Project Knowledge Management : How to evaluate project knowledge, and Project Knowledge Management performance

Abstract: Project Knowledge Management and more specifically how organisations capture experiences gained in projects, is a critical topic in order to compete in the knowledge economy. Little attention has been given the catchphrase lessons learned practices as a research area. The purpose of the thesis is therefore to analyse the framework for the project closure phase through a Knowledge Management perspective. The purpose is also to evaluate how new knowledge, captured by project closure documents, can be identified and measured. To fulfil the purpose, the project closure phase and project closure documents within the project model Practical Project Steering are studied. Through a document study, the framework that the project model gives, and the project closure documents is analysed. The project closure documents are also examined regarding the experiences they capture. This is done by developing an instrument for identifying and measuring new knowledge. Through the study, it can be established that the project closure phase provides for a link between Knowledge Management and Project Management. It has an important contribution to Knowledge Management since it mitigates the risk of not transferring knowledge to the organisational memory. The use of predefined knowledge domains supports structure, and systemisation in the production of the documents, as well as in the compilation and dissemination of useful knowledge. New knowledge within the project closure phase can be identified and measured by dividing the documents into isolated pieces of information and using developed criteria to identify, and thereby quantify new knowledge. The instrument is highly reliable since it is ensured that the division of information does not result in any decontextualisation, and since the criteria used are very stable, and still acknowledge the dynamics of knowledge as well as the knowledge context. By using the measurements on empirical data, problems that are important to acknowledge are identified. There is an uneven distribution of knowledge types acquired by the project closure documents, regardless of their importance; resulting in loss of important knowledge. The difficulty to formalise important knowledge, results in failing to transfer knowledge to an external organisational memory. The difficulty to distribute knowledge sufficiently, results in re-invention of the wheel, and the same mistakes being made twice or more.