Archive for the ‘knowledge management’ Category
Your trade secrets? I don’t think so.
This post serves to present a case for buying locally and offers a buy beware:
I just had a tail-spin conversation with a company by the name of Egumbull. I am representing Mr. Collins, a 18-year small business owner of an auto shop in Durham, North Carolina. He is located on one of the most heaviest traffic intersections in they city. After explaining to Mr. Collins that I show small businesses how to improve their SEO using Google products that are free to them and how to make their branding more consistent, he asked me to Google the phrase “auto repair.” He did not show up.
Mr. Collins, a well read, slow spoken man from Orange County, North Carolina describes himself as a “country boy.” Tonight he told me, “I know I’m country, they just don’t know that.” As Mr. Collins said “they” he pointed to the phone’s receiver.
Mr. Collins owns Collins Exxon, is a busy mechanic, 48, and trying to understand social media.
After slowing down, and listening to Mr. Collins, I was able to understand that Mr. Collins paid for a service to boost his SEO and needed his contract to know why his business name wasn’t showing up in Google. He had agreed to pay $155.00 for 12-months and needed some answers. Mr. Collins also needed way to see monthly progress.
In exchange for changing the air-filters on my car, I agreed to sit in on a call with Mr. Collins, representing him as his communications person, with the Californian company he is paying to improve his SEO. The work he performed, at what I was quoted equates to my regular small business rate. Not a bad barter.
The California “dudes,” not understanding his slow, country-boy, southern accent, rushed Mr. Collins as he tried to explain himself. I patiently waited while Mr. Collins explained his problem in every detail to the impatient customer service reps. After they bounced him around, I offered to handle the call. I explained to the reps Mr. Collins did not have a copy of his contract and would like to understand what he is paying for.
After the reps picked up on my online communication and social media savvy, they grew suspicious. I simply went through the routine of asking questions. Questions facilitate conversation.
Egumbull, already accused of scamming businesses according to Ripoff Report, accused me of wanting their trade secrets. I don’t think so. I know I have a model that works. I am very confident in it.
After what I went through tonight, Egumbull, you helped confirm my model works. You didn’t take time to listen, nor to communicate. Furthermore, I witnessed you treat Mr. Collins, your customer, very poorly. You hung up on him multiple times, bounced him around and made snide remarks. The “customer service” was simply deplorable.
To SEO companies: work with small businesses in regions where you understand the language and vernacular of the people. You aren’t helping small businesses succeed by not understanding their communication needs, you’re hurting them — in the pocket.
To small businesses: do not hire “SEO consultants” who are not from your region, nor take the time to listen to your true business needs. Make sure the company you choose will communicate in your language in real time. If you communicate best with a consultant at a coffee shop, in your hair shop, or in your auto repair shop, hire them. Hire a consultant that will listen to what you want to accomplish with your business.
Choose a consultant that will help you realize your dreams. Hire consultants that will educate you in social media, teach you how to use it, how their children use it, how their customers use it and then, how networking helps bring people into your store. Do not trust consultants that will just say “they’ll increase your SEO and get you topped ranked in Google, here’s a pen, sign this contract.” Lastly, choose consultants with a positive reputation and track record. All my business is based on referrals.
I believe in small business, and I believe in free Google products for small businesses. I believe in communication and I believe in the beauty of words.
I don’t need your trade secrets.
I grew up on the West Coast (from Portland, Oregon) and spent many summers in Orange County, California.
After spending six years in North Carolina, I am continuously learning how to COMMUNICATE with people in the southeast. This is a must for me because I am choosing to grow my business here. To add, I made a choice to Marry Durham.
I am very invested in the local economy — I am choosing to grow a consultancy that helps elevate small businesses by telling their stories and their rich histories in the best electronic communication format that will reach the customers they serve.
Today, I sat in Mr. Collins shop to get an understanding of his client base. I watched a video he took and uploaded to YouTube of people playing the blues and making fun of Elvis in his auto shop. What other auto shop have you been to where you can sit and listen to blues live?
Your can see videos of Mr. Collins’ church services and a basketball team he coaches. This is a small business owner and a community member that can benefit most from a someone who truly understands the community and small business owners’ needs.
Communities of Practice: the missing link for KM on implementation issues in low-income countries?
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Communities of Practice: the missing link for KM on implementation issues in low-income countries?
The implementation of policies remains a huge challenge in many low-income countries. Several factors play a role in this, but improper management of existing knowledge is no doubt a major issue. In this article, the authors argue that new platforms should be created that gather all stakeholders who hold pieces of relevant knowledge for successful policies. To build their case, they capitalize on experience in their domain of practice, health care financing in sub-Saharan Africa. They recently adopted a community of practice strategy in the region. More in general, they consider the platforms as the way forward for knowledge management of implementation issues.
Knowledge Management for Data Use and Decision Making in International Public Health
“Knowledge Management for Data Use and Decision Making in International Public Health” captures strategies that facilitate sharing knowledge, building skills and using data for decision making. This topic paper is intended for international health program managers and researchers whose role includes a communication or knowledge management component.
Anna Schurmann, Lisa Mwaikambo, and I examine ways in which knowledge management can increase engagement between research, policy-making and public health practice to close such gaps. We base our understanding on the notion that improved knowledge sharing will lead to wider understanding, enhanced cooperation, more effective use of good practices and better health outcomes. KM is important as it can provide cost-effective ways to access knowledge and engagement between different stakeholders—therefore making knowledge sharing more possible.
Examples of communication platforms used as part of larger KM strategies presented in this paper come from organizations such as Nike Foundation, Measurement, Learning and Evaluation project, USAID, WHO, Population Reference Bureau, Intrahealth, K4Health, AIDSTAR-One, MEASURE Evaluation and many others.
About the Authors:
Anna Schurmann
A maternal and reproductive health consultant.
Leah D. Gordon
Lisa Mwaikambo
innovation comes from social scenes
Illustration: Jason Holley
“…innovation comes from social scenes, from passionate and connected groups of people” said Kevin Kelly in a September 2010 conversation with Wired on “Where Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation.”
we often think of innovation as the result of one idea by one genius, however an idea can be thought of as connections in our brains and among people – the result of ecologies and networks, kelly explains.
as a knowledge management strategist and supporter of communities of practice in both the private sector and in global health, i find this conversation fascinating as the term “innovation” has just about become a “buzz” word. this article redefines innovation and forces me to recall the birthplace of a ideas so they may be used to improve practice.
social innovation has afforded small business owners the ability to engage with whom they serve like never before. the social web provides an opportunity to create a community around your product or service. the community of people surrounding your product or service makes your offering greater. without the people, without the ecological framework of ideas, how much can you improve on your own?
engage, my friend. make connections. innovate.
real-time communications for an international audience
i recently returned from an international workshop held in beautiful guanajuato, mexico. my role was to advise the the international non-governmental organization (ngo) hosting the workshop on their knowledge management and communications strategy.
this ngo has a network that reaches 920+. only 100 people were able to attend the workshop due to space limitations. the network is particularly global, reaching health information specialists on every continent working to improve health systems for their local populations.
prior to submitting my strategy, i was aware the ngo was planning to give its website a facelift, provide more up-to-date information and incorporate a blog. their primary means for keeping in touch with their network is via a listserv that hosts very lively discussion and debate on health information system related topics almost quarterly.
the strategy
for this workshop in particular, the ngo wanted to keep everyone in the network abreast of each day’s events and discussions. in the knowledge management proposal i wanted to ensure information reached the network in a timely, readable, non-hassle manner for those in remote and low-bandwidth locations.
the strategy focused on knowledge distribution, knowledge preservation, and knowledge delivery. here’s an excerpt from the knowledge management strategy proposed:
knowledge distribution
usaid’s k4health 2009 health information needs assessment (pdf, 1.15mb) surveyed health professionals whose job functions include program manager, service provider, technical advisor, teacher/trainer, researcher/evaluator. Of the 90% percent of respondents which work in low and middle income countries, over 50% never use video conferencing software. email is the most commonly used technology used to communicate with other professionals in different locations.
knowledge preservation
tacit knowledge will be shared and captured through the use of powerpoints and documents (tacit made explicit). preserving the knowledge shared at the 2010 workshop will provide historical reference for HIS experts and practitioners. use of appropriate communication technologies will promote knowledge sharing and preservation from the 2010 workshop.
knowledge delivery
communication technology must be used to share knowledge and connect non-attendees to the workshop as it is happening. employing appropriate communication technology will achieve [the ngo's] desire to engage its audience virtually.
everything i proposed was agreed upon, and off i went to guanajuato, mexico with less than two weeks for planning!
information communication technologies used.
listserv
i used the listserv the ngo already had in place. it is the most expected form of communication the recipients rely upon.
website
the daily reports sent to the listserv where mirrored on the ngo’s website to start moving towards their goal of keeping up-to-date, blog style information on the homepage of their site.
slideshare.net
slideshare was instrumental in making presentations available in an accessible format for people across the world. the “youtube” for powerpoints standardized the files and compressed them for easy viewing. uploading was a bit of a hassle though, it took hours to upload some of the larger files, just to find out there was an error in uploading. after converting the larger files to .pdf, the uploading was almost a breeze. if i was in another country with not-so-mature connectivity, uploading to slideshare would have been almost impossible. further planning ahead would be necessary to have presentations uploaded state-side.
photobucket
along with many others, i used simple point-and-shoot digital cameras throughout the meeting. photos were taken, uploaded to my laptop and posted to photobucket. after correcting lighting and red-eye issues in picassa, the upload process was seamless. the bulk uploader function in picassa really helped get photos posted quickly and efficiently. they were easily viewable by professionals off-site and in other countries and gave them the ability to see the participants engagement and activities daily.
youtube
i interviewed about three people everyday, asking them what messages they took away from speeches, activities, and what they felt about the workshop as a whole. i used my snazy little flip video cam. i attempted to upload to photobucket using the video upload feature, then youtube but experiences were a huge pain. once i got stateside, i uploaded to youtube and of course, it was a breeze.
people
i know people are not technically a technology, but they are integral in the communication process (of course). i organized rapporteurs to report daily on events and discussions since i could not be in every place at one time. the notes from rapporteurs will also be incorporated into the final workshop report to preserve knowledge from the 2010 workshop.
a joint press release was written with the co-hosting organization’s communications person to and submitted to local and national press.
wrap-up
this entire process was not quite the live conference blogging that is becoming more and more popular in the developed world, but confirms the desire by people around the world to have up-to-date almost real-time information to stay engaged and involved, although they are not present at the event. the organizing team received high praises from around the world and many thanks for keeping them up to date although they were unable to attend. they got to follow developments in the health information system world, cutting edge discussions and tools to improve their own health systems locally.
improving global health by employing knowledge mangement
knowledge management functions can and should be applied among public health practitioners in developing countries to help improve their practice. in this paper, i encourage programs to create connections with similar programs so that health workers can exchange best practices and lessons learned.
