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Organizational Learning and Organizational Memory 389

Box 11.5
(continued)

• Work with IM/IT personnel and librarians in your department to choose your codifi ca-
tion methods, information management software, and retrieval tools.
• Encourage/facilitate strong CoPs to help disseminate tacit knowledge into the
organization.
• Reward knowledge sharing.
• Involve retiring SMEs in the writing of their job descriptions and the selection of suc-
cessors wherever possible.
• Provide extensive hands-on support to individual managers and management team.
The Transport Canada knowledge transfer toolkit consists of the following key
components:
Stakeholder maps Identify internal and external interactions with stakeholders and part-
ners — personal and professional networks of SMEs
Knowledge maps Conceptual representation of job tasks, key resources, how to obtain and
reuse knowledge, and a summary of SME expertise
Task support systems Online tools to support specifi c processes and info needed to com-
plete specifi c tasks — glossaries, demos, templates, references, resource lists, case studies,
simulations, computer based training (CBT) modules
Dashboard Single stop shop, customized work tools to hold knowledge maps, stakeholder
maps, task support systems, and other information such as answers to frequently asked
questions (FAQs), relevant legislation and regulations, a calendar of events, scholarly
articles, recent news, and useful tools
Transport Canada found that it was necessary to address both explicit and tacit knowl-
edge. They found that IT worked best for explicit knowledge, while CoPs worked best for
tacit knowledge.
Other best practices included:
• Hire successors before incumbent leaves, if possible, to establish mentoring
relationship.
• Include knowledge transfer (KT) in results-based management and accountability frame-
work (RMAF).
• Document lessons learned, best practices, decisions made — include as much context as
possible (include the why ’ s, the justifi cation, why alternatives were discarded).
• Focus on intellectual capital.
• Be proactive — do not wait until key people retire.
• Promote intergenerational knowledge sharing (under 35, 35 – 45, and over 45) through
communities of practice.