The management of an information system (SI) project, such as an ERP project, relies heavily on the availability of human resources.
Knowledge Management or KM is a fundamental process that consists of using existing knowledge and acquiring new knowledge to achieve project objectives.
In an IT project environment, where the approach requires continuity within the project team , the project manager must implement an active strategy to ensure the sustainability of knowledge and prevent the project from being compromised.
The risk of the single expert and knowledge flight
Knowledge is divided into two main categories: explicit knowledge (easily codifiable through words or documents) and tacit knowledge (personal, difficult to express, residing in the experience and the "savoir-faire" of experts).
The "single expert" trap occurs when the project is excessively dependent on this tacit knowledge held by a single individual or a small group.
This risk is considerably aggravated by several factors inherent to projects:
Frequent renewal of project team staff:
An increasingly mobile and temporary workforce necessitates a more rigorous process for knowledge transfer. The project manager must anticipate the risk induced by the flight of knowledge or savoir-faire, particularly accentuated by the retirement of numerous generations and the increase in personnel turnover.
Perception of knowledge as power:
Knowledge is often perceived as a weapon of power or influence. The transmission of this knowledge can be likened to a loss of influence capacity, which generates reluctance to share within teams. If people are not encouraged to share what they know, even the best Knowledge Management (KM) tools will not work.
Poorly defined team or unassigned key users:
The absence of a clear definition of roles, responsibilities, and necessary skills makes it difficult to identify knowledge holders and targeted transfer. The lack of interlocutors with decision-making power is a risk factor for the project.
Dependence on tacit knowledge:
The risk manifests when the project relies too much on the personal knowledge, experience, and " savoir-faire » of a single individual or a small group, as this knowledge is difficult to formalize and share.
Knowledge management as organizational learning
The project's knowledge management process aims not only to leverage prior organizational knowledge but also to capitalize on the lessons learned (return on experiences) from the project available for future work.
To do this, the project manager must implement a combination of knowledge management tools and techniques (focused on exchanges between people) and information management (codification of explicit knowledge).
Involving the team and business functions for sharing
Knowledge management requires the creation of an atmosphere of trust to foster sharing.
- Designate functional referents (Key Users) : The customer must designate and involve the business experts from each department as early as the scoping phase.
- Encourage cooperation and ownership : The project manager must energize cooperation and free exchange, as they cannot know everything. The team must feel mobilized around the ownership and development of its own knowledge.
- Manage business function involvement (Key users) : End users are major stakeholders, a source of validation and proposal. For an ERP project, a contracting authority must be represented by one or more people with decision making power, who are available and motivated. User participation in defining needs is crucial. The project manager must work to create favorable conditions for the mobilization of their team, because if the project is experienced as a constraint, involvement will be reduced.
- Clearly Define Roles and Skills : Analyze the skills necessary for task completion and individualize objectives. Ensure that team members possess the required aptitudes; if not, proactive actions like training or mentoring must be undertaken.
Formalize, capitalize, and transfer knowledge
To overcome team instability and dependence on tacit knowledge, formalization is vital.
This formalization is achieved through the use of specific tools:
- The single document repository : A project's documentary sources are numerous and varied: they include, among others, notes taken during analysis sessions, functional analysis documents (FRD), workshop minutes, mock up presentation documents, training materials, as well as test scripts. To optimize the sharing and consultation of this explicit knowledge, the use of a collaborative platform like SharePoint is essential. This type of software allows for the establishment of a single repository with a structured and standardized tree view that must be maintained consistently from one project to the next to facilitate the search and capitalization of information.
- The use of Onenote ([https://onenote.cloud.microsoft/]) in shared mode via Onedrive can supplement SharePoint by serving as a dynamic and flexible workspace for living documentation (wikis, requirements management, and meeting notes). While SharePoint ensures the formal, secure, and auditable storage of final documents (signed specifications and validated manuals), Onenote maximizes the agility and daily collaboration of the project team. Its integration with Teams and all Office suite software is a very interesting asset. Those who would prefer a more complete solution for managing a shared workspace can use Notion ([https://www.notion.com/]).
- The return on experiences Register : This document is unfortunately a little used tool, aiming to record the knowledge acquired (lessons learned) throughout the project, successes as well as difficulties, so that they can be exploited to improve future projects. It is distinguished from the Risk Register, which is a proactive document used to identify, analyze, plan responses, and track potential threats and opportunities likely to affect project objectives before they materialize.
These tools are only a support for storing and making information available; it is the team members who must use and feed them. To facilitate this approach, it is essential to set up targeted events or actions.
- Structured Informal Exchanges : It is important to integrate informal exchange moments such as quick meetings (stand up meetings) or organized coffee breaks into the project team's habits. These moments of co presence are powerful catalysts of tacit knowledge, allowing experts to share their "savoir faire" and their "tips" in a less restrictive setting than a formal meeting.
- Workshops and return on experiences : To extract the expériences and identify the project's strengths and weaknesses, recourse to workshops, specific interviews, or " Show & Tell » type meetings is a good way to provoke an exchange of information around a project theme.
Leadership and attitude of the project manager
The project manager's attitude is a key factor in maintaining motivation and knowledge management.
- Be a role model and delegate : The project manager must admit that they do not need to know everything or do everything. They must delegate to empower, transforming the single expert into a facilitator.
- Adopt an adapted management style : The project manager must adapt their leadership style based on the team member's competence for a given task (directive, persuasive, participative, or delegating). In particular, if the person is highly competent (more expert than the project manager), they must practice delegative management to allow them the necessary autonomy and creativity.
- Do not impose Knowledge Management : It is necessary to avoid imposing a knowledge repository by hierarchical authority, which leads to a lack of motivation and unnecessary basic information. The project manager must let their team appropriate the repository.
- Vigilance on failure factors : The project manager must be vigilant about the factors that lead to KM failure, such as the assimilation of the repository to a constraint or a lack of information stability.
Ultimately, for an ERP project, knowledge management is an important factor in reducing the risks of knowledge loss. The project manager, as a leader and unifier, ensures the sustainability of knowledge by creating a collaborative and methodological environment that encourages sharing (tacit, including via informal exchanges, and explicit) and neutralizes the risk of dependence on individual knowledge and the negative impact of turnover.