Owen’s SGA wants to improve its knowledge management so that institutional memory is passed on from year to year. Rather than having to "reinvent the wheel", the current administration hopes that a potential solution will make it easier for next year's team to pick up where they leave off.
While the SGA team is considering several solutions to address this issue, we have agreed to implement an IT-based component to this solution.
1. Create position-specific email accounts:
Currently SGA communications (and files) are conducted over email. We think that if we create email accounts that correspond to each SGA position, then each year, new SGA members will be able to pick up where the outgoing administration left off.
Preferably, each account would be created through the Owen email system (e.g. SGAPresident@owen.vanderbilt.edu), that way it would tie into students’ existing habits and SGA members would still be able to schedule meetings with Outlook. Alternatively, Gmail (or other free email accounts) would suffice, and would offer the added benefit of unlimited storage capacity.
2. Create SGA website
Owen is in the process of converting all of its student club websites to a new hosting platform (most likely WordPress). In this scenario, we would build the structure of a website that would then be maintained by the SGA administration. Currently, two SGA members have been tasked to tackle this knowledge management issue, and they would be responsible for populating the website with information related to SGA’s achievements and ongoing initiatives. Ultimately, SGA would have to create a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) position, or at least task these duties to an existing position. This person would be responsible for uploading additional information to the site on an ongoing basis.
3. SGA Wiki (“what I know is”)
Similar to the above idea, this is a website. The key difference is that this site would be open-source, and would depend on SGA members to populate the content themselves (think Wikipedia). This option has the potential to be more nimble, as it would not involve the time that is created by sending documents to the CKO, and then waiting for her to upload them; instead files could be uploaded in real-time. However, a challenge would be to convince SGA members to use and maintain their respective sections of the site.
First, your 3 innovative ideas are a little above my head. That being said, I think that the last 2 ideas are a very feasible idea and would actually work. The SGA website could be something that is critical and could really benefit the students. It could also be a place that houses information as a lot student resources are scattered all over the place. It seems that option 2 must come before option 3, so after option 2 is implemented and running smoothly then I think the wiki is a good idea. The constraint might be how user friendly are wikis, and how general usage of them is. If there is a fear of the unknown from not only the student user but the faculty, then this could be abandoned quickly.
ReplyDeleteI like idea 3 the most. My concern with idea 1 is that there would be so many emails and so much information in the inbox that someone would not want to go through it and read everything. Idea 2 is a good idea, though I think it seems a little bit daunting for the CKO to continually upload documents and organize them. What I like about Idea 3 is that it gives ownership to all SGA members. Each person would be responsible for organizing and categorizing whatever information he or she uploaded. What about including some type of comment section? Other SGA members could see what has been written/uploaded and make other notes, post links to other areas of content, etc.
ReplyDeleteI like option 3. I was frustrated this summer to learn there was very little I could do with the sites and that I had to go through Owen to make any changes. The current software that we use is hard to work with. Creative People Must Be Stopped.
ReplyDeleteI really like your third idea, and think that your first and second ideas are pretty good - so, I guess you can't really lose.
ReplyDeleteI might be considered pretty hopeful, but I really believe that if a specific wiki was designated to a community that you were a part of, as a member, you would ensure that it was up to date with all of the information you can share with your colleagues.
In any case - I wish you all good luck.
I'm not sure who exactly you're trying to pass knowledge to in this situation. If the intent is to pass information to everyone in the school, then #3 would be the best way to share the workload of updating information. However, this presents one major problem:
ReplyDeleteThis method becomes cumbersome down the road, as information is edited / deleted / added to. What happens when 5 years from now, someone suggests that we go to no-flush toilets, but the discussion of that has been deleted? Or if it isn't, will the document be so large that nobody will read all of it to find that information?
If the intent is just to pass information from leadership to leadership, email accounts with search capability (ie: gmail) would allow users to quickly access pertinent information without making it unwieldy.
I actually like the email account idea for a few reasons: It is so easy to create subfolders for an email account and for the officer to hit "move to folder" when done. I could easily have a past events; past communications; common issues/questions responses; trails of who helped out, etc.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER: the big challenge with all 3 is getting people to actually put useful information on their. I think the email account wins out because- even if the current officer doesn't take the time to post something (as required for options 2&3) the incoming officer would at least have a possible email trail to search thru.
The Wiki ideas is pretty good. I think if the platform is easy to use, it will have a broad acceptance rate. It could go beyond the SGA, and extend to all entities, with sections for the CMC and Alumni. Anyone could just create a topic and place the content, and any student that has any doubt about a thing related to “life at Owen” could use it as a source.
ReplyDeleteI think the 1st idea is smart and easy to implement - in fact, I quite surprised that it has not been done already! Like Ann said, it can easily divided into subfolders.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea is to have a "Best Practices" document that can be passed along to the corresponding member each year. It can be re-used or modified as one wishes.
I also like #2 but I would make it a SharePoint site because it has the ability to limit access to the site (instead of Wiki which is so public). There could be a place to insert meeting minutes and places for each position to list their responsibilities. There could even be a Challenges Section that records how the board overcame various challenges throughout their tenure. A CKO could make sure this regularly updated as well.
I agree with Ann and Ravyn. The biggest challenge for someone who has recently taken over a position is figuring out who they need to contact and what resources/paperwork/etc. are required to get various activities accomplished. If each SGA member was disciplined in properly moving emails to subfolders they would create a really effective knowledge base for future members. At the same time, there is no need to actively generate content like there would be on a website.
ReplyDeleteBeing an SGA member all three solutions would be great improvements. I think you challenge may be to combine all three and create a comprehensive solution in the time frame of the class. That said consider how long WP is going to be around. Do you think this is a technology that will be relevant for 5 to 10 more years?
ReplyDeleteGood luck and very good ideas!
SGA does not need to reinvent the wheel. There is a current Beta test ongoing using Microsofts Sharepoint platform. SGA should take the lead in converting all of Owen to this platform.
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge transfer is meant for officers only; not the entire class...right?
ReplyDeleteLove the ideas! But I need more information. I am not an OSGA so this question may sound dumb but, is there a "secretary" that documents the minutes and information about key projects? I like that idea #2 assigns someone this responsibility. Make someone accountable to ensuring that the officers upload info. While #3 sounds good in theory, I fear that contribution would drop off in practice.
Good problem!!
ReplyDeleteWhile it's on the top of my head: www.pbwiki.com A free wiki infrastructure that would meet your #3 needs. Easily and immediately implementable by the end of the mod.
I think your #1 is a no-brainer. Do it. Now! Owen can accommodate that.
#2 seems to require some amount of willpower on the part of a Chief Knowledge Officer. I say you generate the content first, and then let some student in the future get frustrated enough that s/he feels the need to manage it. The problem right now is that you don't have the knowledge readily available to manage.
#3 makes the most sense to me. You need to figure out how to get the Wiki (or website) into the SGA workflow. That is, how can you make it easier for officers to do their SGA work inside the wiki than outside of it. What are the common resources that SGA people need as they do the work of the SGA? Put them all in to start (e.g., calendar, initiatives, financial info, contact info, etc. etc).
Whatever the resource (web or wiki) you'll want to get some agreement from the group that this is a meaningful way to "pass down" the knowledge. There is probably some value to some people in the way it is currently done (e.g., freedom from the past, more interpersonal contact). So be sure to understand that value and to generate a proposition for creating more value for the users than they are currently experiencing. ((People may complain and moan about the way it is, but make sure they want the change!)
Just my 2 cents! Good work and good luck!!