Methodology
Knowledge Harvesting® is
an interview-based methodology for extracting tacit/implicit knowledge from
experts. The implicit-to-explicit process has been
refined across a wide variety of processes, functions, industries,
geographies and cultures. There are seven modules in the methodology. Each module is a complete learning program with guidance and support for implementing knowledge harvesting in your organization:
- Focus
helps you identify the knowledge in your organization that is most urgent
and important to capture.
- Find provides guidance on locating experts and your existing support
information.
- Elicit shows you how to conduct effective harvesting sessions.
- Organize instructs you on how to make sense of the information collected
through interviews and documents. In this stage, you identify patterns and
organize the knowledge into logical groups of support information and
guidance.
- During Package, you determine the best vehicle for
packaging the knowledge so that it can be transferred to others. You
determine how best to apply the know-how.
- Evaluate provides tools and guidance
for measuring the effectiveness of the knowledge asset.
- Adapt provides tools and guidance for adapting harvesting results to better meet the emerging needs of target learners.

History
The Knowledge Harvesting® methodology originated in a company called LearnerFirst, which focused on individual learning. It was first-to-market with commercial products that packaged top performers' knowledge into learning-while-doing software applications.
| 1992 |
Pioneered a new genre of commercial software applications – “learning-while-doing” software. Sold applications to over 4,000 organizations. |
| 1995 |
Produced custom learning systems and applications for large organizations. |
| 1996 |
Began extensively to document how to make tacit knowledge explicit. |
| 1998 |
Mentored knowledge management professionals who work in innovative companies. |
| 2000 |
Globally deployed Knowledge Harvesting methodology via professional consultants. |
| 2002 |
Delivered Knowledge Harvesting Kits which enabled business functions, departments and teams to effectively capture and leverage vital knowledge. |
| 2004 |
Integrated Knowledge Harvesting into an enterprise-wide, knowledge retention program. |
Typically, client projects are related to strategic issues of knowledge architecture, knowledge capture and reuse, integral thinking, or product research and development.
Licensing
Individual and enterprise licenses are available.
Application
Knowledge Harvesting has successfully been applied in thousands of sessions
with top performers in all kinds of work processes such as:
- Determine customer
needs and wants. Predict customer purchasing behavior. Determine
weaknesses of product/service offerings. Identify new innovations that
are meeting customer needs.
- Monitor the external
environment and translate issues into action – such as competition,
economic trends, political and regulatory issues, new technology
innovations, social and cultural changes, and ecological concerns.
- Define the business
concept and organizational strategy by selecting relevant markets and
formulating business unit strategy. Design the organizational structure
and the relationships between organizational units.
- Develop or refine
product/service concept and plans. Translate customer wants and needs
into product and/or service requirements. Develop and integrate leading
technology into product/service concept.
- Develop pricing and advertising strategies.
- Define skills
requirements. Identify and schedule resources to meet service
requirements.
- Cascade strategy to
work level. Analyze, design, or redesign work. Define work
competencies. Restructure the work force.
- Plan for information
resource management. Derive requirements from business strategies. Plan, establish, and evaluate systems security strategies, controls.
Manage information services.
- Manage financial
resources and resource allocations. Develop budgets.
- Ensure compliance
with environmental regulations.
- Repair, troubleshoot and diagnose faulty equipment.
- Benchmark
performance. Conduct quality assessment.
- Implement knowledge management. Implement total quality management.
Improve processes and systems. Measure organization performance.
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