Challenge is Managing the People Who Manage Knowledge Essay

Challenge is Managing the People Who Manage Knowledge - Essay Example The management should present the knowledge worker with an opportunity to collect, verify, validate and apply knowledge learned from his experiences and from the corporate records, and be able to share it with other workers. Such knowledge, when effectively disseminated in the organization, adds value to the organization or can aid in problem solving. According to McFarlane, despite the knowledge and experience a knowledge worker has, he or she needs exposure to tasks that will encourage personal growth. The management should realize that this is a need to the knowledge worker and has to be satisfied. Tasks assigned to these workers should present an opportunity for them to apply their criticality, skills, and experience. The tasks must pose a challenge to them, so that they can grow. Giving knowledge workers easy tasks will be under utilizing them and they will look for more challenging opportunities elsewhere. According to Serrat, an organization should define task objectives clear ly. In addition, the management should ensure that each worker understands the performance standards. An organization seeking to manage the knowledge workers effectively should formulate critical mission vision statements. Mission vision statements of an organization determine the mission vision statement of an individual in an organization, as well as the values an individual will display. If the mission of an organization presents great responsibility, the knowledge worker will be pushed to give his or her best and share knowledge with other workers in an effort to achieve the set goals of the organization. Setting challenging goals will push the workers to be more creative and critical and this will bring new ideas into the organization. The vision of an organization gives the knowledge worker a clear picture of the direction in which the organization should be moving. When the knowledge worker has a sense of direction, he performs better. According to Serrat, knowledge workers n eed knowledge managers. This is critical for any organization, because it requires a change in the type of managers hired. Organizations should no longer look at the ability to exercise power in a manager, but rather an ability to lead a team. A manager should have skills that enable him handles issues in his or her team effectively. A knowledge manager should be able to appreciate the talent of the team, mentor, and efficiently give feedback to the team. Knowledge workers need good working relationships with their managers. It is critical for the organization to ensure that managers provide a good working environment to the workers. Organizations should therefore do away with the traditional boss who spends time in supervision and giving orders. A knowledge manager should focus on organizational learning to ensure exemplary performance of the organization. The knowledge workers deserve space and time for them to work on their own. Constant supervision limits creativity and creativi ty. This does not mean that the management should allow them to do things their own way, but poses a challenge for the smart manager to realize when to supervise, or when to give them their space. It is not easy for an organization to quantify the amount of work done by knowledge workers, as it is n form of knowledge