The Knowledge Café combined with a Drum Café

David Gurteen in action

David Gurteen facilitated an interactive Knowledge Café with the help of drums at the recent International Knowledge Management Conference (ICKM 2012).

It formed part of the opening proceedings, and helped conference delegates connect with each other during the speed networking session, as well as connection through the drumming.

Warren Liebermann with his drummers & singers

Warren Liebermann of Drum Café with his drummers provided an interactive experience for all which opened up the synergy and receptive mood of the conference.

Conference delegates with musical instruments

The question was asked about the format of teaching which has not changed for centuries, and the informal and interactive way of the Drum Café brought home the message even more.

"Is the lecture format of teaching an effective way of learning and sharing knowledge and if not, what is?"

Drum on a chair at ICKM 2012

The following four questions paved the way for the rest of the conference proceedings:

"At this conference, to what extend are you prepared:

1. to get value from being here?

2. to engage personally to achieve this?

3. to take risks to learn?

4. to take responsibility for the learning & engagement of others?"

ICKM 2012 Conference delegates

The success of a conference depends on each delegate's willingness to participate!

The combination of the drums facilitated the interactiveness of the Knowledge Café, and it created a wonderful synergy for the rest of the conference!


See blog post & video playlist by David Gurteen about the same event:
A wonderful combination of a Knowledge Café and a Drum Café


Blog post by Karen du Toit, conference delegate at ICKM 2012.

Conversations for business - David Gurteen Knowledge Café workshop

David Gurteen facilitated a workshop on the implementation of Knowledge Cafés at the International Conference on Knowledge Management 2012. 

He is a Knowledge Management consultant, speaker and facilitator at Gurteen Knowledge. 

He is well-known for his Gurteen Knowledge Cafés which helps to facilitate conversation in business.

The Knowledge Café workshop brought up a few interesting points which regards conversation in business:

- People love to feel important. It is very valuable to remember in conversation in business.

- The circle as a mechanism in conversation. It helps to enable equal access to each other. 

- The conversation needs to be centred around a central point.

- Misconceptions are addressed through conversations, and it enhances better understanding in a business environment.

- There is power in presence. Direct conversation leads to a different conversation which is based in the direct connection with each other.

- Relationships are important in an organization. Conversation improves relationships.

- The most important resource in an organization is the individual. The focus should therefore be on the person/personnel.

- The following stands in the way of conversation in an organization: 

•   Hierarchy; 
•   Language of blame; 
•   Company Talk; 
•   Who is perceived to have the power; 
•   Top-down-management conversation.

- The Knowledge Café addresses most of the imbalances and problems encountered in business conversations. 

The Knowledge Café brought up a few interesting applications in business:

-  Organize lunch dates with people in different departments (done through Human Resources).

- Breakfast dates: "What is spoken at breakfast remains at breakfast."

- Instead of meeting call it a forum with the theme of "Fearless conversation!"

- Communities of Practice can use it directly or virtually.

- Knowledge Cafés without furniture in the room. It gets business done!

- The use of conversation cards in a Knowledge Café, such as "Take the lead!" and "Be quiet!" and "listen more!" that are handed to participants.

- Use of Knowledge Cafés can be very valuable before decision-making happens.

- A picnic day with different struggle heroes. It can be applied to using leaders or specialists in the organization who are sitting at each picnic spot, and the participants rotate around them.

- To break protocols in certain communities. Everybody gets a chance to speak.

- Knowledge Cafés do not need many resources to make it happen. No flip charts and other paraphernalia are necessary. There is no need to record the outcomes. 

It mostly only requires a coffee to make it happen. 

The Knowledge Café made us aware of how many and varied its applications can be in business. It is only limited by our own imagination.

Each Knowledge Café will also bring up another set of applications.

Related reading:

- For more reading on the David Gurteen Knowledge Cafe:

Knowledge Café

- The SABC Media Libraries & SABC Training had a private Knowledge Café facilitated by David Gurteen: Report from a Knowledge Café with David Gurteen at SABC Media Libraries

Blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives

Report from a Knowledge Café with David Gurteen at SABC Media Libraries

The SABC Media Libraries and SABC Training Department had a private Knowledge Café with the guru of Knowledge Cafés, David Gurteen, at the SABC on 3 September 2012.

The David Gurteen Knowledge Café spread from a desire to have more meaningful conversations to enhance personal and business relationships; as well as having a profound impact on business decision making and understanding.

"Knowledge Cafés turn a traditional chalk and talk,
death by PowerPoint or meeting,
into an engaging learning event"

The SABC Media Libraries had their own Knowledge Café in 2011, called LibCafe, based on the principles by David Gurteen, which was facilitated by Manti Grobler.

We learnt that David Gurteen would be coming to South Africa this year to be at the International Conference of Knowledge Management (ICKM2012). We are extremely pleased that he could find time in his busy schedule to do a private Knowledge Café with us.

We have picked up valuable tips on how to conduct a Knowledge Café in the future, as well as valuable insights from our colleagues about the value of conversation in business.

Insights about conversation (gathered from the SABC Knowledge Café process):

The question that brought up the following insights:

"What is the role of conversation in knowledge sharing and in creating a conversational / learning culture?"

(Conversation can be face-to-face or via social media)

- Engagement is a good way of learning.

- Conversation brings all topics to the fore.

- Knowledge vs conversation: Is the knowledge in your head the same as knowledge on paper?       - "Knowledge only exists in your head."
It is impossible to capture everything.
The qualities of conversation is linked to a spectrum of what makes a conversation.

- Without conversation there is no knowledge sharing.

- It helps to have a conversation before decisions are being made. It helps to facilitate the decision-making process.

- More informal ways of knowledge sharing exist than only through a PowerPoint presentation or a meeting.

- The conversation depends on the people willing to share their knowledge.

- Conversation adds to the exchange of ideas.

- The more conversation, the more understanding.

- Conversation helps to know what is going on in an organization and who is doing what in an organization.

- The knowledge is on ground level. All personnel need to be included in the conversation.

- People know things, but they are very defensive.

- Conversation helps to adjust own perspectives.

- There is not enough conversation in the organization, but it is up to us ourselves to open up the conversation.

- The culture of conversation is aligned with our values of conversation. We need to get back to conversation.

- A better "voice" comes from a Knowledge Café.

- Having a chat over coffee - seeing the value of this kind of conversation through the perspective of the Knowledge Café.

- Conversation is not a debate. There is no need to convince anybody.

- Conversation can lead to empowerment and effectiveness!

David Gurteen in action in the final circle of the SABC Knowledge Café

Tips for the future about the use of conversation in the company

- Conversation through the Knowledge Café process can be used to help facilitate decision-making.

- There is a place for more informal ways of sharing knowledge in the company. The coffee dates and meetings in the kitchen add a valuable addition to foster conversation.

- Archivists and librarians that are feeling undermined can have a valuable outlet in the form of a Knowledge Café to share frustrations and to surface issues. It can also address the issues of working in silos.

- The Knowledge Café can be used instead of having a meeting.

- We should cultivate a culture of conversation.

- Use the idea of "hiring" a specialist/mentor/buddy in the organization as a way to increase understanding/enhance knowledge/fostering relationships.

- There is a need to create a group out of the Knowledge Café process to speak with a "better voice".

- The training specialists can help to facilitate the Knowledge Cafés.

- The training specialists also see a value in adding Knowledge Cafés into their training programmes.



More information about David Gurteen Knowledge Café method can be found here:
David Gurteen kcafe


Related posts:

- Storify of the private David Gurteen Knowledge Café at the SABC Media Libraries #SABCkcafe

- Knowledge Café newspaper publishing daily - created by SABC Media Libraries

- David Gurteen Knowledge Café - background reading in preparation


The Picasa Photo album of the Knowledge Café can be found here:

- SABC Knowledge Café with David Gurteen - 3 September 2012



Blog post by Karen du Toit, Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives

David Gurteen Knowledge Café - background reading in preparation

David Gurteen, Knowledge Management expert and Knowledge Café guru, is coming to South Africa in September to facilitate a workshop on Knowledge Café's, as well as speaking at the International Conference of Information and Knowledge Management 2012.
Hopefully he will also present a Knowledge Cafe at the SABC for the SABC Media Libraries, as well as for SABC Training.

The SABC Media Libraries held a Knowledge Café, called LibCafé,  in August 2011 based on the principles of David Gurteen's Knowledge Cafés.

Some more posts about our own Knowledge Café can be found here: LibCafe

A quote from David Gurteen's website sums up the premise of a Knowledge Cafe:

A Knowledge Cafe is a means of bringing a group of people together to have an open, creative conversation on a topic of mutual interest to surface their collective knowledge, to share ideas and insights and to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and the issues involved.
This ultimately, leads to action in the form of better decision making and innovation and thus tangible business outcomes.

For more background information about Knowledge Cafés, videos about previous Knowledge Cafés by David Gurteen and upcoming Knowledge Cafés, read at KCafe by David Gurteen.


http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/kcafe

(Photo from our LibCafe in 2011)


Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.

LibCafe summarized via Summarizr

We had our Knowledge Café called LibCafe at the end of last month, and here is a summary of the event on Twitter through Summarizr.

LibCafe

Summarizr is a 

... service [that] will create a brief summary of a TwapperKeeper tweet archive. It works for #hashtag archives, keyword archives and @person archives. Just enter a hashtag, keyword, Twitter account name or archive URL ...

Summarizr LibCafe

Summarizr LibCafe twitterers

Summarizr LibCafe Top 10 @reply recipients and/or mentions

Summarizr Top 10 conversations and hashtags

More statistics can be found here: Summarizr LibCafe


Blog post by Karen du Toit, SABC Radio Archives.

LibCafé curated - SABC Media Libraries Knowledge Café

LibCafé WordItOut word cloud

The SABC Media Libraries had a very interesting and successful Knowledge Café #LibCafe last week.

We are still busy  looking at some of the results that were generated through the tools used in the LibCafé. Even the scribbles done by the participants are a valuable way in finding our way through the maze of social media.

The question that was asked: "What do you need to start using social media?"

We have curated our tweets identified by the hashtag #LibCafe in Twapperkeeper:
http://twapperkeeper.com/LibCafe

Also in Twubs:
http://twubs.com/LibCafe

We have found a strange phenomenon which happened with regards Twitter. Our main Twitter account @SABCMediaLib was not picked up by any of the curation options that we used. The account is not blocked, nor is it private. It is only the tweets that were retweeted, or that came from the other sources, such as the @SABCRadioArc account, that were curated.

If anybody has an idea about the reason, please let us know?

The story of the day is compiled in Storify, which include tweets, blog posts, links, photos and related information about Knowledge Café's as well as specifically our LibCafé.
http://storify.com/sabcmedialib/libcafe

The Prezi, the presentation tool that was used, is also available online:
http://prezi.com/nxg-6mv1cemx/libcafe/

The TwitterFountain can be seen her:
http://thefounta.in/i5nC7


Related post:
What do we need to start using social media in the SABC Media Libraries?

Blog post by Karen du Toit, and WordItOut word cloud by Obakeng Phiri (intern) (SABC Radio Archives).

Experience of a Knowledge Café at KMUK11 #KCafe

WordItOut word cloud of Knowledge Café quotes

A most recent Knowledge Café which was facilitated by David Gurteen. #KCafe @DavidGurteen

Some of the quotes that came out in the Knowledge Café presentation:

Business is a conversation

Conversation is a meeting of minds

KM is about understanding

Dialogue

Conversation is our most effective KM tool

Conversation is a learning technology

                                                                                      (see the WordItOut word cloud above)

Gerald Meinert wrote about his experience of the Knowledge Café in a blog post, which can be read here:

One step beyond: KMUK11 - Knowledge Cafe: Having a cafe after the desert makes some sense, and the second good news: this time it was not in the virtual coffee-corner...

Our own Knowledge Café called LibCafé is upcoming on 30 August, and we are busy preparing the presentations and formulating the questions. Our topic will focus around social media in the SABC Media Libraries.

Do any of you have practical advice?
How do we get to a question that will spark the most debate?

The Knowledge Café to address a PowerPoint aversion

Knowledge Cafe Prezi

We as the SABC Media Libraries had the good fortune to attend the 10^th Annual Information and Knowledge Management Conference hosted by the Department of Information and Knowledge Management of the University of Johannesburg in June.

There were a number of good presentations, and the whole conference was very successfully hosted at the FNB Conference Centre in Sandton.

The one paper that caught my eye was the presentation by Manti Grobler about the concept and hosting of a Knowledge Café at SAP South Africa. She calls it “Welcome to Café CRM where conversation is served”. I am one of the people that as soon as a PowerPoint goes up, it makes me wants to nod off… This usually happens as well!

But, it seems that there is a great Knowledge Management tool that will address this: The Knowledge Café!

A Knowledge Café is a way of engaging all the stakeholders in business to bring out tacit knowledge. It is a way of conversation where everybody gets involved in a less formal setting – the café – and where the discussion is orchestrated around a certain well-prepared topic. The idea is not to get to a decision, but to get to a learning environment where all the ideas and perspectives around a certain topic are brought to the fore!

Manti Grobler used Prezi as a presentation tool: http://prezi.com/2xiybjmsfrii/cafe-crm-johannesburg-13-april-2011/.

This is so much more exciting and visual than a PowerPoint presentation.

She also used Storify to compile the “story” of the day. The photos, tweets and notes were pulled into a storyline: http://storify.com/mantigrobler/cafecrm-13-april-2011

The Knowledge Café is a great way to use as a Knowledge Management tool. I played around with Prezi yesterday, trying to understand the concept of a Knowledge Café, as well as learning how to use Prezi as presentation tool! I used David Gurteen’s video on Knowledge Café which I found on YouTube as a starting point for understanding the concept. The video is also included in the presentation if anybody is interested to go and watch. 

Knowledge Café #KCafe Prezi

I can recommend Prezi for any presentation. You can also pull in your PowerPoint slides as well. No problem! (I’m a convert!)

What is better than sitting around a table with a cup of coffee and cake, and the discussion does not force a certain outcome? The conversation does not need to be “correct”; it only needs to be heard!

I love the idea of not being forced towards a certain outcome, but that the opinions of all the stakeholders are taken into account and everybody feels that their voice has been heard! I hope we will see more of this in the workplace than “death by PowerPoint!” (*hint*)

Blog post by Karen du Toit, Afrikaans Archivist in the SABC Radio Archives.