Since the concept of knowledge management emerged in the early '90s, many ambitious knowledge management projects have failed. Users and analysts now say an overemphasis on technology has often been to blame. The secret of success may be to promote human interaction, not technological interfacing.
Information technology can provide the infrastructure to help the groups communicate.
If this communication happens in a public forum, such as a threaded discussion rather than by phone or e-mail, that's an added advantage, McDonald said. Each community is led by a generally recognized thought leader who typically spends a cumulative total of three or four weeks per year working on maintaining the community. Workers who contribute a lot to the community are rewarded with high visibility within it. But, increasingly, companies are realizing that financial incentives may also be needed to jump-start the knowledge exchange or to keep it going. Someone's stalking your directory.