Managing Knowledge in Project Environments

Managing Knowledge in Project Environments illustrates how the trouble with knowledge management is that it can mean anything from documents and data systems to managing ideas. This confusion is exacerbated in a project environment where managers work on deliverables or goals and rarely have time for knowledge; the ’not invented here’ syndrome makes some project managers reticent to adopt general knowledge management practice; and where there is a tendency to use templates, tools and registers to write things down with little thought for their context or subsequent application. To overcome this challenge, the authors present Knowledge Management (KM) as a series of principles, choices and contextual factors - providing readers with a framework for understanding and thinking about what KM means for their context: their projects, their organisations and their working environment. Interest is growing in projects as complex, social systems; skills such as sensemaking and searching online for information; and in online communities, virtual teams and social networking. Knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and learning take place in complex human systems. Managing Knowledge in Project Environments connects all these emerging aspects of project management and offers those working on projects a definitive short guide to the subject.

Judy Payne is a consultant, practitioner, facilitator, reluctant academic and educator specialising in KM, collaborative working and learning. Through her company, Hemdean Consulting, Judy works with public, private and third sector organisations to improve their management of knowledge and help them achieve their strategic goals; and with universities to develop online degree programmes. Judy has been a Director of CIRIA, the highly-regarded Construction Industry Research and Information Association, and a Director of Henley Business School’s KM Forum. She co-founded and Chairs the APM Knowledge SIG and is on a mission to help members of the project management community become great knowledge managers. Adrian Malone is a Director at Faithful+Gould, Atkins Group, with responsibility for Building Information Modelling (BIM) and KM. Adrian has 20 years’ experience working in the construction industry. He is a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Technology Steering Group and the RICS Global BIM Working Group, and is an RICS Certified BIM Manager. Adrian is a founding committee member of the APM Knowledge SIG and has a master’s degree in Information Systems. Steve SImister is Director of the project and programme management group at Henley Business School and a consultant in project, programme and portfolio management. Steve sits on both the BSI and ISO committees for project and programme management. Steve is a founding committee member of the APM Knowledge SIG.