Knowledge Audits - Do you 'know what you know'?

The best way to find out 'what you know' - and to evaluate the importance of it to your business interests, organizational aspirations and personal aims - is to carry out a Knowledge Audit.

A Knowledge Audit is a thorough investigation of your organisation's knowledge needs, knowledge assets and knowledge flow.

It will identify existing knowledge and information resources, and clarify how, why and by whom they are used. It will also highlight information that is not being used! A Knowledge Audit will discover highly valuable knowledge assets as well as 'knowledge gaps', or duplicated, redundant, or out-dated knowledge. Identifying both strengths and weaknesses is crucial when attempting to extract greater value from your organisation's specific knowledge resources.

A Knowledge Audit can be a first step to:

• Increasing performance by improving access to crucial information and knowledge, thereby enabling key decisions to be made quickly and efficiently.
• Making savings in time and money by basing new projects on a bank of 'acquired and proven' knowledge, rather than starting each project from scratch or buying in the knowledge from external sources.

A Knowledge Audit is not a 'one-size-fits-all' product but must be tailored to your particular circumstances.

To find out how a Knowledge Audit can be carried out in the context of your organization, team, partnership or alliance contact us for a discussion.