Expose Your Knowledge, Avoid the Competence Crisis

It happens in any organization: people leave. Sometimes there is a great loss to the organization when folks move on. The career administrator who "knows where all the bodies are buried" also knows in detail how the organization runs and why. The new hire may be schooled in all the latest techniques and technology but doesn't know the organization like the old hand. Circumstances often dictate little or no transition period with both employees on board, and a wealth of institutional knowledge can be lost. Just about everything the newbie needs to know is locked in a file cabinet or five, and it's a big task just to figure out what's there. The alternative is to spend months re-integrating the team, and no one wants that.

There's a two-stage process to resolve this dilemma. Stage one is to dust off those file cabinets and scan everything. The difficulty here is setting aside the space, time, and personnel to scan. High-speed scanners are expensive and take training; interns have low motivation to produce volume or quality. Since no one is using those files anyway, let a pro cart them off, scan the documents, and destroy the files (or return them if you have to keep them). Scanning will happen in record time, and you don't have to reorganize your office around the activity. Do this yearly if you have to.

Stage two is all SharePoint. Upload the searchable files and let the administrator tag the ones that are important. Let the whole team loose if you want to. Add in electronic files like emails and Word docs, and you'll start to paint a complete picture. Then submit cross-references and comments about the documents. Do a review of a program as a wiki, linking your files throughout. Now you have a knowledge repository that will bring new people up to speed quickly or crosstrain existing employees. This is an easy way to minimize the disruption of job changes and keep productivity high.