A proven methodology for protecting
your organization from brain drain.

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.