Personal knowledge management

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Personal Knowledge Management ( English personal knowledge management ) interchangeably, even individual knowledge management called one's self-management concept, which aims to manage stocks of knowledge and learning processes independently and sent.

In contrast to knowledge management on an organizational level, personal knowledge management is not about knowledge in a team or in a company, but about the point of view of a single individual - regardless of whether in a professional or private environment.

Personal knowledge management integrates contributions from different subject areas to overarching concepts and methods. Time management , self-management , information management , learning psychology , learning strategy , stress and error management , competence management as well as networking and communication management are particularly involved in this framework .

Meaning and problem

In the meaning of the European Guide to Good Practice in Knowledge Management , personal knowledge management is defined as “a bundle of concepts, methods and instruments for structuring and ordering individual knowledge, which enables employees to take responsibility for what they know and whom you know". The starting point for personal knowledge management is always the reflection of individual ways of thinking and actions in order to improve one's own efficiency and that of the people involved in the learning and work area. Media, information and scientific publications are growing exponentially . Problems arise from the flood of data and information in both private and professional environments. Particularly in a professional context, due to the decreasing half-life of knowledge, specialist skills are not sufficient and must be expanded with special key skills in dealing with knowledge and learning processes.

The relationship to knowledge management at the organizational level

A necessary condition for knowledge processes on an organizational level is the willingness to learn and the ability to communicate on the part of the people involved, because it is also true of organizations that the “place of change” can only be people. Personal knowledge management is therefore the starting point for organizational learning. It is not enough that “either” the people “or” the organization in which a person operates operate in a knowledge-based manner. Both levels are different perspectives on the same phenomenon of a mutual learning process between people and organizations, individual and social systems . These are ultimately not separated in terms of content, although methodologically different approaches are quite justified and appropriate.

Subject areas and sub-disciplines

Personal knowledge management is made up of different components, such as

  1. Personal goals
  2. Personal skills
  3. Learn
  4. Networking and social skills
  5. The unity of body, mind and soul
  6. Personal information management
  7. Tools and methods
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1. Personal goals

Personal goals and their evaluation are the starting point for personal knowledge management. Based on the basic methodology of self-management and time management , which goes back to Peter Drucker's “ Management by Objectives ” , there is a ranking of priorities or a distinction between the urgent and the important, for example. The differentiation of long-term, strategic goals for competence development versus acute, operative goals for immediate problem solving is just as useful from the point of view of personal knowledge management as the distinction between goals for clearly calculable tasks to increase efficiency on the one hand and non-plannable, creatively developed procedures for innovative solutions on the other . The starting point for developing goals is an accurate, informative picture of current reality. Knowledge goals should be in accordance with personal goals in life, correspond to your own "vision of a successful life". Such an orientation makes learning and knowledge goals easier to find and can be "lived" every day. Clarity about knowledge goals and real interests improves learning motivation and perseverance, helps to overcome external resistance and inner doubts.

2. Personal skills

Personal competencies such as motivation , commitment , motivation , flexibility , creativity , and perseverance include general skills and attitudes in which the individual attitude to the world and to work is expressed. Also of importance is the ability to concentrate on a few things, which are essential, in order to focus the forces and increase their effectiveness. Another management principle, which is particularly geared towards the long-term development of knowledge and skills, concerns the expansion of existing strengths and not the elimination of weaknesses. The focus on a few talents while consciously ignoring negligible weaknesses is a key qualification to be effective and successful in any area. The ability to initiate self-learning processes taking into account one's own strengths and weaknesses is referred to as self-learning competence . Dealing with emotional blocks, motivation problems and stress is also a crucial skill .

3. Learning

Learning and knowledge are in a reciprocal relationship and correspond to different perspectives on the same phenomenon. Knowledge is based on learning, is the result of human action and recognition. Knowledge for its part creates new ways of thinking and acting, thus influencing perception and learning processes.

The way in which new knowledge is created is very diverse. Embedded in an environment of artificial and social knowledge carriers, it is important to find out how knowledge can be effectively and efficiently created or shared. The respective problem and objective determine the choice of the appropriate knowledge carrier. The actual learning process is preceded by the identification of personal abilities and the setting of goals. The determination of the learner type and the adaptation of learning methods to the respective person and situation are of great importance . The use of learning strategies includes “those behaviors and thoughts that activate learners in order to influence and control their motivation and the process of knowledge acquisition”. The focus is on the process, the process of active and individual knowledge construction. Reading techniques are used to adapt the type of reading to the goals of the reader and thus contribute to optimal use while minimizing effort.

4. Networking and social skills

Social skills such as communication skills , networking skills, empathy (empathy) and emotional intelligence are the basis for Wissensaustausch- and learning processes in relation to humans. Together with processes of taking in information from artefacts such as reading or watching TV, social contacts form the predominant part of people's knowledge environment. The social knowledge environment is used in a targeted manner as part of personal knowledge management in order to support processes of joint reflection, connecting learning and knowledge exchange. Personal networking shapes the development of personal contacts and the systematic maintenance of relationships. The focus is on the dialogue , not the presentation or organization of information. In an organized form, knowledge communities or communities of practice enable the learning development of individuals on the one hand, and technically mediated processes such as blogs , wikis , community indexing , web forums or collaborative online text processing in real time , which are referred to as social software , on the other .

The importance of unmediated, direct communication as opposed to the technically mediated transmission of information lies in the fact that knowledge is only slightly accessible to consciousness and can be verbalized or transferred as information and data. Social knowledge transfer is a little recognized because mostly invisible knowledge work, but the practical successes of informal and incidental learning justify the high amount of time required to maintain and maintain personal contacts.

5. The unity of body, mind and soul

Body and mind form an inseparable unit and the fact that many activities are carried out in close connection with the mental level means that knowledge workers run the risk of compromising the high intelligence of the body and the biological rhythm to which both body and mind are subject, to neglect. Meditation and relaxation techniques as well as exercises that contribute to the cultivation of leisure in the sense of "intentionally doing nothing" are important methods to develop energies on a mental as well as on a physical level , which can then be followed by learning and performing support goal-oriented activities. The principle of concentrating on a little is aimed at focusing activities and consuming media in a targeted and economical manner (media fasting). Information should be received thoughtfully, selectively and, most importantly, in a timely manner. The body processes an extremely large amount of information that is not directly accessible to our consciousness , but makes intuitive decisions possible that can only be made with great uncertainty using logic and argumentation. The training of the attentive perception of signals of the body makes this preconceptual intelligence consciously and practically usable. The striving for embodiment is based on the principle of “walk the talk” (do what you speak of) and means that the knower should “be” or embody the teaching and not just talk or theorize about it.

6. Personal information management

The flood of information and poor quality of information make searching, processing and documenting information difficult, despite the many technological possibilities. Personal information management uses information and communication technologies to apply practical procedures and solutions in order to contain the multitude of information to a reasonable level, to evaluate it and to keep it available. Simple and practical strategies for individual information processing are, for example:

  • Do not collect information aimlessly, but always with a view to answers to specific problems and hypotheses ;
  • Condense information (through visualization , keywords, tables), bundle, reduce and structure;
  • Pay attention to compact, well-structured information that is highly reliable;
  • Rethink folder structures and systematics regularly;
  • Regularly clean up hard disk, notes, bookmark directories.

Numerous new technological developments have fundamentally changed personal knowledge management in recent years: Web applications, for example, allow a practicable multiple categorization of documents and information through tagging . Social bookmarking allows you to create your own reference structures and exchange them. Storage space for documents online allows the central setting and retrieval of documents from any Internet computer, regardless of the living situation. Personal wikis simply combine personal content management with personal document management. In practice, personal knowledge management develops up to highly specialized systems such as the visually oriented one. Weblogs or social networks such as Facebook are also frequently used platforms for personal content management and knowledge management.

7. Tools and methods

Best practices that can be used in organizing personal knowledge management include:

literature

  • Eppler, M. (2006). Managing Information Quality. New York: Springer.
  • Eppler, M. (2004a). Cognitive tools as instruments of personal knowledge management. In: G. * Reinmann & H. Mandl (eds.), Psychology of Knowledge Management. Perspectives, theories and methods. Knowledge Management, (pp. 251-266). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
  • Mandl, H. & Friedrich, HF (2006). Manual of learning strategies. Göttingen: Hogrefe. ISBN 3-8017-1813-1
  • Reinmann, G. & Eppler, M. (2008). Knowledge paths. Methods for personal knowledge management. Bern: Huber.
  • Reinmann-Rothmeier, G. & Mandl, H. (2000). Individual knowledge management. Strategies for dealing personally with information and knowledge in the workplace. Bern: Huber.
  • Romhardt, K. (2001). Knowledge is doable. 50 basics for a clear head. Munich: Econ.
  • Romhardt, K. (2002). Knowledge communities. Places of lively knowledge management. Dynamism, development, design options. Zurich: Versus.
  • Romhardt, K. (2006). From the careful handling of knowledge. Learning, teaching and knowledge principles from Buddhism. Connection. Magazine: 11/06, 26-31.
  • Völkel, M. (2007) From Documents to Knowledge Models in Proc. of the 4th Conference on Professional Knowledge Management, volume 2, pp. 209 - 216. GITO mbh, Berlin, March 2007
  • Völkel, M. and Abecker, A. (2008) Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Design of Personal Knowledge Management Systems , Proc. of 10th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems
  • Willfort, R. & Anton Koó (2007). Personal knowledge management - a qualitative analysis of the current situation based on expert interviews: Danube University Krems.
  • Willfort, R. (2008). The potential of personal knowledge management for small businesses: Danube University Krems.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mandl & Friedrich, 2006, p. 1
  2. ↑ Personal Brain or the Semantic Wiki ArtificialMemory