What does knowledge management look like in practice? Is it all about technology? How does knowledge management help an organization become a learning organization?

Let me share the example from a financial institution I worked with. The organization as a whole was well on its way towards implementing knowledge management practices. For example: a company intranet, on-line reference tools for staff, access to experts via 1-800 lines, and customer contact management software had all been in place for some time.

The training function of this organization was also contributing to advancing knowledge management practices and evolving the company towards becoming a learning organization. Examples include: workplace learning and technology assisted learning solutions (in addition to classroom), based on competencies and available to virtually all employees; mentorship and career management resources; solid succession planning strategies; and a culture that supported coaching as a discipline.

Yet to further advance the company's learning culture and to better align the training function with organizational goals, senior executives reevaluated structures and processes within the training function, and embarked on some knowledge management initiatives:

1. Reorganization of the training function nationally: where previously the company had "Head Office Training" and each geographic district had a fully staffed training department, now they created a "Learning Network"; design and delivery was centralized; a network of national facilitators were located in each geography yet reported in centrally; performance consultants were created in the learning network's center (Toronto); advisors of training who supported businesses, functions and geographies were located across the country; and a new user-pay system was adopted to encourage measurement and accountability for adding value to the business through partnering with stakeholders.

2. A website was created for the learning network within the company's intranet, which included:

• The learning network's vision, mission, structure, strategy and models for practice
• Profiles of all learning staff nationally, their areas of specialty, special training, courses they were certified to deliver, which teams and/or special projects they were involved with
• A vendor section, describing the list of preferred vendors, their work with the organization so far, contact info, areas of specialty
• A section detailing initiatives on the go from various locations and departments, for example, which performance consulting projects were finished (and access to performance models), which projects were currently underway or planned, courses or learning initiatives under development
• A conference posting section, where individuals who had attended conferences or external training sessions would outline which sessions they attended, and what they learned.

3. Conference calls and e-mail distribution lists were used widely to keep trainers and advisors in the loop, sharing best practices and initiatives. Like-groups had monthly conference calls (for example facilitators or geographic advisors), and the learning network at large held quarterly conference calls where all could attend and hear directional insights from the learning network's Vice President. Advisors regularly used e-mail almost like a discussion group, posting a question to all, having each respond with thoughts and advice, replying to the whole group.

4. In-person "conferences" occurred 2 - 3 times a year with senior people in the learning network, and including advisors from the geographies, functions and businesses to discuss initiatives, direction, progress, accomplishments and sharing best practices.

As a result, members of the learning network collectively moved the culture of this function from one of "silos" (under the previous structure and processes) to an informed community with shared vision, shared resources and increased collaboration. Benefits included just-in-time access to information and resources, increased cataloguing of and access to information, a more rapid advancement of continuous improvement through sharing best practices, increased individual learning, and ultimately, another large step forward in becoming a learning organization.

The critical success factors for this initiative included:

• Having members of the learning network use the information on the intranet website
• Members taking the initiative to contact colleagues to either seek assistance or share best practices
• Support of the network in positively responding to requests for assistance and a focus on building relationships within the network
• Technology as an enabler
• Members of the senior management team leading by example, themselves using resources, sharing key information and rewarding the occurrences of sharing best practices.

This example will hopefully illustrate what knowledge management can look like in practice, that knowledge management is about much more than simply technology, and that knowledge management practices and becoming a learning organization really go hand in hand.