1. “The faster you get better, the better you get at being fast”
Collaboration at GE
Our GE Opportunity
Driving Impactful Collaboration
Supporting the GE’s Transformation…Thinking Big
Daniel Ranta – November 2017
“This is a community of Knowledge Management leaders from around the
world. It was created in 2005 and is open to all KM practitioners. The goal is to
share experiences and insights on implementing KM programs. Diverse
opinions are welcome if expressed in a supportive and collaborative manner.
Members are encouraged to share KM-related job openings and details on
their own availability for employment in the field.
SIKM

2. Topics for Today
 Starting Point: Introduction
 KM Discovery / Findings: Assessment / Discovery / Findings
 Customers / Team: Building Momentum
 GE Communities: Governance Ideas
 Community Architecture / Culture: People Focus
 Consolidate User Experience: Bring it together
 Roadmap / Governance / Standards: Accelerating the Journey
 Summary / Questions
Transformational
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3. KM Assessment
▪ Assessment Details / Results:
▪ 45 individual 30 to 60 minute conversations across all GE Businesses
▪ Strategy Session – 55 Attendees from across Business
▪ Meetings KM Practitioners
▪ Other meetings / with business leaders / sponsors of KM
▪ General GAP Analysis activities
▪ Summary of key findings
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Transformational

4. “…tribal knowledge is how we work…”
“…if there is no sponsor, there is no chance…”
“…content management is painful…”
“…brokering the connections is key…”
“…just give us a search engine, that’s all we need…”
“…how business units measure success is THE barrier for KS…”
“…if we do it right, it will have tremendous value…”
“…we figure things out on our own…”
“…what tool are you going to use???”
“…I want to be the ‘Dan’ in Aviation…”
Some Quotes -Week 1
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5. Summary: There are many positive aspects of GE’s current efforts to establish and improve collaboration. These “bright spots”
can be built upon and shared with others across the company – including select aspects of KM governance to improve and
standardize KM processes at GE. (building on the strengths)
▪ Change the mindset and the branding from KM to KS (and from technology to behavior)
▪ Establish an initial project to build some early wins (5 GE Communities) and integrate this with an enterprise-wide KS
Strategy
▪ Work to create Collaboration Services for our GE-wide KS Strategy by working to find executive level sponsors from the
business and from supporting groups such as Businesses, IT, Corporate Communications and HR / Learning
▪ Create a KS Leadership Team – business focal points
▪ Engage early with IT as a partner for KS development - ensure the project has strong IT support
▪ Explore the creation of an enterprise-wide wiki – lay the governance foundation for GE Wiki
▪ Work with internal resources to create some subtle KS and GE Community branding to separate the new KS approach and
work from existing and past KS-related efforts
▪ Ensure that the security model for knowledge communities is clear and broadly communicated – there should be no
ambiguity in this important area at GE
▪ Create a comprehensive set of KS governance materials – build this directly in to the GE Wiki.
▪ Build a KS team charter and structure that clearly shows how a central team can manage all KS-related activities for GE in
the future
Key Findings / Recommendations (initial steps)
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6. GE Internal
GE Stakeholder Groups – Visualization of Key Groups driving
Collaboration at GE – Focus on Knowledge RE-USE / Productivity
Collaboration at GE –
Stakeholder Groups
Engineers & Others –
Our Customers
SH = Stakeholders
SH-2a: KS Leadership Team – GE
Collaboration Ambassadors Accountable
for guidance on KS within and across
businesses / disciplines / functions
SH-3a: CORE: Engineers in Roles
across Businesses / Disciplines / Functions
(Engineering / Technical Function)
SH-4: ACTIVE – GE Employees Collaborating
SH-5: EXTENDED – Community Members
– across all businesses / disciplines / functions
SH-1: Executive Sponsors / ELC /
Businesses / GRC / Corp IT – strategic
direction & support, etc.
Locations
Disciplines
Locations
Disciplines
Locations
Disciplines
Locations
Locations
Business
Business
Business
SH-2b: KS / HR / Learning / Corporate
IT Support Teams (enablers)
Requisition
Application
Disciplines
Business
Business
Business
Business
Business Business
Business
PEOPLE
Process
Technology
TRUST
Helping Employees have the answers to the questions that have not yet been asked
GE Store
Scientific
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7. GE Internal
GE KS & Research / Library Services Team
Global Team Leader
Library / Research Leader
KM Leader
GE Wiki Expert KS Tech. Lead KS Taxonomist RKS Expert RKS Expert RKS Expert
Knowledge Sharing
Research & Knowledge
Services
Extended KS Team (Collaboration Ambassadors across Businesses)
ENERGY
CONNECTIONS POWERAVIATION TRANSPORTATIONLIGHTINGBHGE
HEALTH
CARE
RENEWABLE
ENERGY DIGITAL
1. KS / RKS Teams
2. Culture
3. Business Alignment
4. KS Awards / R&R
5. GE Communities
6. Technology
7. Content & Search
8. Expertise ID
9. KS Comm. / Training
1. Engineering Services –
TISCAT, etc.
2. External Content / IP
3. UX / ROI / Metrics
4. Patent Services
5. Subscription Mgmt.
6. Benchmarking
7. WaaS – Wiki as a
Service
Consulting
Support
Consulting
Support
Manager
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8. How are we working to improve collaboration with communities
at GE. Focus on: Adoption, Engagement and Business Value
Criteria to define a GE Community and to determine if a community is the right solution. Please remember, a Community is about solving problems and overcoming
challenges vs. an organizational construct (department, discipline, function). Just as importantly, a GE Community is about getting the right people engaged in impactful
collaboration - the behavioral element that helps us build a more collaborative culture.
▪ Communities are OUTCOME-based and should have a foundation in both collaboration and learning - since more learning happens on the job.
▪ Communities exist to champion, demonstrate, communicate, transfer and embed important Knowledge Processes and Practices (know-how, know-what, and know-why) in
line with GE guidelines and procedures, to support the delivery of business results or OUTCOMES.
▪ Communities are a means to Link Employees within and across businesses, disciplines, and functions with the overall objective of making a measurable contribution to the
continuous improvement of business performance or OUTCOMES. Staying relevant and current is key for business value.
▪ Communities thrive as "bounded collaboration," which is key to build Trust while crossing boundaries as necessary to share surgically with other communities - known as
sister-Community-sharing. Bounds are mainly established in the communities charter - what major business challenges and opportunities is a community seeking to
positively impact. It’s Impactful Collaboration.
▪ Communities should have an annual plan (or perhaps longer) agreed with the Community Sponsor and Leader and the Core Team. Often the best communities are Problem-
Solving in nature and performance should be measured by: 1) quantifiable Community activity measures and 2) documented business improvement examples linked to
material Measurable Business Outcomes. Examples of impact include, but are not restricted to, existing key performance indicators such as down-time improvements and
increased employee productivity, as well as team/individual efficiency improvements and reductions in non-productive time, etc. KPIs specific to the business should be the
focus. The drive for productivity improvements — in the form of economies of scale, streamlined processes, increased reaction times, and improved decision-making —
should be relentless.
▪ A successful Community will use a variety of Communication mechanisms (email alerts, virtual and face-to-face meetings, blogs, newsfeed, and individual contacts) to
highlight, communicate, transfer, document and embed good practices in the Community discipline area. Retaining Critical Knowledge should be done in the flow of how
Community members use the enabling processes and technology in the Community portal site. For example, an active discussion in Ask & Discuss can easily become a wiki
article by leveraging the WaaS.
▪ Communities will maintain an up-to-date Membership list that should include Expertise Rosters on their respective portal site. The topics for expertise are that same used
to manage content in the library and the community's wiki portal space. This provides a consistent knowledge thread within a community.
▪ Communities may have accountability, delegated from the key managers, for some aspects of the Business or Discipline – “front door.”
▪ Communities should scope Projects or MISSION-Based Teams (Workgroups) to deliver specific objectives - once completed, they are shared with the Community members
broadly. Workgroups should have defined and finite duration, while Communities have a "boundarylessness" about them and are an enduring part of GE.
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9. GE Internal
Adaptive Space – These are GE Communities
GE Communities
(GE-wide)
Groundswell: Tapping the Power of
Employee Communities to Fuel
Emergent Innovation
From Rob Cross 9

10. GE Communities
>65K+Active
Collaboration
Context
Constituents
Communication
Content
All GE Businesses Adopted
Productivity Costs & Quality
Dynamic environment for the retention
of critical knowledge and the protection
of our intellectual capital – enterprise-
wide encyclopedia – GE-Wide
GE Impactful Collaboration
Engagement is Sanctioned at the Chief Engineering Office Level
Measurable Business Value is Mandatory
250 GE Communities with ~125K Employees
Engaged by mid-2018 ( ~70K Engineers)
GE Wiki
Collaboration Services
Facilitate “Impactful” Collaboration
• Connect People / Problem Solving / Broad-based Learning
• Cross-Business / -Discipline Sharing / Share Surgically
Retain & Re-use Critical Knowledge
• Turn Tacit into Explicit / Collect & Capture
• Organize / Filter / Retain / Find / Re-Use
Manage & Elevate Expertise
• Locate & Leverage GE Expertise - CTHs
• Reward & Recognize / Find Expertise in Context
Learning / Continuous Improvement
• Team with GE employees / CTHs (across GE)
• Access Existing Content / GE Wiki / Lessons Learned
• Enable Mission-based Teams / Innovative Behaviors
Enhance Content & Search / Findability
• Organize with Taxonomy for Context
• Find Content / Knowledge with Intuitive Ease
• Presence Awareness for Contextual Knowledge
GE
Communities
W
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11. Horizontal Standardization Drives Lower Costs and Greater
Value…as well as Greater Employee Satisfaction & Engagement
GE Communities
EstimatedCostper
Community
More
Less
Few Many
GE Communities are made up of
groups of GE professionals facing
similar work challenges and
learning opportunities.
• Communities are bounded to
facilitate building and leveraging
trusted relationships within and
across GE’s businesses and
disciplines.
• While bounded, Communities have
porous boundaries enabling
broader collaboration and
engagement in peer-to-peer
problem solving and the capture of
additional business value in the flow
of their daily work activities.
• GE Communities are central for
building an open, collaborative,
global culture.
• A small, central team provides the
Collaboration Services for GE
Communities.
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12. GE Internal
TACIT Knowledge (people) is more important than EXPLICIT (content)
Rotating Community Blog Featured Member
Community Stats
Business
ScorecardLast Five Questions w/tags
Purpose / About Find Expertise
Newsfeed Calendar / Upcoming Events
New in GE Wiki
Community Leadership Model
Logo
Join/Leave
Name
Side
Navigator
Modifiable Links
Search About you / AlertsIcon NavigationProgram Logo
Collaboration
Commitment
Communication
Content
Context
ConstituentsExpertise
Calendar
Context
Communication
Constituents
Digital
Strategy
Components
TACIT
EXPLICIT
Commitment
Content
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13. GE Internal
GE Collaboration Services – GE Store
Questions Answers
Observations
& Thoughts
Lessons Learned
Technical
Expertise
Best Practices
Guidelines, etc.
Ideas
Discussions &
Conversations
Documents / Presentations
Wiki
Articles / Content
FormalInformal
Recommended
Procedures
Enterprise-wide Wiki – Organized in Context (Content & Expertise)
Search / Findability – Organized by Relevance (Content & Expertise)
Insights &
Findings
Peer-to-Peer
Problem Solving
Slack / Groups / Yammer External CustomersKnowledge Sharing
Informal Groupings
Digital
Exchange
GE WikiBox / Folders / SharePoint
Workgroups Verified / Sanctioned by Business Knowledge Retention & Reuse www.GE.comSocial Communities
Mission-based Teams Outcome-based Communities Knowledge Promotion: Chapters / GE Digital / Case Studies
Innovation
Learning
Continuous
Improvement
Tactical Connections Tight Collaboration Strategic Collaboration Showcasing our GE Store / Brain
Policies
Standards
Design
Practices
Water Cooler /
Coffee Pot
OurCustomersTellOurStory
Case
Studies
Reference
Materials
Success Stories
Wisdom
Primary
Collaboration
Activity
Helping Engineers have the answers to the questions that have not yet been asked
Culture of TRUST
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14. New, Standard Community / KS Approach
– the path to an improved collaborative culture at GE
ActivitiesandSophistication
Timeline
Systematic and Disciplined Approach to KS is a GE Differentiator
• Focus on foundation for KS with initial
Communities
• Ensure value for initial Communities
reflecting strong ROI
• Leverage a consistent, disciplined KS
approach
• Make knowledge transfer a priority within and
across groups / divisions / locations
• GE Wiki up and running for each newly
launched Community
• AVIATION – good fortune
• Create broad based executive support for KS
/ Communities – FRONT DOOR
• Continue working with businesses to develop
purposeful Communities – Impactful
Collaboration (key phrase)
• Less is More
• Expand KS training and awareness as more
employees become members
• KS Team is central and effective for users –
driving consistency and excellence
• GE Wiki is fully launched
• AVIATION / REN / POWER / BHGE
• GE-wide groups
• Making KS a key piece of GE’s cultural DNA,
connecting all knowledge workers
• Nearly all Communities developed and
operating
• Standards being leveraged advances GE’s
KS processes and technology
• Improved Search / Findability for KS and all
Research / Library Services
• GE’s KS approach is recognized as world
class within the industry and with Clients /
Partners / Suppliers, etc. - Productize
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
It Becomes Part of
our DNA
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15. Imagination at work
Questions / Comments
Daniel.Ranta@ge.com
Thanks for Having me
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