Knowledge management 04: Recommendations and plan of action to solve knowledge management issues in an architecture/ design office.

The strategy: a theoretical approach

Previously it was discusses, that much of the richness of ideas that is available at the early stages of the innovative process gets lost, while it was implied the necessity of ‘a design idea bank’. Yet, by viewing ideas and knowledge as a product that can be readily transferred, stored or exploited without human involvement, the focus will be turned on those ‘tools and systems” that can simply record and codify knowledge. However, the limitations of such an approach, oriented strongly on ICT systems and overlooking knowledge that is in people’s heads and experiences, they are already known. 


Knowledge management strategies can be distinguished between two types: the ‘Codification’ strategy and the ‘personalization’. ‘Codification’ is an approach which seeks to codify and store knowledge in databases whereas ‘personalization’ seeks to tie knowledge to people, who can then develop and share it in a person-to-person way.

Drawing on all the above arguments, it is extracted that in the context of an architecture office, an appropriate, strategy should be as holistic and rounded as possible, considering on the one hand the processes of collection, codification and storing of ideas (creating a design ‘idea bank’) and on the other those human and social elements, that would made this ‘idea bank’ meaningful.

A. Recommendations in relation to the creation of a design ‘idea bank’ by recording, codifying, classifying, storing, etc

® Actions for capturing and recording design ideas

Mechanisms that could capture much of the richness of ideas that flows at the early stages of the design process are:

-An ‘editor of design ideas” that will have the responsibility to record ephemeral knowledge and ideas from several meetings (brainstorming sessions, informal discussions, etc) and provide summaries and digests, etc.

-The responsibility of each participant to collect methodically his individual notes, sketches, diagrams, enriched with further written explanations.

® Actions for codifying ideas  

            By overlooking significant characteristics such as the tone of voice, the speaker’s body language, the enthusiasm of the creator, etc it will be generally difficult to record and articulate explicitly a design idea. Therefore, they have to be recruited vivid and colorful methods of ‘idea illustration’. In other works, the ‘editor of design ideas’ must also have writing and illustration capabilities, figurative language and imagination so as to draw creatively on others’ ideas and make them understandable to a wider audience.

® Actions for storing design ideas and making them available for later use and update

Typical types of storing mediums could be considered:

-The paper documents, reports, pictures, sketchbooks, notebooks, etc.

-The digital documents (texts, photos, digital drawings, videos, links) stored in databases, wikis, blogs, intranets, personal computers, etc. 

A collective web-blog of a group (open or closed) in the social media would seem to fit excellently, in the particular context of design and architecture. Blogs and social media can create a dynamic and interactive archive of data. The material can be searched by keywords. It can be updated, commented, tagged. The posts can be categorized by date and/or category and enriched with images and videos.

® Benefits and limitations:  The creation of an ‘inspirational bank of design and architecture ideas’ will increase team’s creativity and the possibilities to participate in more competitions and common projects. However, the issues of idea ownership and organizational commitment yet remain unresolved and should be addressed in the next paragraphs.

B) Recommendations in relation to human/social elements  

The accumulation of ‘design and architecture know-how’ in a database, or even in an interactive and vivid blog, it could be converted in an information junkyard if this ‘idea bank’ is not shared, constantly enriched with fresh ideas, and exploited meaningfully by all the participants. After all, the primary purpose of IT systems is to help people communicate knowledge and not to simply store it.

Actions for supporting learning networks - addressing the issue of design idea ownership

Forms of collaborative working and knowledge sharing that will militate against individualism and isolation have to be promoted, so as the creation of new ideas to be considered a communal product and property (figure 01). Several facilities and intriguing opportunities (like shared workplaces and equipment, group participations in competitions) must be provided in order common working and learning to be encouraged. After all, no individual can stand for himself without the essential contribution and support of his team.

	PLACE
TIME		Same	Different
	Same	-Brainstorming -Informal and formal meetings -Shared workplace -Opportunities for co-participation	-Blogging
	Different	-Whiteboards and note-boards - Library	-Blogging
Figure 01. Actions in order to promote person-to-person idea sharing and creation

Actions for empowering commitment to the group

Despite the parameters that can encourage common working (ICT systems, shared offices, equipment, etc) the motivation of a designer to share his knowledge is also shaped by the level of his commitment. Therefore, additional actions that decrease job insecurity, reward participant, help members to accomplish their personal aspirations, give credits to the creators and respect their copyrights will help participants act as ‘investors’ and not as employees consequently to align their personal aims with the aims of the design group.   

Implementation approach

The context of architectural and design is not structured hierarchically and people work at their own pace. Therefore, the implementation of a knowledge management initiative cannot be mandatory and sudden but rather a gradual process/ progress of idea seeding, discussions, experimentations, revisions and adaptations. 

Stage 1	Identify opportunities to introduce new practices
Stage 2	Identify the core group of activists or those that will undertake certain responsibilities
Stage 3	Discuss with the designers or architects the initiative and make them support it.
Stage 4	Identify a good pilot project (e.g. a design competition, an intriguing architecture project)
Stage 5	Expand the initiative to the other designer
Stage 6	Expand the initiative to other sub-groups and align it with a broader knowledge management strategy
Figure 5. A possible schedule for implementing a knowledge management initiative in a group of architects or designers.