We asked one KM leader at SNC-Lavalin what he finds most valuable about APQC membership.
What tools, expertise, services, or information do you use the most?
We use APQC’s Process Classification Framework (PCF)® on two dimensions: process classification and knowledge management. Why reinvent the wheel when APQC’s PCF creates a baseline for us?
Our membership also gives us access to APQC benchmarks. We use the KM Capability Assessment tool on a yearly basis to figure out how we compare to other organizations, how we perform, and how we can enhance our communities of practice to match those that exist in other companies. We use APQC as our auditors for KM. We asked APQC to validate our work, or a maturity assessment, on our communities of practice.
Our membership allows us to learn best practices from others that have more experience than we do. We learn via webinars, presentations, articles, white papers, and the APQC KM Conference. Having a group of team members at the conference changes our dynamic and, often, approach as we see that we are not the only organization struggling.
It is nice to hear other companies’ stories at the conference and gives credibility to our challenges and helps not feel so lonely. It’s powerful to bring end users together at a conference focused on knowledge management and see what they are doing with APQC.
APQC's Resource Library content is very pertinent, especially in our field of knowledge management. It’s a recent science, so there are not a lot of places where we can exchange and get relevant, actionable content.
How do you describe APQC within your organization?
APQC is a knowledge network for knowledge management. It’s a non-profit organization, so it has credibility.
APQC is not there to sell technology, but to support and help the lonely (and passionate) people that are trying to make KM work within their own organizations.
How would you justify your APQC membership to someone?
APQC membership is incredible. And for the price of the membership, for us, it’s a no brainer, since our entire team gains access to all that knowledge.