29-November-2022
1. Tell me about one of your recent memorable KM experiences
My most memorable knowledge management (KM) experience here at IDEV, was organizing the 2020 AfDB Development Evaluation Week. While there is a lot I could say, I wish to highlight three things that stood out for me. First, the times of uncertainty. COVID-19 had escalated into a pandemic, and we had moved from office to work from home. It was a first for us: planning for and hosting the three-day event virtually; working with teams from other departments and partner organizations stationed all over the world; and using tools that we were not too familiar with. Second, what I found memorable was the teamwork. From preparing the concept note of the event and the program, to the knowledge and communication products, hosting the six event sessions, and reporting on these sessions. It was wonderful to see teammates bringing their strengths and expertise to the table and working in synchrony to deliver on the Evaluation Week. Third, but not least, was the quality of knowledge that was shared at the event on the theme, “From Learning to Transformational Change in Africa.” It was so enriching to hear about how learning from evaluation impacts decision-making and programming, and how it has changed the way organizations work and improved their effectiveness.
2. What are the pitfalls to avoid when preparing a knowledge product?
We define a knowledge product as any user-friendly material that is prepared for the purposes of outreach (for example summary reports, briefs, lesson notes, factsheets, animations) from our technical evaluation reports. When preparing a knowledge product, the four pitfalls to avoid are: (i) Not adequately considering who the audience is, what their interests in the topic are and what terminology suits the audience. (ii) Not planning how the intended audience will get to know about the knowledge product. (iii) Including unnecessary information. Determine the purpose of the product - is it intended to raise awareness, to improve understanding, or as a guide in decision-making? Knowing the purpose is of the knowledge product will assist one to focus its information and package it appropriately. (iv) Preparing a knowledge product without a quality assurance process in place. The knowledge product should undergo a robust review by experts in that field, by management, a sample readership prospect, and by editors and communication professionals. This will boost the credibility and usefulness of the knowledge product.
3. How can we strengthen KM practice?
One of the major functions of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB or “the Bank”) is to provide knowledge and advisory services to its regional member countries. In this capacity, the AfDB has established systems and processes to create, share and maximize the use of knowledge. Inherently, the AfDB’s personnel - and many of its clients and stakeholders - are knowledge workers and/or knowledge managers. However, there are instances where knowledge management is not well organized, and this hinders the circulation of knowledge among those who need it. The Bank has developed a new KM strategy to address these challenges. Our role as KM and communications professionals is to reinforce the knowledge work of the AfDB through sensitization, training and guidance on knowledge management both for the Bank’s personnel and its external stakeholders. We can do this through seminars or trainings on practical aspects of KM, by giving advice in the preparation of KM and communications strategies and plans, or by collaborating on KM actions that aid decision-making and learning. We also have to keep abreast of innovations in KM, to be part of KM communities of practice, to continually learn and apply new good practices.
4. How do you think KM will evolve? What change will we see?
Knowledge management is evolving at a fast pace because it is increasingly becoming a source of income for many large businesses and knowledge organizations. I think that in the future, KM will evolve as a business management discipline for entities to remain competitive and relevant. As far as knowledge sharing via the internet is concerned, I believe it will be steered by three elements: social media, influencers and micro-learning. It is no longer sufficient for knowledge organizations to simply publish on their websites and wait for their audience to visit. Nowadays, we need to reach out to find readers in their social spaces (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora, etc.), and this may trigger a business model of paying to access their spaces. We will also witness more co-creation of knowledge using social media. This brings me to influencers, whom I think will increasingly become important as an approach for sharing and fostering the use of knowledge. Last but not least, I think that internet- based knowledge sharing will evolve to cater for micro-learning. Given the vast amount of information available, knowledge creators will have to prepare and avail “small chunks” of targeted information that people can access when they need it.
5. What do you like the most in your job?
What I like most about my job is the constant learning that feeds back into my work. I gain knowledge from my line of work in IDEV. IDEV periodically evaluates operations, policies and strategies of the African Development Bank, working across various projects, themes, regions and countries. As such, you could say that IDEV is one of the ‘institutional memory’ of the Bank. Given that the AfDB’s evaluation function has been around for over 40 years, I am able to learn about how the Bank has evolved over the years from IDEV’s evaluations. I also learn a lot from trainings organized by my department and by other Bank departments. My third avenue for learning is from seminars and knowledge events organized within the AfDB. These events, invariably advertised internally and externally via the AfDBs’ social media platforms, help me keep abreast of various development related issues in and around Africa.