Knowledge Management

(c) Mahidol University

As demand for M&E data, analyses, methods and tools grows, so does the need to identify different user groups, to make these available in formats that are culturally acceptable, understandable and useable for them, and to overcome constraints to them getting “the right information at the right time in the right format.” Similarly, there is a great need for these user groups to share their best practices, methods and tools so that they can be adapted to meet other needs and contexts.

MEASURE Evaluation works closely with host-country institutions and other development partners to identify user groups, assess their needs, and overcome constraints to reaching them. The team uses a knowledge management (KM) approach that proactively involves people, processes, and technology:

People - Engaging and motivating people to share and use knowledge consistently.

A central principle of KM is that organizations can best foster the capture and exchange of knowledge through communities of practice – networks of people, often professional, that identify issues, share approaches and make the results available to others. Community moderators ensure high quality, productive dialog. MEASURE Evaluation has created many such networks.

Processes – Establishing systems at the local, national and global levels to create new knowledge, gather existing knowledge, organize, share and adapt it.

MEASURE Evaluation KM processes include publication of carefully reviewed manuals, guides, other publications and tools, posters and media releases. They also include presentation at events and on-line training courses. Whereas much of this knowledge is explicit and articulated in formal language, MEASURE Evaluation also recognizes the importance of tacit knowledge, not available as text, that may be residing in the heads of those working in a particular organizational context; consequently the team also invests in mentoring, meetings and communities of practice.

Technology – Exploiting the potential of the convergence of modern KM theory and new computer technologies to make tacit knowledge explicit and make explicit knowledge more easily and widely accessible in a cost-effective manner.

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