Region 2 is Exploring Knowledge Sharing … and it May Help You One Day!

By Nancy Hazlett, Region 2 Appraiser

December 10, 2018 

Every time someone retires or leaves, CDOT loses institutional knowledge.  Because CDOT usually cannot hire someone to be trained by the person leaving, we usually lose that knowledge forever.  Region 2’s (Southeast Corner of Colorado) Right of Way (ROW) Team decided to do something about this problem.  About six months ago certain members of Region 2’s ROW Team participated in a SOLVE Training, provided by Government Performance Solutions.  This training was part of Governor Hickenlooper’s Lean Process Improvement Vision and dedicated funding provided the means for this team to learn more about tools, resources and how to confront the issue of losing institutional knowledge.  

“This project is happening in the nick of time, Michelle Malloy stated.  Michelle Malloy works in the Office of Process Improvement and is serving as a Mentor for the team.  She went on to say, “With more than 50% of our workforce able to retire in the next 10 years, we will be losing a lot of institutional knowledge.  Our hope is that this pilot project in Region 2’s ROW Team will be leveraged in other areas throughout all of CDOT.”  The project is currently showing many signs of success.  The Region 2 ROW Team is hopeful that they will complete the solution in the first half of 2019 and put it fully to the test as they are hiring more employees in the near future. 

knowledge share logo

Once successful, the results of the project could be used by other offices at CDOT.  The Region 2 ROW Team is developing a library of otherwise undocumented CDOT knowledge.  Knowledge that may one day be forgotten if it remains uncaptured.  They are documenting defined processes that employees complete and in ROW those processes can become pretty complicated!  Under the guidance of Government Performance Solutions, workshops are held monthly where the group is working to develop a ‘system’ and ‘content’ which is expected to one day be a resource for all employees – new and old alike.  The Project’s Charter specifically states that retention of knowledge is important to CDOT because we need “the ability to document and share the knowledge associated with these processes that would allow new and existing employees to work as efficiently, effectively and consistently as our best people”.   

The project, once submitted as a Lean Everyday Idea as an “I Suggest” idea was provided by one of the team members and now Project Leader, Nancy Hazlett.  Nancy has suggested that CDOT should think about creating a user friendly instructional library of useful tools and processes and that covered a broad range of topics and would result in significant time savings for CDOT employees.  Again, this idea came up during the Tech Savvy Team Brainstorming session back in 2015.  And now it is becoming a reality through the dedication and work of Region 2’s Knowledge Share Team (Region 2 ROW). 

CDOT works to deliver results by “thinking big with small improvements” and you can visit the CDOT Process Improvement website to learn more.  Colorado’s Lean Program helps provide state employees tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the way we deliver goods and services, both internally and to our outside working partners.  Region 2’s Knowledge Share Project falls under the guidance of the Office of Process Improvement.  Michelle Malloy had been instrumental in coordination of the project and our team’s Sponsors, Karen Rowe (Region 2 Regional Transportation Director) and Wayne Trujillo (Region 2’s ROW Manager), have really paved the way to ensure that the project is successful!  In lending her support to the project, Karen has stated "It is important that the knowledge not always found in the manuals is shared with those coming up through the organization. It is better to avoid any problems or issues from gaining the information in advance.  This is how we can be a better organization moving forward. I am excited to see progress with our project aims at passing on that experience to help the new employees." 

project team

Many thanks goes to the team that is diligently working to continue to provide successful results and ultimately a successful product that will benefit Region 2’s ROW and perhaps all of CDOT (from left to right):

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