When building a particularly big and expensive fan-jet engine, one of the world's major aircraft engine makers hit problems that they just couldn't seem to solve. In the end they sent for 'Stan the Fan'; a retired chief engineer who was a fount of knowledge. I like to think of men in suits coming round to his allotment: “Hi Stan....yes, lovely King Edwards...I don't suppose there's any chance...”. Whenever we lose people, whether through retirement, redundancy, or just by moving them to a new department or role, we lose what they carry in their head, and without that accumulated knowledge others will be less effective.

Of course this problem has long been identified, with the consequence that an army of Knowledge Management consultants rose up and beat down industry's doors, to install computer-based Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). Sadly, neither consultants nor systems seem to have worked. The root cause is akin to the GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) principle that was coined in the early days of computers, when people expected oodles of information to open up new management vistas, but then discovered that we are all too lazy to input quality data in the first place. Like the home gyms that appear in abundance at car boot sales, the modern world is littered with good intentions that fall by the wayside once the process becomes hard work.

What to do?

As so often happens, just when you think the case is hopeless, something totally unexpected comes along and solves the problem. What's more, it does it so elegantly that you are left kicking yourself for not thinking of it. In the case of Knowledge Management it's a spin-off from those online social networking sites that our kids seem to live their lives through. Ouch.

We all need to be loved and respected. Our sense of self-esteem comes partly from our place in our communities of friends and colleagues. These needs are sufficient motivation for us to find the time to help and advise others, providing we can be seen doing it and so earn ‘social capital’. Researchers coined the term 'Community of Practice' to mean a group of people who do the same or similar roles and appreciate learning from each other. Just like gossip, this knowledge sharing tends to happen naturally in the canteen, by the coffee machine, or even outside in the smoker's corner. There are benefits for those contributing their knowledge and for those receiving it. I have even heard reports of non-smokers demanding cigarette breaks.

The neat trick in moving such interactions online via social networking and Web 2.0 tools is that all this knowledge transfer can be made to leave an enduring trail; and not just coffee stains and fag ends. The knowledge exchanged is captured in a user-friendly way so that others can use it for reference. If it is captured and organised within your own company's intranet then it becomes a really valuable competitive advantage. What's more, it’s a permanent repository. The members may change over time until eventually it is a completely different community, but the knowledge of the original Stan the Fan remains for all to use.

This is not a social network where the members can be left to get on with it. A Community of Practice is a community of people who do the same tasks. It has a focus and a purpose and needs leadership. You have to structure and animate and manage communities if you want them to work. This is especially so if you go for the wider concept of a Community of Interest where people come at a subject from different perspectives, such as customers and suppliers. Involving them in problem solving and product development, a process known as ‘Crowd Sourcing’, has lots of potential, but also has the attendant risk of backfiring unless properly managed.

Get to the ‘free’ bit!

Developing your muscles requires hard work, but the good news is that the gym comes for free. The online tools collectively called Web 2.0 can provide people with easy and socially positive ways to share problems and receive advice and tips without having to meet physically or to spam the organisational mailing list. The most striking thing about these tools is that some of the best ones are available free and Open Source. The free bit may sound attractive and the Open Source bit like something technical you can leave to the IT department. However, the Open Source bit is also important because that means flexibility. Put simply, you can access and change the program to suit yourself, including bolting different programs together. Building your system to the way that your people like to work makes it much more likely to succeed.

In fact, starting with the people end of things is the secret of success. Intelligent use of the soft skills of communication and community building can achieve a great deal on a laughably simple technical platform. Combine those soft skills with a few carefully selected ‘cool’ tools of Web 2.0 and your organisation's knowledge can grow into a valuable, tax-free asset. If you don’t know what those cool tools are, ask a 12-year old.

Neil Rathbone is a 55-year old consultant in managing new web technologies