Based on a former post on a framwework for institutional knowledge sharing, the project has now published a Web page with the revised framework and the achievements of the project in the different areas of intervention:

We can use knowledge sharing (KS) principles, methods, and tools to support our organization’s development. They can help us build internal capacity so that we can work, in even more effective ways, towards our mission and to sustain ourselves over the long term. That is:

  • KS can help us recognize and deal with today’s complexities, while strengthening our skills and attitudes. It also supports organizational learning and evaluation processes. 
  • By incorporating KS tools and methods into its strategic planning and change processes, our management can promote involvement, buy-in, and follow-up action of both staff and stakeholders. 
  • Systematic KS can make organizational day-to-day business more effective, visible, and transparent. 

The Institutional KS Project supports activities for three strategic areas, and looks at the potential impact of KS for organizational development from both a transformational and practical perspective.

We use the following action framework to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate our KS interventions in those three areas. The text below also highlights our Project’s achievements.
 

KS Framework

KS Framework

1. Capacity building, M&E, and Learning: Dealing with complexity to empower staff

KS Workshop

  • Workshop concept and design developed, and two workshops held.
  • Reached 13 CGIAR centers and 7 partner organizations, involving 80 participants.
  • FAO took the lead for the second workshop.
  • Seven participants are co-authoring an article on challenges and experiences in their areas of work at the time of the Workshop.
  • A pool of facilitators and mentors is being built—two workshops had eight facilitators and/or mentors, with four being former participants.
  • Read more

Evaluation study

  • KS activities for Phase I (2004–2006) evaluated in 6 centers and the CGIAR Secretariat.
  • Criteria and indicators for an M&E framework developed.
  • Preliminary Findings :
  • KS approaches are crucial if we aim to build our work upon the collective knowledge of our staff and research partners
  • When introducing KS, it is best to start small
  • KS enables us to pay attention to the process of our interactions and create spaces for people to be heard, and unintentionally suppressed talent is freed up.
  • KS assures continuity in institutional cultures while facilitating change processes.
  • KS works best when applied simultaneously at the grassroots and the leadership level
  • Building capacity in KS pays off
  • Read more

Involvement with the KM4Dev community

  • Visibility of CGIAR raised among practitioners of knowledge management (Km) for development 
  • KM4Dev journal on “KM in Latin America and the Caribbean” guest-edited.
  • Sponsorship of two CGIAR staff participating in the annual KM4Dev meeting.
  • Participation in the community core group.
  • Pool of co-workers and consultants created.
  • Visit KM4Dev

2. Strategies and change management: Promoting involvement in organizational change processes

CGIAR change process and stakeholder engagement

  • Support within the organization for strategic meetings (AGM 06, 07, and 08), applying KS principles.
  • Advised on and facilitated consultation processes with stakeholders, whether through virtual (e.g., blogs) or actual means (e.g., face-to-face meetings).
  • Contribute and facilitate engagement with civil society organizations (CSOs).

CIFOR pilot project

  • Promoted participation of staff and Board in CIFOR’s strategic planning.
  • KS approaches used to increase participation, and identify and address common issues and concerns.
  • Framework included to monitor and evaluate the implementation of strategies.
  • Read more
     

3. Problem solving and best practices: Making organizational processes more interactive, visible, and transparent

Pilot projects

KS Toolkit

  • This resource, in wiki format, targets professionals working in international development. It has been expanded and improved. A user community has been created and membership promoted, particularly through active linkages with the KS Workshop. So far, the Toolkit wiki contains 70 tools and methods for sharing knowledge, receives more than 10,000 visits per month, and has 68 registered members.
  • It also contains descriptions, experiences, how-to guides, and relevant links for Web-based applications and face-to-face group processes. It features a “context” page where users can search for appropriate tools and methods by either defining the nature and needs of their work or using keywords (tags).
  • FAO has become an offical partner for the Toolkit.
  • Visit the Toolkit

KS Project’s website

  • Continuously updated through the incorporation of Web 2.0 tools.
  • The Toolkit wiki is the main resource featuring on the website.
  • A photo gallery, housed in Flickr, contains more than 1200 images (including photos and illustrations). As of October 2008, it records an average of 120 viewers daily.
  • The KS blog receives more than 1000 visits per month.
  • More than 160 important resources are bookmarked, tagged, and dynamically shared on the home page.
  • Users can also subscribe to website updates via RSS feeds.