Knowledge Management Governance

How is knowledge management governance distinct from knowledge management strategy?

Knowledge management strategy should guide your governance structure. Generally, strategy covers the following subjects:

• Who will be reading the knowledge in the KB?
• What kind of knowledge do the users need?
• Who will be providing the knowledge?
• Where and when will the users need to access knowledge?

Governance, on the other hand, covers ongoing best practices and their continual refinement, including:

1. Formalizing or refining knowledge content creation and maintenance guidelines (and making them easily accessible)
2. Advocating for correct usage of your knowledge base
3. Looking out for repeats of old problems and solving for new ones

Who should be part of the knowledge governance structure?

A knowledge governance council should be made up of key enablement personnel. If it’s your job to set your team up for success, knowledge management is a key component of that. Regardless of the kind of enablement role you’re in, knowledge management is how you can ensure continuity of experience and information both within and external to your team.