1. The Mysterious Art and Science of
Knowledge-Worker Performance
Thus far, researchers and managers alike
have a very limited understanding of
what makes knowledge workers tick.
But by manipulating two key leverage
points, companies can begin to shift the
balance from art toward science.
Thomas H. Davenport, Robert J. Thomas
and Susan Cantrell

2. Introduction

3. Peter Drucker
Insisted on the need to
pay more attention to knowledge work
and the people doing such work.

4. understanding of knowledge-worker productivity
We are in the year 2000 roughly where we were in the year
1900 in terms of the productivity of the manual worker.
Manual work Knowledge work
No Frederick Taylor
or Henry Ford
Frederick Taylor
Henry Ford

5. Most businesspeople today would agree with
Drucker about the importance of knowledge work
1. Knowledge work is at the heart of innovation
2. Recruiting and retaining the best knowledge
workers are vital to organizational success
3. Focus on knowledge-worker performance is
3. way of uniting what are often separate tasks,
a
such as strategic planning, organizational design
and IT investment

6. The problem of knowledge-worker performance
1. One that is too sweet to ignore
2. Sweet problems are not always tractable
3. Truly sweet problems may require the creation of
radically new concepts and toosl before they can
be solved

7. Agenda
1. Identify the five key issues
that they saw companies struggling with in their handling of
knowledge work.
2. Framework
that can help organizations think more clearly about how they
might go about improving knowledge-worker performance

8. Identify the five key issues

9. The five key issues
1. The determinants of knowledge-worker performance are
becoming clear. How to integrate them remains murky
2. Many organizations resist the idea that segmentation of
knowledge workers is necessary
3. No one seems to own the problem of knowledge-worker
performance
4. Companies are experimenting heavily with workplace
redesign, but they aren't learning very much
5. There is great reluctance to alter knowledge work,
especially at the high end

10. 1st Issue
The determinants of
knowledge-worker performance are
becoming clear.
How to integrate
them remains murky.

11. determinants of white-collar productivity
Management
information technology
workplace design

12. Ex. Information Technology
Functional equivalent of a
software Swiss army knife
communication
Few have figured out how
Instant to get knowledge workers
collaboration
messaging to actually use these tools
Integrate It all amounts to expensive
e-mail
Knowledge
E-mail
management
Virtual teaming

13. The Still emerging discipline of knowledge management awaits
a model or methodology that can bridge the space between IT,
workplace design business strategy and people management
Business strategy
People management
Information Workplace
technology design

14. 2nd Issue
Many organizations resist that
segmentation of
knowledge workers
is necessary

15. One major obstacle in
the way of developing
a useful model lies in
the generic use of
“knowledge worker.”

16. Can an organization apply
the same solutions?

17. Can it transfer

18. Managers weren't ready to Differentiate their employees
Authors found substantial differences among the
types of people who are called knowledge workers,
and advocates of some degree of segmentation.
Variety of objections
Some managers were concerned about
perceptions of elitism in their organization
Others felt that segmentation might contradict
implicit notions of meritocracy

19. 3rd Issue
No one seems to own the problem of
knowledge-worker
performance.

20. What function
Contributes
to improving
knowledge-worker performance?

21. Who is
responsible
for enabling higher levers of
knowledge-worker performance?

22. Can't find the time
They are expected to focus on
current performance

23. Ex. HR and IT professionals
HR
Line
manager members
IT
A keen interest in optimizing Fear the disruption of
knowledge work existing work
Can’t effectively own the problem

24. Crossing paths with several staff group
Someone does get the inspiration to
do something innovative in the way
knowledge work is organized
Workplace
resource
Get evaluated on criteria like cost per square
foot rather than whether it has created space
that contributes to innovation
The HR department might be more
interested in tinkering with compensation
and benefits – conventional fixes designed
to raise productivity HR
IT doesn’t like the kinds of solutions that
knowledge-worker teams relish, such as
peer-to-peer networking software(which can IT
threaten system security)

25. Ex. Cisco Systems
Overseen
Executive
HR Workplace
IT Finance resource
Meets biweekly to ensure collaboration aimed at
improving employees productivity and satisfaction
The team devised and implemented a new workplace design, as well
as guidelines that allow individuals to choose from a variety of work
settings to support their needs for collaborative, private or mobile work

26. 4th Issue
Companies are experimenting heavily with
workplace design, but they
aren't learning very much

27. Measures, controls, hypotheses and even
recording of lessons learned are often lacking
Faith
Fad
Fashion Finance

28. Attempt to increase the likelihood of informal interaction
Intend to nourish social life at work
Cappuccino Indoor
bar boulevard
Talk plaza
Hearths Creativity
room
There is little evidence that any particular
design increases informal meetings

29. Social spaces are often empty

30. Ex. Corning R&D group
Director makes a point of showing up regularly
for the twice-a-day coffee breaks in the
“creativity room”
Encourage collaboration

31. Open-plan environment

32. IT support for knowledge workers
Personal devices are popular but not Artificial intelligence and expert systems have never taken off
well integrated into the corporate because of difficulties of knowledge representation and
information environment system maintenance

33. 5th Issue
Their is great reluctance to alter knowledge
work, especially at the high end

34. Knowledge work itself can often seem impervious
to change, much less to rationalization
Sometimes knowledge workers themselves are
the ones resisting change

35. Two dominant approaches to
the design and management of knowledge work
1. Process perspective
that works from the assumption that engineering principles can
be applied to all forms of work
2. Practice perspective
emphasizes the implicit coordination and exploration that
produces things to do

36. Process perspective
1980s – 1990s now
structured
Repeatable processes in a
linear growing number of less
structured tasks
repetitive
Order fulfillment
Benefits administration
Product design
Invoicing
Accounts management

37. Ex. Partners HealthCare
real-time IT system
Constantly updated
Database
Histories
Clinical information
Enter an order for a
test or a medicine
Relevant information and
suggestions that the doctor may
or may not choose to accept

38. Practice perspective
Process Practice
Hierarchical
Implicit coordination
Explicit command-and-control
The structure that gets things done exploration that produces things to do
Hire smart people and
leave them alone

39. Ex. IDEO
Recruit and assembling the right team
If your put a good project manager together
with the right people, the project will be good
Organizational approach
IDEO's structure is relatively flat and the
visible perquisites of hierarchy are few
Because high-end-knowledge workers tend to dislike hierarchy

40. Blend of process and practice
Continuously iterated prototyping process may
be the right mixture of practice and process

41. Toward More Productive
Knowledge Work
1. It is mistake to lump all knowledge
workers into one category
2. Some degree of choice in how and where to
work goes a long way toward making
knowledge workers happy

42. Framework

43. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

44. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

45. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

46. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

47. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

48. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

49. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

50. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

51. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

52. Mandatory Modular
High
One-size-fits-one
Degree of Segmentation specialization made-to-order
Moderate
Fixed Configurable Individualized
typologies categories segmentation
Mass Mass
Low
One-size-fits-all
customization personalization
Low Moderate High
Degree of Choice

53. Segmenting Work Environments
Low Companies with a low level of segmentation provide one standard work setting for all
Segmentation employees
Inexpensive efficient Produce a misfit
Moderate Companies group their employees into a limited number of categories and define work
Segmentation settings for each.
Familiar categorization schemes
High
Specifically tailored to small groups of people on a one-off basis
Segmentation
Enables tiger degree of fit expensive Time-consuming

54. Providing individual Choice
Low Choice Work environments are fixed and immutable
Employees cannot configure their workstations or work at home as they see fit
Easy to manage Don’t necessarily save money
Moderate Some companies will allow their employees to make some choice, but only within a menu
Choice of defined options
Align work styles and preferences Real budgetary limitations
A few companies allow their knowledge workers to determine numerous aspects of their
High Choice own work settings
Employees may be encouraged to purchase their own furniture or technology solutions

55. Choosing a Solution

56. How
homogeneous
is your organization?

57. How
important
is it for your organization
to align knowledge workers’
need and their work settings?

58. What level of resources are you
willing to dedicate?

59. Closing

60. Whichever solution one choose, it won't
work if it isn't carefully implemented
It must be remembered, that all solutions
eventually fail
Organization therefore monitor the
changing needs of their knowledge workers
and keep abreast of how new technologies
may enable new ways of working

61. No one has all the answers on how to
improve knowledge work, but managers
shouldn't feel paralyzed
They are correct not to attempt to engineer
or program knowledge work, but that
doesn't mean such work lacks structure,
cyclicality or leverage points for change

62. The keys are to maintain a balance between
process and practice, to treat workers doing
different kinds of work in appropriate ways,
and to focus on more than simply hiring
better knowledge workers