Once developed intellectual capital knowledge still has to be managed to ensure it is accessible and remains so over time. Information technology is a key issue at this stage with tools such as Intranets and GroupWare available as support systems.
The systems deployed for the Contract Management Team will need to be consistent with the Authority's wider knowledge management practices. Therefore it is not possible to offer detailed systems advice in this guidance. However the box below lists some key questions that should be considered by all Contract Managers:
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Organising and Managing Knowledge Contract Managers should ask themselves: • Is there a formal method for documentation control in use? • Are documents uniquely identified? • Are all old versions of documents preserved? • Has a filing and naming convention been created? • Is it easy to retrieve old documents? • Is there a recognisable filing system? • Does the filing system deal adequately with all communications including less formal methods such as mails? • Is its structure documented in the Contract Management Manual? • Does the filing system provide an audit trail? • Is filing responsibility clearly defined? • Has space been identified for filing hard copy? |
Well organised document storage and other knowledge management techniques are necessary but not in themselves sufficient to ensure good knowledge management. It is also critical that the right information is available to the right people at the right time. This requires a reporting system designed specifically for the contract management function.