Audio diary and debriefing for knowledge management in SMEs

Abstract

Site managers meet complex problems in their day-to-day work and have to find
\nsolutions promptly. However, the industry does not capture this valuable experience
\nand may even not realise its significance. If this knowledge is collected, structured
\nand disseminated, there would be significant benefits to the companies as well as the
\nwhole construction industry. This research is to test and improve a simple yet robust
\napproach for this purpose. The site managers keep an audio diary of a problemsolving
\nevent by Dictaphone each week which contains their personal knowledge and
\nthinking. Then the managers are debriefed about the set of their recorded events each
\nmonth in order to explicate the significance embedded in these events and to
\ntransform it into knowledge accessible to a wider audience. With the participation of
\nsite managers from a dozen small and medium sized construction companies across
\nthe country, the event recording and debriefing process last for six months. The
\npreliminary findings from the research indicate that audio diary and debriefing as a
\ntool for knowledge management are effective and efficient for practitioners to capture
\nand distil their learning and tacit knowledge.