PKMC Module IV key terms

Personal, experience-based know-how that is hard to write down, such as judgment, intuition, and craft skill. It transfers mainly through demonstration, mentoring, and shared practice rather than documents.

Knowledge that has been articulated and recorded in a form others can read, search, and reuse, such as procedures, templates, specifications, and lessons-learned logs. It can be stored and transmitted without the original knower present.

A model describing increasing levels of meaning: raw data, organized information, applied knowledge, and judgment-based wisdom. It helps practitioners decide what to capture and at which level of interpretation.

Any reusable resource of value to the project or organization, including documents, models, datasets, methods, and expert networks. Assets are identified, valued, and maintained so they can be applied again.

The component of the project management plan that defines what knowledge will be captured, how it will be stored and shared, who owns it, and how it will be handed over or archived.

The organization-level direction on how knowledge is created, shared, and applied to meet business goals, including priorities, funding, and expected behaviors. It aligns project-level knowledge activities with enterprise objectives.

The structured process of drawing out information and expertise from people, documents, systems, or observation so it can be recorded and used. It targets knowledge that is incomplete, tacit, or held by a few individuals.

Collecting and recording knowledge during or after work so it is not lost when people move on or memories fade. Capture can be deliberate, such as workshops, or incidental, such as automatic logging of decisions.

A structured conversation with a person who holds deep expertise on a topic, used to extract decision rules, exceptions, and rationale. Good interviews use open questions and follow-up probes rather than checklists alone.

An elicitation method that asks experts to recall specific past events that went notably well or badly, then probes causes and actions. Concrete incidents surface tacit judgment better than general descriptions.

A family of methods for uncovering the hidden thinking behind expert performance, including cues noticed, options weighed, and decisions made. It is used where procedural documentation alone would miss critical judgment.

A structured group session with a defined purpose and facilitator, used to capture collective knowledge, resolve open issues, or build shared understanding. Outputs are recorded and assigned owners before the session closes.

Watching people perform real work to capture steps, workarounds, and context that they may not report in interviews. It is especially useful for tacit routines and for validating documented procedures against actual practice.

Converting knowledge into structured, storable form such as documents, checklists, models, or decision tables so it can be reused by people who were not involved originally. It trades richness for reach.

A knowledge strategy that emphasizes connecting people to people rather than storing documents, relying on networks, mentoring, and direct conversation. It suits context-dependent, rapidly changing expertise.

A defined, maintained location where knowledge assets are stored and made findable, such as a document library, wiki, or lessons database. Its value depends on consistent structure, metadata, and curation.

The classification scheme and descriptive tags applied to knowledge assets so they can be filtered, related, and found. Good metadata records source, date, context, owner, and validity, not just a title.

The act of locating relevant stored knowledge when it is needed, through search, browsing, or referral. Retrieval quality depends on how well assets were described, indexed, and kept current.

A systematic review of what knowledge exists, where it resides, who holds it, and where gaps or risks lie. Results inform priorities for capture, storage, and retention efforts.

The exchange of knowledge between people or groups so that it becomes available to others. It requires both a channel and the willingness to give and receive, so culture matters as much as tools.

The movement of knowledge from a source to a recipient in a way that the recipient can apply it, as in handovers, onboarding, or vendor transitions. Effective transfer is measured by use, not by delivery.

Informal groups bound by shared expertise and interest who exchange problems, practices, and advice over time. They are strong channels for tacit knowledge and often operate across project and functional boundaries.

A transfer approach where a less experienced person learns by working alongside an expert over time, observing and practicing under guidance. It is effective for tacit skill but slow and dependent on expert availability.

A short-term arrangement where a learner follows a practitioner through their normal work to observe tasks, decisions, and context. It is often paired with structured debriefs to convert observation into recorded knowledge.

Applying existing knowledge assets or expertise to new work instead of recreating them, which reduces effort and repeated errors. Reuse requires trust in the source, context fit, and easy access.

Insights drawn from project experience about what worked, what did not, and why, recorded so future work can improve. Their value comes from being analyzed, generalized, and actively applied.

A living record of lessons identified during a project, including the situation, impact, recommendation, and owner. It should be updated throughout delivery, not assembled only at closure.

A short, structured debrief held soon after an event or milestone that asks what was expected, what happened, why the difference, and what to change. Speed and psychological safety matter more than polished documentation.

Deliberate efforts to keep critical knowledge available to the organization when people leave, retire, or change roles. Tactics include cross-training, documentation, succession planning, and exit interviews.

The chance that needed knowledge is missing, outdated, inaccessible, or concentrated in too few people, threatening delivery or operations. It is assessed by mapping knowledge to roles and identifying single points of failure.

The disappearance or degradation of knowledge that the organization still needs, through departures, poor records, system changes, or simple decay over time. It is often invisible until a problem must be solved again.

A structured process before a person leaves a role that captures undocumented know-how, key contacts, open decisions, and risks. It works best when planned weeks ahead and combined with shadowing by the successor.

Moving records and knowledge assets into long-term storage with retention rules, access controls, and retrievability preserved. Archiving decisions balance legal or contractual obligations against cost and future usefulness.

A policy listing record categories, how long each must be kept, and what happens at the end of that period. It gives project teams defensible rules for what to archive and what to destroy.

The decision rights, policies, and accountabilities that determine who may create, approve, change, access, and retire knowledge assets. Clear governance prevents both uncontrolled sprawl and unnecessary restriction.

The named person accountable for the accuracy, currency, access rules, and lifecycle of a specific knowledge asset or domain. Ownership keeps repositories from becoming unattended dumps.

The shared norms and behaviors that determine whether people seek, share, and trust knowledge, including tolerance for asking questions and admitting error. It is shaped by leadership example and incentives more than by tools.

A shared belief that raising concerns, admitting mistakes, and asking basic questions will not be punished or humiliated. It is a precondition for honest lessons learned and for surfacing tacit knowledge.