Week # 06 "Capturing Tacit Knowledge"

Knowledge capture is a process by which the expert’s thoughts & experiences are captured. A knowledge developer collaborates with an expert to convert expertise into a coded program. Three important steps of knowledge capturing are:

• Use a suitable method to draw out information from the expert.
• Understand the information and conclude the expert’s knowledge and reasoning process.
• Use the interpretation to build rules that symbolize expert’s solutions.

One should improve the knowledge capture process by focusing on how experts come up to a problem. Look ahead of the facts or the heuristics. Re-evaluate how well the problem domain is understood and how precise the problem is replicated.

The qualifications of an expert include:

• Knowing when to follow ideas, and when to make exceptions.
• Intelligent to perceive the big image.
• Hold good communication skills.
• Can bear pressure.
• Capable to imagine artistically.

The advantages of using a single expert includes:

• Perfect when constructing a straightforward KM system.
• A crisis in a limited area.
• Easier to organize gatherings.
• Disagreements are easier to resolve.
• Shares more confidentiality than does multiple experts.

The disadvantages of using a single expert are:

• Sometimes expert’s knowledge is not easy to capture.
• Single expert provides only a single line of reasoning.
• Expert knowledge is sometimes dispersed.
• Single expert more likely to change scheduled meetings than experts in a team.

One can develop a relationship with experts by creating the right impression, understanding the expert’s style and deciding where to hold the session. Experts use analogies to explain events. Reliable knowledge capture requires understanding and interpreting expert’s verbal description of information. Interview is a tool that is used for evaluating the validity of information acquired. Various types of interviews are:

• Structured
• Semi-structured
• Unstructured

 A successful interview includes:

• Locate the stage and create understanding.
• Appropriately phrase the query.
• Queries building is essential.
• Pay attention closely and evade opinions.
• Assess meeting results.

The sources of errors that reduce Information Reliability:

• Expert’s perceptual view
• Expert’s failure to remember just what happened
• Expert’s fear of the unknown
• Communication problems

The problems encountered during the Interview:

• Response bias
• Inconsistency
• Communication difficulties
• Hostile attitude
• Standardized questions
• Lengthy questions
• Long interview