Knowledge Transfer: Here’s what consultancies don’t want you to know

Consultancies have a long history of selling knowledge transfer as a part of their service offerings because it's an attractive proposition for clients. However, it’s often the first thing that conveniently gets forgotten about.

How is that so?

The gap between selling knowledge transfer and delivering it effectively can be attributed to several reasons...

Lack of prioritisation

Consultancies may prioritise project delivery and results over knowledge transfer. Their primary goal is often to demonstrate their expertise by achieving tangible project outcomes. As a result, knowledge transfer can become a secondary consideration.

Short term focus

Many consultancies are geared toward short-term engagements with clients. They may not have the incentives or mechanisms in place to ensure that knowledge is effectively transferred and sustained beyond the project's completion.

Resistant to sharing expertise

In some cases, consultants may be reluctant to share their expertise and knowledge fully. They may view knowledge as a source of competitive advantage or job security, leading to a reluctance to transfer it.

Lack of Follow-up

Knowledge transfer isn't a one-time event; it should be an ongoing process. Consultancies may not follow up with clients after the project concludes to ensure that the knowledge transferred is being effectively utilised.

Profit margins

Consultants don’t want to roll off clients and therefore it simply isn’t in their best interest to transfer their knowledge.

Yet organisations have the power to bridge the gap between selling and effectively delivering knowledge transfer.

I was fortunate to work on an extremely large KT project which made up a part of a project with overall costs exceeding a billion pounds. The overall goal was to transition knowledge developed over 40 years into a brand new permanent offshore team. Here’s what I learnt...

Plan in your KT upfront.

It’s imperative that KT is included as a specific deliverable as part of the consultancy SOW. Your consultancy needs to be on the hook for doing a proper KT plan at the onset of the programme.

Create a concise and clear KT process.

You must understand it is not in your consultancies best interest to hand over a robust KT – clarity before the project commences is key. A clear KT work stream plan is a good way to hold your consultancy to account on key delievrable dates to achieve effective KT.?

Appoint an internal KT champion as part of the project team.

To assist the successful delivery of that plan, clients would do well to appoint an internal KT champion as part of their project team. They should keep up to date on the progress of this KT on a regular basis. This helps to ensure accountability on the supplier to successfully transfer their knowledge and expertise.?

Ensure that there is a knowledge repository system in place to log and track KT activity.

Scope of the knowledge that should be handed over/transferred should be documented in a shared location between consultancy and client. Then, as the knowledge sharing progresses, all activity should be logged, stored and adult retrievable between all sides.?

Put an accreditation process in place to validate knowledge has been transferred to the required standard.

Like any objective, KT as a deliverable should be measurable. One of the most powerful ways to achieve this is to formally assess that the knowledge has been transferred successfully. This can be done in a number of ways... presentation format to demonstrate knowledge of system/process changes, exam/test focused with a pass score or demonstrating knowledge "on the job".?

Forbes Project Solutions wants you to be in a better position after using our services and certainly not reliant on the project teams we provide.

We have a robust Knowledge Transfer mechanism designed to leave our clients in a stronger position and not dependent on external project teams.

To discuss more…

If you would like to find out more get in touch with?Tom Dobson, Client Services Director of?Forbes Project Solutions.