation plan
- Presenting the plan to the group
- Feedback and refinement
- Personal action plan and close
How it is delivered
Three days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20; the course works best when delegates from the same organisation can bring their knowledge management or records policy. Workbook, audit templates and a plan template included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“The training was well received and we were impressed by the knowledge of the facilitators and the quality of overall training.”
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application.”
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices?
Yes. Most groups are trained at the client's premises anywhere in South Africa; we can also host it at a BOTI venue or deliver it live online.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of about 20. Managers from several units of one organisation often attend together and compare their audits.
Is it accredited?
No – it is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. It is not a knowledge management certification.
What if our organisation has no knowledge management policy?
Many do not. Delegates then review their unit against good practice and related policies such as records, information security and succession, and their plan includes an outline for a policy.
Is there a shorter version?
Yes. Applying the Principles of Knowledge Management (1 day) is a one-day overview of the concepts and planning, without the full knowledge audit and workplace project.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
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