PERSONAL

KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
BY BRUNO WINCK

8 | APRIL 2016 | TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT WWW.AITD.COM.AU

P
ersonal Knowledge Management manager and I developed tools around of middle and senior management.
(PKM) is the set of actions applied it. I observed others, experimented, and I They too will need to grow to master
to our personal knowledge. This shared what I learned. Many knowledge PKM for their own sake. This promises
includes learning, sharing, writing, workers like managers and engineers opportunities of delivering benefits of
teaching, imagining, and forgetting. The practice PKM. As it is not the object of PKM in your organisation.
focus is on Personal Knowledge: what intense reflective thinking, it often stays
we know and can apply. It may well be informal. Elements of PKM
that you have always been practicing PKM can be overwhelming. The Social
PKM without knowing it. deluge of free information can be both PKM is social first. You will use peer-
If we focus on the Knowledge a bonanza and a threat. It is easy to get to-peer learning, small networks and
Management part of the definition, our trapped into a never-ending habit of meaningful conversations to stay
attention is drawn to the systematic consuming information. It is a challenge abreast. Social includes maintaining
organisation and use of such processes. to make sense of it and keep the relationships, building networks, and
It is not a random practice of browsing information overload at bay. The goal of using knowledge streams from others.
the news, making notes and occasional a pragmatic PKM practice is to become
reflective thinking but a virtuous circle more efficient and organised while Material
of practice to build a set of competencies keeping time spent on it under control, Posts, books, videos, and courses serve
toward a goal. limit the cognitive load, and preserve our as foundations of knowledge. They
motivation. serve again when we reference them
PKM and self-development like landmarks. It is much more agile to
The driver of PKM is professional Learning and Development share a concept name and a reference to
development. We set our goals at and PKM a book or a person than to try to describe
the self-development level, we set PKM plays well with independent it once again in detail. Streams deliver
measurable objectives of professional self-directed learning. PKM brings self- new material continuously. We need to
development and we sketch our directed learning to a new level where filter and organise incoming material
PKM itinerary: steps, milestones and you can control and regulate your before we can dedicate attention to it.
interesting detours. PKM is the engine of learning. It is especially appreciable if
professional development and where you work in a small organisation or by Priorities and Compass
most action takes place. A well executed yourself. Knowledge processes take time and
PKM practice helps us achieve our As learning and development consume cognitive resources. It is
professional development objectives. practitioners, you have several further easy to learn something every day but
reasons to become interested in PKM. It harder when it comes irregularly by big
How to adopt PKM will let you grow a network, extend your quantities. To practice PKM in limited
PKM is not specific to learning and reach and your reputation. You may be time, it is best to mitigate our ambitions
development. It is practiced in every noticed and could become the reference and focus on what is important. To
domain but the form may vary. I person on a topic in your organisation. avoid cognitive overload we use fixed
learned PKM from my own practice as a PKM is likely to catch the attention size buckets for each stage of learning.

WWW.AITD.COM.AU TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT | APRIL 2016 | 9

References are concepts, people, organisations, events and important
books or artefacts.

Actions should stay aligned with our Take notes all the time, bookmark interesting way to measure progress.
professional development objectives. what you acquired and turn them into
Refer to them when deciding on blog posts. Keep a journal of progress
priorities. Jot down short notes on what you did
Expanding your PKM and what you learned from it.
References As you know yourself better you can Write down what goes well and what
References are concepts, people, adjust the size of your PKM to keep is harder to turn into regular practice.
organisations, events and important the load sustainable. Start small and Dare asking others how you did.
books or artefacts. They serve as the increase. Keep each level for two weeks. Maintain a stack of possible
map of the knowledge we know and enhancements and experiment with
aim to acquire. Learning paths are like Example for every week: changes.
trajectories on this map. References 150 posts under consideration for
are also used as tags and keywords for reading Starting points
bookmarking, organising and sharing. 15 posts to read Map your Personal Learning
5 posts to study in depth and apply Network. Take a sheet of paper, place
A Personal Mix reflective thinking your name in the middle and start
Your own PKM practice will include 2 new ideas to experiment branches: for people in your field, for
different processes. Depending on 1 post to write people in your ecosystem, people
your role and your interests it may 2 curated posts from your organisation, your friends
include: searching, social listening, with whom you share about your
Working Out Loud (WOL), maintaining PKM needs to be regular so know work. Add people as they come to
a Personal Learning Network (PLN), your limits and stretch carefully. Include your mind.
curation, sense-making, critical thinking, feedback and reflective thinking on Make reference list in a spreadsheets:
reflective thinking, questioning, your process, try new things, let go what Important concepts of your domain,
sharing, experimenting, learning from doesnt stick and iterate. books, people, organisations and
experience, ideating, synthesising, events.
analysing, sketching, writing, Get started Join a community group on Facebook
commenting and chatting. To get you started on your PKM journey or LinkedIn in your domain, preferably
use a regular notebook and a pen. Stay a group in your time zone to ensure
Blending PKM into your day low-tech until you are sure of what fits that engagement will be effective.
With a modular approach to PKM, perfectly. You will occasionally read it Groups with 30 to 200 members are
it is easier to accommodate parts of and take time for reflective thinking. the most promising. Make sure the
processes in our daily routines. You can: Being away from a screen is a benefit. group is a community and not just a
Replace listening to the radio with wall of announcements.
listening to podcasts. Learning Set goals and context Open a Diigo account and start social
something new every day is satisfying. Write a short biography, what you bookmarking, ask people in your
Listen while walking or cleaning. will share, what you are interested in Personal Learning Network if they
Skim posts while commuting. learning. Reuse it for your biography also have an account and follow them.
Hook some routines into habits on social media and on your blog. Check what they shared once a week.
such as checking a Twitter list every Write what you wish to learn, deepen, Start a blog and share your
morning after your breakfast. reflect on or be recognised for. experiments. Blogs are free at
Reserve time for careful, in-depth Write down what will change in your wordpress.com and elsewhere and a
reading, and for writing. biography as you make progress. Its an great place to start.

10 | APRIL 2016 | TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT WWW.AITD.COM.AU

Going further To find people use the search box. Keep your practice of PKM
Join Twitter chats in your field such Add people, test them and remove them sustainable, regular and agile. It is your
as #OzLearn, #LrnChat or #Chat2lrn. without hesitation if they dont deliver personal practice and you have nothing
You can start by observing the what you expect. I suggest private lists to prove. Be creative in your practice,
conversation. When you become to start, turn them into public when you let go what doesnt fit your style. New
comfortable, introduce yourself with a gained some fluency. Public lists send tools can also be game changers for you.
tweet and include the hashtag. notifications when people are added. The real goal is to fuel your professional
Join a Working Out Loud Circle. Check each list twice a week. Each development and you are the final judge.
Working Out Loud circles come with time write a line in your progress log with Share your practice with others: what
two benefits: Learning how to build the date, the name of the list and your did you try, what failed, what worked and
a network and practice working out top takeaway. It will help you keep track what you get from it.
loud. Networking will also be applied of your regularity and the value of it. The
to build your PLN, and it is free. takeaway can be something you learn, Bruno Winck (@BrunoWinck) is the
Curate a niche domain. It is better to discovered but also a conversation, an founder of Kneaver Corp and the
be unique and recognised in a tiny action you took or simply how you felt host of #PKMChat a Twitter chat
domain. doing it. Material shared via Twitter held on Thursday 6AM AEST. Bruno
Go for mastery and join a PKM should suffice to fill your buckets. managed several Software Companies.
workshop such as the one by Harold Bruno designs solutions using original
Jarche. (follow @hjarche on Twitter) Establish Reference Lists connected knowledge techniques.
Establish a written list of useful Contact via https://kneaver.com/
Twitter Lists references that you can refer to and brunowinck
Open a Twitter account and create three systematically reuse. Start each list on
private lists. I suggest Twitter because a different page to be able to add to it. A
streams are public, one way and offer the spreadsheet is great for this. Entries are
best content. candidates for building your Twitter lists,
My PLN: A list of people in your field. search keywords, tags for bookmarks.
People you know and could reach out Important books in your field and
to in real life. This list will become your name of authors. Add a code name like
PLN list. Bk1 for each to ease further reference.
Sources: A list of thought leaders and Key people in your field, living or
organisations in your field. This will be not. For the living ones find them on
a one-way stream. Start it by adding Twitter and add their handles.
@aitd1. If you end up having Important organisations in your field
exchanges with list members you may or having a strong impact on it.
want to move them to the PLN list. Key concepts in your domain, add a
 Info: A list of people or organisations hashtag if you notice them used. Eg
sharing around your organisation Working Out Loud, WOL, #WOL.
concerns. If you work in a bank, it will Important events with approximate
be your organisation, competitors, date and hashtag used. Use an actual
regulatory bodies, finance minister. occurrence, not the generic name. Eg
This will let you become aware of what AITD National Conference 2016, May
managers and SME have in their head. 2016, #AITD2016

WWW.AITD.COM.AU TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT | APRIL 2016 | 11