Kickstarting a Stalled KCS Implementation

Kickstarting a Stalled KCS Implementation

A conversation with Cheryl King of Novell KCS DeepDive Discussion 10 May 2012

Summary of Learnings

• Incorporate KCS messaging and training into the information provided to new hires. This ensures that they learn how to work according to the KCS workflows from the beginning when they are very enthusiastic about their new role. If possible, sit with new hires in person and train them. If that isn’t possible, use online training or local coaches to provide the orientation and training.
• Make sure that KCS information is embedded into new hire training and that each new hire is encouraged to become licensed within the company’s KCS licensing model.
• The KCS Academy offers industry KCS Publisher Certification. Novell has used this program to help reinforce the importance of KCS. At Novell, the focus had been on content quality standards, but hadn't emphasized the KCS problem solving process. This was an opportunity to bring that back to the minds of the analysts.
• If you pursue KCS Publisher Certification, host weekly study sessions for the publisher candidates to make sure they really understand the KCS Practices Guide and are prepared for the very challenging exam.
• Send out a “tip of the week” once or twice per month and target messages that address common questions or issues. If you have internal forums where users ask questions, tap into these questions to find content. KCS Coaches should train on new tips in their team meetings.
• Tap into internal motivators and send “excellence awards” via email. If possible, use a recognition system set up already within HR that tracks these awards and notifies manager/director/VP to raise the visibility. Ideally, these awards are included in their profile and permanent HR record.
• Provide an automated monthly email summary with usage/citations/linking data for each document they contributed to the KB. If you calculate article value index data, include that as well.
• If you have article views/citations/links data, it is very motivating to acknowledge those who have contributed to articles that are used frequently by customers and internal users. Each month, recognize those who have contributed to these high-value articles. Announce achievements to the entire technical support organization.
• Include KCS awards and acknowledge KCS participation with badges on internal directories. For example, when your KCS publishers become certified, include a KCS Publisher badge on their profile within the internal directories.
• Utilize the KCS Foundations Workshop for all managers during the initial KCS implementation. Consider repeating it with all the managers and new managers as a refresher on the value of Knowledge-Centered Support.

Do you use solution quality indicators to help manage your program?

Yes, Novell uses a scorecard (AQI). The AQI checks for duplicates/clear/concise/ correct grammar. When coaches score the article the results are sent to the author. If they score 18 or less out of 24, then the article has to be improved. If an article is flagged to be fixed, then it is included on the manager’s dashboard until action is taken. However, once the issues are fixed, then this is totally removed from the dashboard and no record is kept on it.

Explain how you seek input from the engineers/agents. What mechanisms do you use?

Once per quarter Cheryl visits with each team to offer an open forum (hopefully without the managers) to get input on how things are going. These meetings are very helpful to get a pulse check on the KCS implementation. Once per year, Cheryl uses a survey that contains questions related to topics that seem to be causing issues. After the survey is complete, Cheryl takes the results to the KCS Council first, and then to the wider forum of Coaches to get input on data interpretation. It is always a good idea to get some input when analyzing data from surveys such as these; results might require context.

How do engineers/agents get answers to KCS-related questions?

At Novell, engineers ask questions through a distribution list of KCS authors and publishers. If a topic seems to require more input, then Cheryl takes the question to the standing Coach’s meeting for discussion and a decision. If the issue can’t be resolved in either of these two options, then Cheryl takes it to the KCS Council for final decision.Cheryl uses the KCS Council to help make decisions when something can't be resolved in any other way.

At Novell, the KCS Council consists of four Coaches who have many years of experience and are trusted among all the Coaches to make decisions on their behalf. Cheryl and the KCS Council make every effort to engage with the full group of KCS Coaches to get input. However, the responsibility to make final decisions rests with the group of senior Coaches on the KCS Council.

How did you get support of your executive sponsors?

For several years, the KCS implementation at Novell enjoyed the benefits of strong executive-level leadership support and sponsorship. Early on in the process, executives and managers participated in the KCS Foundations Workshop, which proved to be very useful in getting everyone in alignment about what KCS is and what it takes to implement it.

Describe any specific challenges/objections that were commonly raised by engineers/agents.

For Novell, the biggest objections are with the tools. People who struggle with authoring use the tool as an excuse to not participate. To counter these objections, they have done lots of training and continuous messaging with the workarounds.

Novell also make an efforts to focus on the positive people who are adopting the methodology and spend less time trying to manage those who are negative.

At Novell, some teams are implementing KCS where they are really juggling a lot of things at the same time (e.g., chat). For them, Cheryl uses the “learning to drive” analogy; driving gets easier after you practice it. KCS is like that as well. Initially, the methodology might take some time to get used to (like remembering to check your mirrors), but once it becomes second nature, they will do it fast and efficiently. It is very helpful when you can get new employees on board initially because it takes them 4-6 weeks to become proficient at it.

What's next for you and your program?

Cheryl is going to focus on the KCS Coaches. Many have been involved for years and some seem to be burned out. She wants to identify the ones that are still passionate about coaching and let the others move on to other initiatives. She is planning to use a few techniques to help her as she identifies the coaches who will stay and those who would rather not be coaches any longer.

The first technique is to simply ask all the coaches to let her know who wants to stay on board. If there are a few coaches who have requested to stay on but aren’t performing optimally, she will work with their manager to find another project that they can participate in with passion and enthusiasm.

Another option that Cheryl would like to explore is using Social Network Analysis to identify who within the organization tends to be a communication hub. These individuals are good candidates for coaching positions.