Knowledge Management is no more a fad. Many organizations now have a better understanding of it, particularly the benefits that can be derived. However, I have noticed that it is still perceived to be a complex practice to implement. There is a quest to figure out what to do and how to do it and fast.

Here I offer not a general answer or one suitable for any particular organization, but rather my own endeavour and observations from one of my assignments, where I aggressively experimented with and adapted the Knowledge Management processes as I worked on the specifics of my tasks.

In an assignment with the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, where my stint was short yet significant because of the strategic nature of the work, I needed to ensure that the ‘body of the work’ is shared while in progress, accessible to stakeholders at all times and development on it continued even after the ‘short’ stint.

Hence from the beginning, I decided to put up my work on the organization’s LAN (which was also accessible from outside with appropriate authentication) using Drupal – an Open Source Content Management System.

Drupal provided an easy and quick way to set up the interface and allowed sharing of relevant documents in a convenient manner.

I named the interface ‘Assignment Dashboard: Technology Architecture and Standards’ based on the actual content of the work. It contained the Terms of Reference (ToR), work plan, progress reports, references/resources and the outputs.

I understand that having it there was just a tiny part of the process, but seeing it being used was the real treat!