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Sustainably Smarter: How PM knowledge networks improve skills

For over twenty years organizations have championed knowledge networks, also called ‘communities of practice’, as a way to improve innovation, productivity and job satisfaction. Networks, they claim, support members’ learning in a trusted space.

However, few actually understand the mechanisms that make networks work. How do networks facilitate cooperative behaviors and endure the pressures of deadlines, scarcity, reorganizations, and ROI scrutiny?

The answer, we found, lies in clear intention, operational structure, and novel feedback mechanisms. Even while networks are volunteer-led and improvisational, they are most effective with thoughtful design.

Our study examined knowledge networks in a bilateral government-funded research center in Australia, and a global Life Sciences Company based in the U.S. This allowed us to explore the continuums of traditional/non-traditional project settings, formal/informal designs, and non-profit/for-profit domains.

Organizations invest in networks to add a sense of emergence — to break down some of the silos and biases that can thwart learning in the traditional hierarchy. But, in a paradoxical way, we find that design, not just emergence, brings out the best in the network. Traditional project management capabilities complement other network leadership practices, such as motivating volunteers, amplifying their common sense of scarcity, and defining their shared purpose. When networks hum along, balancing emergence and design, members can use each other as a voting block, curation partners and a sounding board. That improves overall project management capabilities and outcomes.

The Research Team

Dr. Chivonne Therese ALGEO, PhD
Associate Professor, Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Chivonne is an academic researcher and educator in the field of project management, knowledge management, and organizational transformation, as well as an experienced project leader with over 20 years of experience in major financial, insurance, and health organizations. As an Associate Professor with Monash University, Chivonne leads the development and delivery of courses which utilize organizational knowledge management and transformative approaches to solve real-world challenges. Chivonne is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Project Management, Fellow and Vice-President Australasia of the Action Learning Action Research Association, Member of the Project Management Institute, and established the Project Organising Special Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management.

Ms. Katrina PUGH, M.S./M.B.A.

Adjunct Faculty, Columbia University, and President AlignConsulting, New York and Boston, USA
Katrina Pugh is an Adjunct Faculty member and the former Academic Director of Columbia University’s Information and Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) Master of Science program. She specializes in business strategy, collaboration, social network analysis, and knowledge-driven transformation. Kate is general editor and co-author of Smarter Innovation: How Interactive Processes Drive Better Business Results (Ark Group, 2014), author of Sharing Hidden Know-How: How Managers Solve Thorny Problems with the Knowledge Jam (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, April 2011), and has published in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and Review of Economics and Statistics. Kate has over twenty years of consulting and industry experience in the financial services, health sciences, energy, information technology, and international development sectors.

This event is for PMI Sydney Chapter Members only. Registrant numbers are limited to 60 due to venue restrictions. Non registered members will not gain admittance. PMI registered members if you cannot attend, please cancel your registration in advance to permit other members to attend.