Breakdown Technique

Talking about creativity in the workplace, in this post, I would like to share with you a creative technique called a meeting [Breakdown Technique], in a form of an example that will help you in problem solving.

This technique will allow you to to generate questions by breaking the problem itself down into words that would lead to some creative question/ideas that can be taken into consideration in the problem solving itself by providing steps that could be considered as a possible data for analysis for a detailed problem solving plan or an action plan. If you have more knowledge about the industry, the organizational unit, you could actually generate a detailed action plan with this technique! 

Question: The organization I work for has a large number of members nearing retirement.  How can I retain the institutional knowledge these members possess prior to their leaving?

Illustration of the "Breakdown Technique'

How      

How has it been managed in the past? What were the lessons learned from the past? Have you consulted others who have managed a similar process? Is there currently a job shadowing practice being used? If not. - Have you developed any job shadowing or handover plans?

Can       

Can this process be managed easy if it is well planned or it will be difficult? What are the constraints that you and your team see that might make it difficult? 

I              

Why 'I'? Have you tried to share this with your team? Perhaps engaging both retiring and new staff in the process of transfer of knowledge will bring new ideas and suggestions that would work better because it’s coming from both parties involved in the process?

Retain  

What type of institutional knowledge exactly would you like to retain? Have you tried determining it by area/sector/department (scanning and sorting)?

Institutional knowledge               

What is considered institutional knowledge in your organizational unit? What institutional knowledge are you looking at and at what level? Do all the employees who are retiring possess the same level of institutional knowledge?

These members              

How many members will be retiring? What level jobs are they holding?

Possess               

Do all the retiring employees possess the same level of institutional knowledge, or only bits and pieces of it strictly related to their jobs? 

Did you find it helpful? Look forward to your comments.