In looking for additional information on "low-tech KM," I came across the Ohio Heartland Chapter of the International Society of Performance Improvement (OHIPSI) event summary, What about a Knowledge Management System for You? (February 2005). The summary does a nice job of describing the problem and what people need to consider when designing "low-tech" systems.
This is the last day of my KM class, and I wanted to talk about no-tech and low-tech approaches to knowledge management. The main idea is that it is too easy to talk about technology when discussing KM, so why not talk about things people / organizations can do that don't require (additional) technology. Some examples of pieces that can be low-tech:
- lessons learned / after action reviews / narrative
- modeling
- baseline social network analysis
- smart use of email
- mind mapping
- personal effectiveness / personal KM
- anything to do with culture
Clearly, knowledge management isn't about the technology. It's about adding value to the organization through its knowledge. Or another definition: "The purpose of knowledge management is to enhance organizational performance by explicitly designing and implementing tools, processes, systems, structures and cultures to improve the creation, sharing and use of ... knowledge that [is] critical for decision making." (De Long & Fahey, "Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management," The Academy of Management Executive, Nov 2000, pg 113ff.)