case studies consultancy From this page you can access TFPL case studies of projects in which we have provided consultancy services. select: Consultancy - Information management - Knowledge management - Records management - Web & content management - Information architecture & taxonomies - Blended learning Dealing with the baby boomer crisis Many organisations and professions are facing the risk of severe skills shortage as the baby boomers approach retirement. Information specialists in this organisation were building their knowledge of KM prior to being assigned formal responsibilities for KM. Knowledge harvesting was one of the TFPL courses they attended. Just a few weeks later the information management team was contacted for help by a technical team which had recognised the imminent risk of knowledge loss from the retirement of key team members. The information management team used TFPL experts to help them deepen their knowledge of harvesting processes and to coach them in developing and testing approaches that would well with the specific 'subjects'. The first harvesting sessions have been held, have been rated highly by the 'harvestees' and their colleagues, and this success is widening the organisation's understanding of the value of knowledge management techniques. contact: Vivienne Winterman The penalty from loyalty bonuses Mergers and acquisitions often mean a phased programme of job losses with loyalty bonuses in place to retain all key staff for a specific period. This pharma company had time therefore to plan a harvesting programme not just to be used as the loyalty period ended but with the aim of embedding knowledge capture into the work process so that panic harvesting could not occur. The programme was designed as a toolkit to be used by line managers for movers, leavers, and starters. The toolkit was designed collaboratively with the lead knowledge management team and also with experienced company experts who were already encountering the problems of knowledge transfer for maternity breaks, promotion, and joiners. It needed to be practical, simple, engaging, and scaleable. A web-based tool was ideal and provided a 'how to' guide; templates to use and to adapt for knowledge capture; and actions for managers, the 'harvestee', and their colleagues. The initial experience is that the tool works well. The current challenge is to develop a sound and simple approach to measuring its benefit. contact: Vivienne Winterman Even routine jobs need harvesting Retirements have the advantage of providing reasonable periods for planned handover. However, in organisations where budget pressures limit or even prevent overlap with successors, harvesting techniques can still be needed. This is especially so where administrative personnel solely responsible for a key process are retiring. Often these individuals are unused to being in the 'public eye' and may not realise that losing the wealth of knowledge that they've grown in years of experience in the same job is a real disadvantage to the organisation. Persuading them to be harvested requires tact, diplomacy and encouragement. In a busy NHS trust, the recruitment administrator had grown with the job which was very much a solo role. The harvesting plan was phased carefully with the work cycle - indeed the annual calendar of what needed doing and when was an important asset for her successor and developed with TFPL support. The final knowledge asset included a map connecting details of the recruitment process, national policies governing recruitment, terms and conditions, key contacts, the lifecycle of medical staff, a glossary of the terms met during the working year, and a number of hits, tips and insights distilling the administrator's experience. Video clips made the asset a real working tool. Assets of this type cannot replace an individual's full experience - but are powerful resources for new staff who can then hit the ground running. contact: Vivienne Winterman Harvest or salvage? This utilities company faced the loss of a technical expert to another organisation. With only three weeks to ensure that his team were not severely disadvantaged by his departure, a rapid sharing programme needed to be devised. A critical success factor was the expert's sense of responsibility towards his colleagues. To provide the best possible protection, a number of harvesting techniques that could be quickly set up were used. Highlights for the team included the organisation of key reference material - the expert's information assets including - contacts and their relevance, publications, internal documents, and important emails, plus the lessons learned in dealing with problems. These were brought to life in an 'Audience with...' session where he dealt with a number of questions that represented the situations in which colleagues usually tapped into his experience. The session was video’d as were the initial interviews to build the collection of information assest. A poster highlighting key knowledge areas then acted as a visible trigger to use the harvested knowledge - with a sell-by date reminding colleagues that within six months the need to use the expert's resources would probably have been superseded by their experience. TFPL worked closely with the organisation's knowledge team throughout the work so that they were left with a sustainable process that they have continued to use on their own. contact: Vivienne Winterman Leveraging the chance opportunity Starting a knowledge harvesting programme with a departing Chief Executive might be thought to be a little risky but for a major UK Charity it provided the ideal opportunity to promote knowledge management techniques with the senior management team, as well as being practically useful to the organisation. Acting as its knowledge management coach, TFPL persuaded the CEO to engage in a harvesting exercise spread over his last month in the organisation, and involving a number of interviews with him, the story of his time with the organisation, working with his PA to organise contacts and documents, and a facilitated audience with his colleagues to share key insights gained in his time with the organisation. This latter exercise was rated as enormously valuable. As well as leaving the organisation with a well structured knowledge asset, TFPL used the experience to work with the knowledge management team to develop a harvesting toolkit which is now owned by the Human Resources group and used throughout the organisation. contact: Vivienne Winterman Business Classification Scheme for a Non-Departmental Public Body The Arts Council England commissioned TFPL to develop a business classification scheme as the first activity of its Information Management Kick-start Project. Using a series of interviews and a one-day workshop, TFPL consultants developed a scheme covering all Arts Council functions that was rigorously tested in two further focus groups. The scheme as delivered was deployed immediately in a pilot electronic archive for the Arts Council and has subsequently been used to structure content in its new Content Management System. contact: James Lappin Information Management Framework Preparing an organisation's content for an EDRMS A regional development agency are currently procuring an EDRM system. TFPL has developed the frameworks, policies and procedures necessary for the configuration and operation of the EDRM system. This included: Working with organisation's scientists, policy makers and administrators to produce a two level business classification. Then working with regional offices to complete the fileplan. Producing a retention schedule for their records and linking it to the business classification Developing a metadata schema for documents and folders on the EDMS Developing a records management policy, supported by a document naming convention, advice on version control and an e-mail policy contact: Martin Sanderson Developing enterprise information management skills TFPL developed and delivered a four-day residential development programme for a global oil company. The programme focused on the skills required by information managers to develop their capability as internal information management consultants by exploiting the organisation’s internal resources in records, information and knowledge and to promote the global mobilisation of knowledge. The programme included: breakthrough thinking skills; developing as an internal consultant; information and knowledge architecture and enterprise information management. 100% of the course participants stated that they would recommend this course to a colleague. contact: Val Skelton Intranet Review Creating a framework for more effective use of informaiton in a NDPB TFPL was selected to undertake a comprehensive review of the Intranet for a Non-Departmental Public Body based in Wales serving 300 users in 17 offices. The review focused on the information needs of target audiences, the overall site structure/design and its day-to-day management. Desk research, a series of one-to-one interviews with key users and several group workshops enabled the organisation to understand how the Intranet was being used and what opportunities existed to extend is usefulness. The overall goal was to create a clear vision for the Intranet and a credible a plan for its achievement. contact: Guy Johnson Assisting a government department to implement an eChannel programme Defining an information architecture The large government department was finding the organic growth of their separate, and highly diverse, websites restricted their ability to deliver consistent and comprehensive content to their audiences. Following clear government guidelines the department was required to make the existing information available through more recognisable channels, for example, placing citizen-focussed content on the DirectGov web site. To address these issues the department was implementing a new content management system and supporting business processes. TFPL were primarily brought in for their expertise in the areas of vocabulary development, web and information design. The additional recruitment and librarian services of TFPL and IDOX provided a complete information solution. A department-wide set of controlled language terms was required for classifying content and subsequently improving search and access to the content. This sizeable challenge required TFPL to sort through all the information for the entire department’s content and present it in a management system. TFPL used text-mining software to give a corpus of draft terms; their information scientists then worked the terms into an initial draft structure. At this point a “Delphi Review Process” was conducted with representatives of the department: the controlled vocabulary was reviewed and comments/suggested amendments returned, sorted centrally, made anonymous and voted on. Through a number of time-boxed iterations the language and structure were refined. TFPL mapped the controlled vocabulary to a number of additional taxonomies used in the content management system and provided a management framework to ensure continued upkeep. TFPL worked on the department’s “corporate” channel, reviewing the content covering department strategy, who’s who, press releases, ministers speeches, white papers, etc. We developed the site navigation, ensured the content would fit on the new technical platform and defined mechanisms to review, migrate and re-purpose the content. A successful department-wide controlled vocabulary was created alongside the specific corporate area’s channel vision taking shape. contact: Miles Oldrey User-centred approach to define a Membership Knowledge Centre Defining an information architecture A professional membership organisation was looking to improve its service by reviewing the current web site to ensure the content and delivery of this primary information channel met the members’ needs. TFPL was engaged to help capture the members’ requirements and from this define an environment for knowledge exchange by using a taxonomy to index pages, topic-based navigation, and guidelines for user friendly and well-presented content. We gathered inputs via telephone interviews with a cross-section of over 50 members and an on-line questionnaire to all 50,000 members. Working with the client’s team we refined this data and used a method called "Triadic Elicitation" to provide a structured and evidenced-based approach to prioritise, group and highlight key content areas. Deliverables from TFPL included an outline information architecture, content specification, high level taxonomy and recommendations on subject content. contact: Alan Flett Strategic collection review The challenge facing this open access library was to determine the most critical areas for collection development based on user needs, to establish the physical and electronic information products strategy, and to recommend marketing tactics and services to attract the desired audience to the organisation. Evidence was gathered through interviews with King’s Fund senior managers, on the spot discussions with users and opinion leaders in the subject area and librarianship and information management. TFPL’s recommendations were a tipping point setting the business environment for moving away from the physical collections, providing a framework for development and transforming the perception of the value and potential for information and library services to contribute to the strategic direction of the organisation. contact: Vivienne Winterman Taxonomy and Business Classification Structure Development Providing the Information Architecture to support a new Documentum installation A global corporate client had purchased Documentum and was implementing the pilot program in their Corporate Affairs department. This department manages all external communications for the corporation within a highly litigious environment and is required to maintain all supporting and final content for compliance, eDiscovery and risk mitigation. TFPL provided support and coaching to the project team around the metadata model and in planning and scoping an information architecture that the business users and the planned technology delivering the storage, search and retrieval capability would fully utilise. For example, TFPL helped the client to understand the interaction between the activity-based Business Classification and subject-based Taxonomy and assisted in developing independent vocabularies which correctly represented the classification and retrieval axis for the content in question. TFPL delivered: Subject, with Activity and Content Type taxonomy structures to be implemented in Documentum for manual content classification. A thesaurus of “evidence terms” to be loaded into Documentum’s Content Intelligence Services to pilot automatic classification. A Business Classification Structure (BCS) to be used as the primary filing mechanism. A mapping from the BCS so a base set of taxonomy tags could be automatically inherited from the various facets. All the structures were developed using a mixture of workshops, interviews, desk research and content mining. contact: Miles Oldrey Bespoke Website Migration Application Providing the technical resources to migrate to a new Content Management System Working as part of a wider consortium, TFPL have created a bespoke migration tool to migrate 60 core government web sites onto the Department's newly selected XML based Content Management System (SiteCore). The migration tool allows us to: 1) spider the existing web sites. 2) map to any available structure within the HTML source . 3) extract out the required content sections. 4) parse the sections using a set of cleansing rules. 5) transform into an XHTML format compatible with the target CMS. 6) load into SiteCore via a Web Service created by TFPL specifically for this task. contact: Miles Oldrey Records management organisational development Integrating records management and knowledge management A major global financial institution sought TFPL assistance to review its records management function as part of an organisational redesign. A TFPL consultant met with the records teams and with key members of the organisation's knowledge management group to produce 1) recommendations for integration and re-structuring and 2) a re-definition of the services offered by the records management group. The recommendations were accepted by the client and implemented in full. contact: John Davies Records management roadmap Defining records management requirements for a university TFPL produced a records management roadmap for the university to 1) define future work required and 2) support the recruitment of a records manager and an archivist. The work was based around a series of interviews with staff across the organisation together with a number of audits of record collections. The university accepted TFPL's recommendations and has made appointments to the two posts. A TFPL consultant is now working with the records manager in a coaching capacity to develop the records management policy and standards framework. contact: John Davies Embracing knowledge management: a short study of local government This research assignment was undertaken by the IDOX Information Service to examine how a sample of 11 organisations – most local authorities, the rest RDAs - are embracing Knowledge Management. KM programmes emerged almost always as a result of external criticism from the Audit Commission. The findings showed that when knowledge management did not deliver it was often because it was seen as nebulous, lacking meaningful staff involvement and seen as yet another management fad. When it produced real benefits it was because a high level goal was always to try to capture good and bad practice so that lessons can be learned. The best results were obtained when knowledge management ideas and techniques were embedded into change management projects using cross functional teams to deliver improvement. The resulting cross-fertilisation of ideas delivering tangible business benefits immediately, the forging of relationships and a ‘can-do’ culture all served well in addressing future performance challenges. contact: Tony Burton Performance improvement through collaboration and sharing A two-day workshop for a local authority directorate, facilitated by TFPL aimed to further improve the performance of the Directorate by identifying how the different service areas could work together most effectively to deliver maximum value to schools. Thirty participants from across four service areas attended the event and identified a number of key priorities for action that would support the Directorate’s overall focus on performance management. As a result of the two days together, they felt they had achieved a better understanding of each others’ issues and priorities and that more effective collaboration and mutual support across the Directorate would develop from this. The Director had participated in the IDeA's Accelerated Improvement Consortium on Mobilising Knowledge (facilitated by TFPL) and considered that the approach used on the consortium events would benefit his own directorate. Work undertaken by Elizabeth Lank. contact: Vivienne Winterman Knowledge management strategy for effective research and development A small biotech company had recognised that effective knowledge management was essential for its future growth. TFPL worked with its senior managers to identify the most urgent opportunities for knowledge management and to select the mix of knowledge management approaches that would work best in the organisation. The use of knowledge agents for major projects - to catalyse good information management practice; bring in, target and filter published information; and to accelerate knowledge transfer - has been piloted over the last year. With TFPL providing coaching and training throughout. Seventeen knowledge agents are now in place in response to demand from business managers observing the impact of the pilot. In parallel with the agent pilot TFPL worked with the Head of Information Services on good information management practice, a strategy for linking information services more directly to business demands, and techniques for value and impact assessment. Ian Wooler and Sandra Ward worked on the assignment. contact: Guy Johnson Improving Call Centre performance TFPL was engaged by a major government agency working in the field of racial discrimination and integration to lead the information strand of the agency’s Call Centre project. The agency’s Executive Team had taken a decision to develop its information service function into a Call Centre operation providing information and advice to external customers and internal colleagues. TFPL consultants carried out a round of interviews and workshops with agency staff that: 1. Identified and recommended key information sources that could be made available for use by Call Centre staff 2. Established a network of information champions across the agency to a) ensure the currency and continued provision of key information sources and b) provide expert support for the Call Centre 3. Reported back to the agency’s Executive Team with proposals for further organisational development and knowledge management work contact: John Davies A training programme for a changing organisation This government agency was undergoing a period of organisation-wide change that impacted on all employee levels across the organisation. As part of an ongoing programme to support employees through the change process, TFPL worked with HR and senior managers to advise on workshop content and to provide trainers to roll out a range of workshop sessions. The courses aimed at line managers dealt with managing staff through challenging times; coaching employees; and motivating others. The workshop aimed at front line staff focused on working effectively through times of change. The trainers provided by TFPL needed to be flexible to ensure that the workshops were effective with varying numbers of delegates and a wide range of previous experience. The trainers received excellent feedback from delegates who appreciated, in particular, the flexible approach demonstrated to meet the specific needs of individual delegates at each workshop. contact: Val Skelton Designing and facilitating a team away day for a government department TFPL worked with a government department and its client-side advisor to design and facilitate a programme team event. Since launch the programme had been running at a very fast pace, with little time taken to pause and reflect. The Away Day event provided the opportunity for all in the team to review the work completed and successes to date and to provide time and space to consider the wider programme roll-out, risks, and actions that should be taken. The event enabled delegates to: Identify the enablers and barriers to implementation and on-going service delivery Review the risks and mitigations to the phased implementation and roll-out of the complete National Programme Share lessons learnt from progress made to date and actions that should be taken to future activities Identify the key information flows and knowledge assets required to deliver a National programme and on-going operation of the service The Away Day event used a mixture of structured conversations, round table discussions, and facilitated ‘an audience with’ the Programme Director and Deputy. contact: Val Skelton Designing and facilitating a planning workshop TFPL worked with the head of knowledge and information in a government agency to design and facilitate a team service planning workshop. The agency was well advanced in its strategic planning cycle. This workshop was designed to help the two teams that sit within the knowledge and information management division to develop action oriented plans, which are demonstrably aligned to the agency’s business plan. The workshop enabled delegates to: Understand key elements of the corporate business plan Participate fully in the service planning process Prioritise team activities and resources for the next 12 months Map out key components and key performance indicators of their service plan Identify the knowledge and information activity links and dependencies across all themes of the agency’s business plan Using a series of café conversations combined with presentations and round table sessions the workshop enabled the team leaders and members to jointly design a deliverable action plan. contact: Val Skelton A National Library for Health TFPL was commissioned by NHS Direct Online together with the NHS Library Advisor, the NHS Information Authority, and other key players in the NHS knowledge and information network to develop a strategic road map for library services within the NHS. The NHS required a fresh and compelling vision and strategic framework for the future, encompassing national and local aspirations, together with top level plans for its achievement. The overarching aim being to create a forward direction for library and knowledge services capable of supporting the NHS in its business goals. Working with a Project Board that represented considerable NHS LIS experience, TFPL interviewed nominated stakeholders, assessed future NHS directions, current concerns and future ideas from these interviews; facilitated a scenario planning workshop; and prepared a summary of the roles of NHS LIS and potential forward directions for e-consultation. The report recommended a strong framework for national coordination with a programme to develop those services best delivered nationally (the published information infrastructure) progressed in partnership with local services. The report recommended, inter alia, that quality standards for NHS Library Services are formally adopted; that a national framework for staff development and training is developed for NHS Library Services, based on skills and competencies; and that a clear brand for NHS Library Services is established for use throughout the NHS The final report has been endorsed by The NHS Library and Knowledge Development Network (LKDN), NHS Libraries Advisor and the National electronic Library for Health (NeLH) who are now working together to implement a programme of transformation in NHS library services to enhance our support for clinical care, education and research in the NHS. “By developing an integrated and federated service, the National Library for Health will enable us, as a community, to meet the various challenges highlighted by the TFPL report”. ( LKDN and NeLH) The full report can be found at: www.sconul.ac.uk/activities/ health/reports/TFPL_Library_Review www.library.nhs.uk/forlibrarians/finalPolicyReport .doc contact: Vivienne Winterman Content management audit A central government department commissioned a content audit of its internet, intranet and portal prior to adopting/ upgrading to Documentum 5 as the web content management solution. A portion of the client internet content had successfully migrated into Documentum 4 and the challenge was to select and prioritise which content to migrate to Documentum 5. The activities involved in the high level audit included: Selection of software/analytical tools to carry out a high level audit High level audit, analysis and presentation of results Review taxonomy Documentum 5 requirements Review of some authoring processes Pilot study for a community based low level audit to: Identify any major issues to resolve Give a clearer indication of time and costs for a low level audit Develop a methodology/process for carrying out low level audit TFPL utilised proprietary scripts which were run against all existing Internet, Intranet and Portal content consisting of over 1m files with file breakdown of 800,000 HTM/HTML, 20,000 PDF, 150,000 gif, 17,500 Word and 3,300 Excel files. The information gathered by the scripts was uploaded into a SQL database and analysed to discover metadata, file type, language and volumetrics. A representative sample of the authoring communities was interviewed to discover authoring processes, templates used, frequency and the extent of updates as well as archiving processes. Based upon the analysis of the data and authoring processes a review was conducted of the proposed taxonomy. This included a compliance check against government published taxonomy standards. Based upon the data analysis and authoring processes TFPL defined a community based migration process which included the following steps: Archiving of out-of-date content Metatagging content for migration Adoption of common authoring process TFPL identified a common authoring process for the client which will reduce the complexity of publishing content onto their web-based platform. We were able to provide the client with a more accurate assessment of the effort and complexity of migrating existing content onto the new platform. contact: Alan Flett Global and regional intranet strategy Migration to a Sharepoint portal environment An Executive Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB) with offices in the UK and worldwide, wished to enhance its knowledge management strategy in line with a new regionalised management structure. Their challenge was to: Effectively link Global Community / Corporate/ Regional/ Country intranets Provide a more integrated knowledge management environment Ensure an effective flow of knowledge across the network Create a collaboration framework to enable a new way of cross-team working in a region as well as cross-region Avoid the creation of country/ regional/ departmental silos in the future In collaboration with several client teams, TFPL's approach included: Review impact of new regional management structure on current knowledge management strategy Review and recommend changes to the client’s existing knowledge management strategy Review the clients current document / records management strategy Make recommendations on taxonomy, intranet navigation structure and knowledge management processes Create high-level business requirements for Sharepoint portal The client benefitted from: Creation of a knowledge management strategy which actively supports the new regional operating model Creation of a more collaborative web-based working environment Implementation of a corporate taxonomy and records management contact: Alan Flett Developing knowledge management competencies We worked with the knowledge management team of a global professional services firm to develop a customised competency framework for knowledge managers. The competencies were developed to link into organisation wide general competencies. Grouped into four levels of expertise, the knowledge management competencies will help KM team members structure their personal career development and develop their KM competencies. contact: Val Skelton Developing an information management/records management strategy A government organisation with a need to develop a records management strategy in order to meet the needs of the FOI Act (Scotland) and the related Code of Practice eon Records Management. A network organisation with dispersed offices and functions creating information silos and non standard records management practices. TFPL Advisors carried out a strategic review of information management practices using a mix of focus groups and interviews. The information gathered was used to inform the recommendations for an information strategy and records management programme together with a a high level implementation plan. contact: Martin Sanderson Developing a records management policy A University, which having completed a preliminary information audit required help to develop its records management policy, programme and publication scheme to meet the requirements of the FOI Act (Scotland) and related Code of Practice on Records Management. A TFPL contractor, guided by a TFPL Senior Advisor reviewed the records management practices and systems. Working with the client, TFPL produced a records management policy, and outline programme with action plan. Using the results of the information audit a retention schedule was also delivered and the classes of records mapped to a model publication scheme. contact: Martin Sanderson Defining role specifications for a new information team As part of a massive change programme that aims to improve operational efficiency, this Council recognised that sound information management was the crucial first step towards developing a successful knowledge based organisation. In order to progress this, the Council sought to develop a new Information Management team. We worked with our client to: define the roles required by the new organisation draft role descriptions benchmark salaries. We then worked with the Council to recruit the new team. contact: Val Skelton Information Science and Information Architecture workshops This client wished to respond to staff requests for training in the 'fundamentals' of information science. The requests were made by senior researchers who, although undertaking advanced research on a daily basis, wished to understand the foundations of information science. We worked with the client to identify the key gaps in staff understanding and developed two one-day workshops to meet staff requirements: Foundations of Information Science Foundations of Information Architecture contact: Val Skelton Performance improvement at a local authority We worked with a local authority to help them focus on improving communication across the organisation in order to improve service delivery. Our client was seeking to: break down barriers between its directorates facilitate improved understanding of what each directorate does improve information flows across the organisation ensure that healthy information flows engender excellent performance The project began with the design, delivery and analysis of an electronic questionnaire that was sent to 600 members of staff. The outcomes were discussed with senior level management and an interactive workshop was designed that addressed the key issues raised by the workforce. The workshops were designed to be interactive and participative and were focused on improving organisational communication. After the workshops a second questionnaire went to all the delegates to monitor changes, capture lessons learned and obtain feedback. We then facilitated a half day event with senior managers to share feedback, develop next steps and agree action points. Following on from this project, we worked with our client to develop a communication plan to ensure that key lessons learned and good practice was shared across the organisation. This resulted in the creation of a tabloid style newsletter outlining outcome of the events short ‘tabloid/headline’ influenced paragraphs shared across the organisation an unleashing performance toolkit published on the web which shared the tools and techniques used in the workshops contact: Val Skelton FOI training and development TFPL worked with a County Council to develop and facilitate two FOI training events: a half day training course that was rolled out to 250 front line staff and managers over a period of three months a full day facilitated event for senior managers focused on exemptions and decision making processes We worked with the FOI Policy team to ensure that the training provided part of a blended approach that reflected the Council's own Policy and procedures. Members of the Council's FOI team participated in the workshops as internal experts. The workshops also enabled the Council to identify potential issues and concerns and to address these in advance of implementation. The Council is now in an advanced state of readiness. Our client said: "I wouldn't hesitate to recommend TFPL to any public authority considering undertaking a training programme in respect of FOI" contact: Val Skelton Creating an information skills e-learning programme TFPL worked with a large government department to develop the content for a modular information literacy e-learning programme. The e-learning modules were supported by facilitated sessions and a network of coaching and tutor support. Called 'Analytical Thinking', the learning was designed to help the users: identify information needs find appropriate information analyse the information construct and analyse arguments present conclusions contact: Val Skelton Developing a competency focused knowledge team Working with a new team created following an organisational merger, TFPL undertook an intensive project to: review and define the roles that existed within the knowledge management team at the client define the competencies required for each role benchmark the salaries for comparable roles and skills levels in the marketplace provide insight into areas where the team may wish to develop its capability The project consisted of the following stages: Preparation - including preparatory meetings with both knowledge management and HR representatives from the client. Workshops - several two-hour workshops were held with participants grouped with ‘contemporaries’ where possible. The goals of these workshops were: to collect as much information as possible from the participants about how they defined the primary purpose and objectives of their role and the skills they needed to perform this role effectively. This information was then used by TFPL to create a first iteration of a role description. One-to-one meetings - each knowledge management team member then participated in a one-to-one discussion in which the role description was further refined, and roles were reviewed in more detail. Role descriptions development – finalised role descriptions were drafted and each role was linked to the required competencies Salary benchmarking – the roles were benchmarked by TFPL against pertinent market data using similar role types in the market place and considering market conditions. The process produced the expected salary level for such roles, and also the costs of recruiting equivalent staff from the open market. This data was further refined after the role descriptions had been grouped Competency dictionary – competency definitions to support development were refined and edited following input from participants. Deliverables competency based and outcome focused role descriptions for all team members, including recommended new job titles. salary benchmarking data outlining value and replacement values for all roles identification of competency gaps within the team with recommendations for future training and development programmes In addition, the project process built trust across the newly formed team and gave all participants the opportunity to contribute their ideas and concerns to its development. contact: Val Skelton Knowledge management briefings for senior executives TFPL worked with the Knowledge Manager of this public sector organisation to outline and develop the appropriate content for two lunchtime briefing meetings aimed specifically at capturing the 'hearts and minds' of senior management. By working with the internal champions, we were able to ensure that a shared understanding and language was agreed by the senior team. A solid foundation for future development was established. contact: Val Skelton Knowledge management strategy implementation We worked with this client to develop and facilitate a participative workshop that would be rolled out in the UK, Europe and the US. The objectives of the workshop programme were to: explore ways in which knowledge sharing were already taking place around the organisation consider the barriers and enablers for knowledge sharing identify the skills that are needed to help embed knowledge sharing in everyday work identify the skills that make knowledge sharing successful and rewarding We also undertook to identify a new guest speaker for every workshop and to ensure that lessons were learnt from knowledge leaders in other organisations as well as those within the client. contact: Val Skelton Redefining information and library services for a knowledge environment This review was commissioned by the Information and Library Service of a Government Agency, operating on multiple sites across England. Key drivers for the review were the goal of the ILS team to increase the value that they delivered to the organisation: the organisation’s increased focus on the need to optimise the use of its own knowledge and to build on its experience; the importance of individual learning to organisational performance; and an increasing emphasis on the Intranet as ‘the’ information resource for staff. The project process was based on the identification of new roles for the ILS as a key component of a knowledge-based organisation, validating the needs for these roles in workshops and interviews, and using a questionnaire to assess the value of current services as well as the interest in new information products. The outcomes of the work have been two fold – firstly, the need for integration of the ILS with other groups to create a Knowledge Services team - and secondly, several opportunities for information and library skills to support the organisation’s activity more directly. Current ILS services were confirmed as essential with opportunities identified for outsourcing some of these. The new Knowledge Services team will be responsible for the organisation’s information architecture, information classification and standards, records management, the external information supply chain, scanning and alerting services that directly contribute to business processes, and specialised information research services. The team will sit at the heart of a wider network of information champions across the organisation. The new direction will build a platform of information skills, systems and processes that will facilitate the capturing and sharing of both external and internal information. It will also provide the organisation with the core expertise required to develop its information governance agenda and will drive education for good information management. contact: Vivienne Winterman Building a taxonomy for a public body TFPL designed from scratch a taxonomy to support navigation and search on a new Intranet in the process of being installed. The work included ensuring that the front-end user taxonomy was compatible with both the taxonomy for use by authors in document creation and indexing and the content management metadata set. TFPL worked closely with systems developers, both those within the client department and the external software house; the users of the Intranet were also closely involved in the development of terms. The work is continuing, as the Intranet and portal is rolled out and consideration begins with regard to Extranet design. Another factor is the compatibility with the Office of the e-Envoy’s metadata standards initiative, including the Government Category List. contact: Alan Flett Developing an information strategy for a law firm This was a comprehensive information audit of a London based, medium sized law firm. The project looked at all aspects of the fee earners’ information requirements (including non-legal information used for marketing and business development), the role of support staff and attitudes to knowledge sharing and co-operative working. The investigation combined a questionnaire with interviews and a benchmarking survey of the firm’s library service. The recommendations from the findings were translated into a knowledge and information strategy that dealt with, amongst other things, the management of internally generated ‘know-how’, the use of professional support lawyers and the role of support staff, including secretaries, in information finding and management. contact: Guy Johnson Managing and utilising corporate memory in a research organisation Records management in the context of wider knowledge and information management issues A research organisation recognised that good records and knowledge management is essential to improve its knowledge base so that learning and information can be shared to good effect across the various projects and with its clients. Starting from a situation of high volumes of predominantly paper-based records held in silos across the organisation, with little standardisation in records management systems and processes, the organisation engaged TFPL to diagnose the issues and design and implement way forward. Using a series of interviews, focus groups, web questionnaires and process assessments, TFPL carried out an extensive review of the current information management and practices together with an extensive inventory of the records held by the company. The findings were used to highlight the many issues and to recommend options for a records and knowledge management strategy. A detailed records management programme was designed and delivered. TFPL created core record lifecycle elements (retention schedules, metadata frameworks, etc) and mentored new records management staff. An action plan was created and rolled out to the organisation via facilitated events (“de-dupe and “throw away” days) and tactical engagements to identify, complete, capture and scan critical information collections. TFPL associates were employed in an interim management capacity to help the company to implement the recommended strategies. TFPL also recruited the key staff to deliver this initiative. The process and capability put in place by TFPL ensured the organisation was better able to manage an office relocation and to continue to deliver high value research to a growing client base. contact: Martin Sanderson back to top