Retaining Institutional Knowledge with Andy Kricun

We continued our conversations this month with Andy Kricun, Principal at Moonshot Missions and former Executive Director and Chief Engineer of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA). Andy’s work with CCMUA allowed him the opportunity to critically consider and implement the best ways to collect and retain institutional knowledge. Read below to discern the right next steps and best practices you might take in order to ensure your plant is both knowledgeable and prepared for any changes that might come your way.  

First, what all comprises what we mean when we talk about institutional knowledge?  

Institutional knowledge consists of a number of different sources. One is individual knowledge that is only located in the brains of people at the utility. Another component is the specifications of your equipment, such as maintenance manuals. Institutional knowledge might also include the reports that have been generated, as well as agreements and regulatory standards you have to meet. All of this collectively comprises institutional knowledge, and retaining each one has a different approach.  

What are the steps to capturing institutional knowledge?  

1. Make a list of your most critical operational processes. Anyone who has decision-making power should be part of this. Ideally, the plant superintendent and operators should create this list together. Examples include emptying a tank for cleaning, making a critical repair, or the process for addressing a significant wet weather event that is occurring. Moonshot Missions would be happy to help your team create a potential list of these processes!  

2. Designate someone to begin to collect information on those processes. For us, we hired college students. They worked with an experienced engineer and interviewed the operators about the critical pieces of information that might not be in the manual. You want that information captured for your respective plant, in your respective climate. A very important note when you are collecting this information is that framing is everything. Some people will be really flattered by this request, and grateful that they are being given the opportunity to pass critical information down. Others worry that this is a step toward replacing the work that they contribute. It’s critical for the manager to frame this process as a means of acknowledging all the knowledge a person has and working to ensure that knowledge is captured and retained.  It really should be seen as a compliment—this person’s knowledge is valuable to the long-term success of our utility! 

3. Develop critical standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each critical process. These SOPs should be a combination of the knowledge from the staff that you collect, as well as the information provided in manuals and other documents for performing these processes. It's important to have the plant superintendent drive the level of detail and goal setting in these SOPs based on their philosophy for running the plant.  

So, we’ve got the SOPs. What’s next?  

1. Go over the SOP with the operators to make sure you got it right. This is an important step in the process of ensuring it is well written, easy to follow and, most importantly, accurate.  

2. Prioritize availability and access. If you have an intranet, put the SOPs on your plant's intranet so you can easily search and plug in one place. When possible, a durable paper copy should be physically near where the part is, along with the manual.  

3. Review each SOP as part of the onboarding process for new hires.  

4. Plan for modifications/frequent review. If/when something changes in a process, it’s important to go over it and change the SOP. The SOP should be READ ONLY so there is only one designated person to make the change (likely the superintendent). Always date who made the change and always note the initial entry and the change of the entry. It’s critical that the most current state of play is out there. Though it’s important to keep a record of these changes, it’s important to have the superintendent maintain the most updated version to avoid confusion.  

Any final notes you’d like to share?  

Institutional knowledge isn’t only gained within your own institution/plant; it can only be gained, in some cases, from other utilities as well. If you are isolated and only talking to your internal colleagues, you will develop more slowly. The key goal is to find where you are similar to other utilities and then make slight adaptations as you learn about critical differences from each other. Remember that water utilities are like snowflakes- all similar in structure, but each a little different based on climate, size, age, and many other factors. Join local associations, talk with your fellow utility managers, take part in groups like PRESERVE to learn from each other!  

Please reach out to us at PRESERVE@moonshotmissions.org if you are interested in discussing other ways your institution might work to document institutional knowledge.