Public Power - November 2008 - (Page 20)

Capturing Knowledge Before It Retires source of ongoing communication and performance issues. The business applications—geographic information systems, outage management systems, mobile data dispatch, and others—are essential to the work of the distribution services team, so the chief information officer assigned high-priority status to the problem. SMUD issued a request for proposals for Accessing Processing Information SMUD’s business process diagrams turn informal processes into explicit ones. The diagrams are viewed in a Web browser as “knowledge maps” that link process steps to reference and training materials, supporting both individual tasks and group process interactions. “SDIT Software Training Program Design and Coordination.” The utility selected Global Enterprise Managers and its GEMWorX software for its pilot project. The company had deep experience with electric utilities and offered a program that integrated business processes and training. Several years prior to the training standardization project, SMUD had been through work unit reengineering. The resulting process-oriented structures and familiarity with process diagramming provided a good foundation for Global Enterprise Management’s approach, but there were still some surprises. The original plan had been to rework each of the five separate training modules, but with the consultant’s guidance, SMUD decided to focus on key business processes. The processes were selected based on their relevance to the broad population at SMUD, and also on the extent to which the processes involved use of the five SDIT ap20 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2008 plications. A new goal emerged: the creation of “knowledge maps” consisting of business process diagrams in which each step in a process would be linked to specific knowledge and training about that specific step. The Web-publishing and eLearning software modules would serve as the delivery system. Dawn Miller, SMUD’s supervisor of organization effectiveness, found that the team adapted quickly to the new approach. The GEMWorX solution utilizes Microsoft Visio for creating the process diagrams, and integrates with the MS Office suite, resulting in a rapid learning curve for the ‘process designers.’ “We were able to meet in groups and develop the process maps and key content in the moment of conversation,” Miller said. “The toolset did not hamper the free-flow of discussion. All processes and related content and training were integrated into one place for simpler maintenance, and we were able to publish diagrams and training to the Web on-the-fly, with no programming at all required.” The next surprise arrived when the Business Unit asked to add a new element to the project: knowledge capture and knowledge transfer on their new design change notifications. Having reached full understanding of what the new toolset could do, SMUD discovered a bigger-picture use for GEMWorX, as the database gruency between business process maps and business knowledge assets certainly helped. Craig Andrews, SMUD’s lead consultant and the creator of GEMWorX explains: “In the beginning, we created the software to deliver more value to our clients, and to increase our own productivity, by interconnecting process-related information in a database. The ability to generate analytical reports from the diagrams, and to update an entire business model at once instead of one diagram at a time, was a tremendous benefit. It wasn’t until our clients started to ask about buying it,” said Andrews, “that we realized that we might have a real software product on our hands.” The user-friendly aspects of the solution were quickly apparent to the project team. “We are able to work with users for as little as 30 minutes and get them actively using the tool themselves” reports Dawn Miller. The team members jumped right in and began drawing maps themselves while Craig guided the discussion. Even better, they could spontaneously add ‘top of mind’ details that would be important for end users to know.” “It was so useful to start from something familiar, like Visio, and immediately add more functionality in a very easy way.’ The consultants recommend using their ‘default’ methodology, which aligns with the “The original plan had been to rework each of the five separate training modules, but with the consultant’s guidance, SMUD decided to focus on key business processes.” and delivery mechanism for enterprise knowledge retention. New information technology doesn’t always measure up to its promise—at least, not without requiring more time and money than originally estimated—but at SMUD, this technology performed beyond expectations. Much of the credit goes to SMUD’s own readiness to utilize a processoriented approach, but the user-focused design of the software, and the natural conwell-known human performance improvement concepts of Geary Rummler and Alan Brache. As compared to other process modeling methods (which can also be employed within the software) Rummler-Brache process decomposition and ‘swim lane’ diagrams are much faster to produce and are more readily understood across an audience with varying levels of process orientation. As the business processes were developed, PUBLIC POWER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - November 2008

Public Power - November 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Capturing Knowledge Before It Retires Jackson’s GIS Search Keeping a Job Journal Japan Tackles the Kyoto Protocol Getting to 20 by 10 Damless Hydro Power Earthquake: The Hidden Disaster For Engineers Safety For Governing Boards DEED Hometown Connections Parting Shot

Public Power - November 2008

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