Government Knowledge Management Systems Training Course: Audit, Capture, Sharing and Reuse

Programme Summary

Government knowledge management systems are the subject of this one-week training course for senior public sector managers, knowledge leads and heads of departments, ending in a knowledge management plan for one department. Public bodies hold knowledge in people, records and processes, and much of it leaves when staff move. The programme links knowledge audit, capture of expertise, lessons learned, sharing and reuse, then applies each tool to one department. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on government knowledge management systems to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

When experienced staff retire or move, public bodies often repeat past mistakes and search for documents that exist elsewhere. Leaders who run government knowledge management systems with a clear audit, agreed capture routines and active sharing keep expertise inside the organisation.

• Knowledge Loss on Staff Exit: Falls as critical expertise is identified early and handed over by plan.
• Time Spent Searching for Information: Shortens as repositories and routines make reuse straightforward.
• Repeated Errors Across Departments: Reduce as lessons learned are reviewed and applied to new work.

Principles and Evidence Base

• ISO 30401 on knowledge management systems: It sets requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, reviewing and improving a knowledge management system, and it frames Sessions 1 and 5.
• Knowledge audit method: It locates critical knowledge, its holders and the risk of loss, and it underpins the diagnosis in Session 2.
• Communities of practice and lessons learned reviews: They move knowledge between people and into later decisions, and they shape Sessions 3 and 4.

Intended Participants

• Senior managers who are accountable for the continuity of expertise in a department.
• Knowledge leads who design repositories, routines and sharing networks.
• Heads of departments who plan handover when experienced staff leave.
• Records and information officers who connect documents to knowledge needs.
• Training and development leads who link learning to organisational memory.

Typical functions include health, planning, finance and municipal administration.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to define the critical knowledge a public body needs to deliver its mandate.
2. Participants will be able to diagnose where knowledge is held and where it is at risk of loss.
3. Participants will be able to construct a capture and handover plan for a key expert role.
4. Participants will be able to design a lessons learned review that leads to action.
5. Participants will be able to evaluate sharing routines and communities against indicators of use.
6. Participants will be able to justify a knowledge management plan to departmental leadership.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Government Knowledge Management Systems and Knowledge Needs

What does a public body need to know to deliver its mandate, and where does that knowledge sit?

• ISO 30401 Requirements Reading Guide
• Mandate and Critical Knowledge Statement
• Knowledge Asset Inventory
• Knowledge Management Policy Outline
• Sponsor and Role Responsibility Chart

Day 2: Knowledge Audit and Loss Risk

Where is critical knowledge held, who holds it, and what is lost when they leave?

• Knowledge Audit Interview Guide
• Knowledge Flow Map
• Expert Dependency Heat Map
• Records and Document Gap Review
• Knowledge Loss Risk Register

Day 3: Capturing Expertise and Lessons Learned

How are expertise and lessons recorded so that others can use them?

• Expert Capture Interview Protocol
• Lessons Learned Review Template
• After-Action Review Guide
• Knowledge Handover Plan
• Knowledge Repository Structure Sheet

Day 4: Sharing, Communities and Reuse

How is knowledge moved to the people who need it and reused in decisions?

• Community of Practice Charter
• Knowledge Sharing Routine Calendar
• Reuse Request and Feedback Log
• Knowledge Quality Review Checklist
• Knowledge Use Indicator Set

Day 5: Applying the Tools to One Knowledge Management Plan

Do the audit, capture, sharing and indicator tools hold together for one department?

• Applying the Session 2 Audit to the Chosen Department
• Selecting Capture Methods from the Session 3 Toolkit
• Setting Up a Session 4 Community and Routine
• Scoring the Plan with the Knowledge Use Indicators
• Completing the Knowledge Management Plan

Methodology

The programme uses a field-style audit method built on anonymised interview notes, document sets, handover files and short written cases from health, planning and municipal bodies. Participants work in small teams on one department, interview role-played experts, test capture methods with peers and receive facilitator feedback on every map, template and plan.

• Suggested activity: Interviewing a role-played retiring expert and recording what must be kept.
• Suggested activity: Mapping where one decision's evidence is stored and finding the gaps.
• Suggested activity: Running an after-action review on a short written case.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a knowledge management plan for one department. It holds a critical knowledge statement, an audit summary, a loss risk register, a capture and handover plan, a sharing routine with a community charter and a set of use indicators. The plan is used at work to brief leadership and guide implementation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is training in government knowledge management systems suitable for managers who have not led a knowledge function?

Yes. The programme assumes familiarity with the work of a public body and builds government knowledge management systems from audit and capture upward.

Which standard does government knowledge management systems practice rest on in this programme?

It rests on ISO 30401 for knowledge management systems, together with the knowledge audit method, communities of practice and lessons learned reviews.

How is the plan for government knowledge management systems used at work?

You use it to brief leadership, protect critical expertise before staff leave and guide the first months of implementation in your department.

How does learning government knowledge management systems differ from a programme on records management?

It centres on expertise, lessons and sharing between people, while records management centres on the control, retention and disposal of documents.