Do you wish to:

• Become better informed about knowledge management?
• Start applying knowledge management, but are you unsure where and how to start?
• Consciously and effectively learn to apply knowledge management with the aim to improve the business operations?
• Improve the knowledge management within your organization, but are you unsure of what successes and stumbling blocks you may encounter?
• Uncover and repair knowledge gaps and blind spots within your organization?
• Control the progress of knowledge management and be able to spot improvements in that area?
• Demonstrate the importance of knowledge management to the board of directors of your organization?

If you have answered “Yes” to one or more of the questions above, the Knowledge BluePrint is just the solution for you. The KBP is the basis from which you, together with one of the consultants of the Square Consulting Group, analyze the organization from a knowledge point of view.

Determining the starting point

If you want to introduce something new, implement changes or review an existing process, it is essential that you first determine the starting point. Where are we and where do we want to be?

Only then is it possible to clearly define the road that leads you to your goal. The Knowledge BluePrint is an instrument developed by the Square Consulting Group that allows you to measure and record the current state of affairs. Over eight hundred questions divided over eight topics, cover the entire field of knowledge management. The KBP is a compilation of the practical experience and expertise of the knowledge consultants.

One of our knowledge consultants will go through the entire KBP (or part of it) together with the responsible manager (or team) within your organization. Due to the interactive approach and the background information supplied, the KBP questions will be interpreted from the point of view of your organization and thereby be placed in the appropriate context.

The Knowledge BluePrint:

1. Looks at the organization from a knowledge point of view;
2. Provides insight into the elements that knowledge management comprises of;
3. Requires careful thought with regard to knowledge management within your organization;
4. Provides insight into the current position of your organization with regard to knowledge management;
5. Provides insight into the goals your organization wants to attain;
6. Provides insight into what you (and your organization) designate as important items;
7. Uncovers existing differences between insight and experience;
8. Provides insight into which steps should be taken first;
9. Serves as a sounding board;
10. Offers the possibility of both partial decisions and a bird’s eye view;
11. Recognizes the strong (knowledge) points within your organization;
12. Provides insight into which departments would benefit most;
13. Forms the basis for an organization that wants to start implementing knowledge management;
14. Is used as a measuring instrument for organizations that have already implemented knowledge management;
15. Is used as a control instrument in the sense that it supports the decision making process.

The results of the Knowledge BluePrint are visualized in an Infonogram, which at a glance displays the strong knowledge areas and areas in need of improvement. The results of the KPB can be supplemented with your and our views and will, together with the recommendations, be presented in a report.

This report gives you an integral view of the learning capacity of your organization and offers you a guideline to develop and succesfully implement an active knowledge management policy. The information provided by you will naturally be treated strictly confidentially.

The Knowledge BluePrint covers the eight major areas of knowledge management that need to be in balance with each other to be able to reach optimal results.

Determining the state of affairs within the organization

Chances are that you, as the knowledge manager, base your views on presumptions that do not reflect reality. To ensure a good start the Square Consulting Group can, possibly in co-operation with you, create a shortened version of the Knowledge BluePrint that can be used to collect information on either different levels within the organization (teams, departments or units) or the entire organization.
This will result in a clear view of reality which needs to be taken into account when implementing knowledge management within the organization. Since reality should always be the starting point, it is essential that beforehand this reality is defined as clearly as possible.

What is next?

After the analysis of the Knowledge BluePrint, we will present the results and recommendations in a report which will be discussed with you. Probably some specific work processes will need to be studied in greater detail, after which the Square Consulting Group will propose further actions. This proposal will be transformed into an action plan which will be presented to your organization. If desired, the Square Consulting Group can further assist you during this process.