Why New KM Initiatives Need To Be Simple or People Won’t Stay Engaged
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 4:59 am
APQC recently talked to Adil Ahmed, Director, Information Architecture and Knowledge Systems at the Bristow Group, about the KM program the Bristow Group launched in 2012 to improve team collaboration, expertise location, content management, and employee engagement.
Adil will be leading a breakout session Taking Flight: Evolution of Knowledge Systems at Bristow Group during the 2015 APQC Knowledge Management Conference April 30 —May 1.
APQC: When building tools and processes for team collaboration, what is the most important thing to do first?
Adil: There are several dimensions to how people work together and collaborate. Company culture, geography, industry practices, team dynamics, and individual demographic factors contribute to how people collaborate. It is important to first understand context: what business outcomes necessitate knowledge sharing, how do individual employees benefit from kenya mobile numbers list collaboration, what processes are already in place, and are they perceived to be working well? For example, within the aviation industry it takes pilots, ground crew, and engineers working closely together to fly safely and without unplanned downtime – something we built upon as we developed collaboration services.
APQC: What makes a virtual collaboration tool engaging, and how do you get people to start using a new one?
Adil: Our approach to this can be summarized in one word: simplicity. Simplicity applies at many levels to tools and processes. Starting with the user experience, simplicity goes a long way to enable adoption and engagement. For instance, cluttered menus and multi-layered navigation are an immediate turnoff for employees who are accustomed to using elegant consumer technology. Having to switch context unnecessarily for routine tasks is another way to disengage users – enabling features in the flow is always better. User engagement cannot be an afterthought; it has to be baked into the design, implementation, and support processes from the start.
APQC: Bristow Group has rolled out a range of KM tools over the past two years. What was your implementation plan, and did you do anything to prevent people from getting overwhelmed?
Adil will be leading a breakout session Taking Flight: Evolution of Knowledge Systems at Bristow Group during the 2015 APQC Knowledge Management Conference April 30 —May 1.
APQC: When building tools and processes for team collaboration, what is the most important thing to do first?
Adil: There are several dimensions to how people work together and collaborate. Company culture, geography, industry practices, team dynamics, and individual demographic factors contribute to how people collaborate. It is important to first understand context: what business outcomes necessitate knowledge sharing, how do individual employees benefit from kenya mobile numbers list collaboration, what processes are already in place, and are they perceived to be working well? For example, within the aviation industry it takes pilots, ground crew, and engineers working closely together to fly safely and without unplanned downtime – something we built upon as we developed collaboration services.
APQC: What makes a virtual collaboration tool engaging, and how do you get people to start using a new one?
Adil: Our approach to this can be summarized in one word: simplicity. Simplicity applies at many levels to tools and processes. Starting with the user experience, simplicity goes a long way to enable adoption and engagement. For instance, cluttered menus and multi-layered navigation are an immediate turnoff for employees who are accustomed to using elegant consumer technology. Having to switch context unnecessarily for routine tasks is another way to disengage users – enabling features in the flow is always better. User engagement cannot be an afterthought; it has to be baked into the design, implementation, and support processes from the start.
APQC: Bristow Group has rolled out a range of KM tools over the past two years. What was your implementation plan, and did you do anything to prevent people from getting overwhelmed?