Difference between revisions of "Continuous improvement"
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[[File:Plan_check_do_act.png|500px|thumb|Fig 1 Plan-Do-Check-Act]] | [[File:Plan_check_do_act.png|500px|thumb|Fig 1 Plan-Do-Check-Act]] | ||
Revision as of 07:30, 2 April 2014
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Definition
Continuous improvement is A recurring activity to enhance performance
Summary
Continuous improvement is an iterative process, forming a loop between analyzing the performance of the current KM and finding root causes for errors, learning how to improve the knowledge processes involved, and implementing the necessary changes for improvement into KM. A learning organization with an appropriate organizational culture forms a strong basis for effective continuous improvement.
Description
The simplest form of continuous improvement is ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’-cycle which is illustrated in Fig 1.
Knowledge management implies dynamic, continuous activities which affect day-to-day work. Once implemented in an organization, a subsequent advancement and continuous improvement of KM is essential for an organization to avoid repetition of errors, improve current practices and develop new ones, in order to maintain competitiveness and to achieve the flexibility to quickly respond and adapt to changes in its operating environment. The process of continuous improvement is an iterative one, forming a loop between analyzing the performance of the current KM and finding root causes for errors, learning how to improve the knowledge processes involved, and implementing the necessary changes for improvement into KM. Continuous improvement is not specific to KM, but involves all other management systems as well, and may be regarded as an indispensable process for an integrated management system.
For continuous improvement in KM to be effective, some requirements have to be met:
- Clear KM strategies must exist, forming targets against which performance can be assessed
- An organizational culture which permits admission of errors, and free feedback from people pointing out deficiencies or possibilities of improving knowledge processes
- An open-minded, not defensive, managerial approach to assure that lessons are continually learned and improvements continually made
- Mechanisms must be in place permitting to learn from past experience, e.g. lessons-learned or self-assessments, as well as supporting the transition from individual learning to organizational learning (the "Learning organization")
The assessment of the KM performance need not happen at fix points in time, e.g. in form auf audits, but may occur in continuous fashion. As with other management processes, suggestions for improving the process from all people involved in these processes should be considered continuously, and outstanding suggestions rewarded. Discussion boards or improvement proposal lists in a corporate portal are popular IT tools supporting the continuous improvement processes.
More formal processes of learning from past experience may be required, when safety is at stake, e.g. in NPP's. Operating experience systems are suitable mechanisms to report, capture, assess, and correct organizational failures or short-comings.
References
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