Implementing a successful knowledge management (KM) strategy can be difficult thanks to the ever-growing amount of information organisations both generate and have access to. Another complicating factor is staff turnover, which has been trending upwards in recent years.

Indian IT services firm MindTree Consulting has developed a comprehensive KM system to overcome these challenges. The firm’s approach considers the lifecycle of knowledge, and aims to support creation, innovation, collaboration and sharing, explained vice president and head of knowledge management at the firm, Raj Datta.

“Although many organisations think that managing knowledge involves the setting up of a repository and then just hoping people submit content, we believe it’s something different,” Datta said. “Building a knowledge ecosystem is the most practical way to approach the intangible nature of knowledge management.”

The effectiveness of MindTree’s approach to KM recently earned top spot in the process category at the Innovation Awards 2007, hosted by Indian IT trade body the National Association of Software and Services Companies.

MindTree’s knowledge ecosystem consists of four different spaces: physical, virtual, social and mind.

For KM to work, a firm’s physical space - ­its office layout, furniture, lighting and so on -­ must be conducive to knowledge facilitation, Datta said. Virtual space is about connecting minds using web-based tools that allow workers to share information.

MindTree’s collaborative software arsenal features a range of self-built systems, including Open Mind, a package that lets people develop and build software together, and Project Space, which enables team members to work together on a project or customer account. A system called Neuron allows staff to build on their co-workers’ ideas or link them to their own if they are complementary.

The social space is about “building platforms to encourage employees to connect in person”, according to Datta. “Trust is built in such networks and it is a lot more rapid if people can see each other,” he added. To this end, staff at MindTree come together three to four times a day in so-called knowledge communities.

Another element of the firm’s social space is a process that MindTree calls Osmosis, which involves the evaluation of thought leadership through contests. One of these contests is TechWorks, where MindTree staff collaborate to build software ideas for increasing productivity, reducing defects or facilitating reuse of technology.

The Osmosis process culminates in a conference where people can put their ideas forward on a “board wiki” Datta said. “The day is extremely energising and the intellectual exchange is rich.”

The final element of the knowledge ecosystem is mind space. “People spend a lot of time in their own minds and it is important to make the mind more creative and rational, so we have created a new programme involving techniques such as perception mapping to help workers think this way,” Datta explained.