SDC Knowledge Management Tools

The aim of this page is to help people in getting familiar with a variety of methods and tools for planning and reflection of their own activities, for drawing lessons and for sharing insights and applying them. It features a selection of more than 20 methods and tools for knowledge sharing and learning, from basic to more advanced tools, applicable at personal, team and organisational level.

See the table below for the different tools and methods. The links lead you to a short individual description as well as links to additional documents.

For the SDC KM toolkit in German, French, English and Spanish see the publications section below.

Individual Descriptions of the Tools

Tool	Group Size I: Individual T: Team O: Organisation			Moment P: Preparation A: Action R: Reflection			Level B: Basic I: Intermediate A: Advanced
After Action Review		T				R	B
Appreciative Inquiry		T	O	P	A	R			A
Balanced Scorecard			O		A				A
Brainstorming		T		P	A	R	B
Briefing und Debriefing	I			P	A	R	B
Collegial Coaching	I	T		P			B
Community of Practice		T	O		A				A
Critical Incident Technique	I	T	O	P	A	R			A
Exit Interviews	I	T	O			R		I
Experience Capitalization			O			R		I
Experience Documentation	I	T	O			R		I
Facilitation		T			A			I
Good Practice		T	O		A	R		I
Horizontal Evaluation		T	O			R			A
Knowledge Fair			O	P	A				A
Knowledge Map	I	T	O	P	A			I
Knowledge Networks	I	T	O	P	A			I
Lessons Learnt	I	T	O			R	B
Mentoring	I		O	P	A			I
Open Space		T	O	P	A				A
Peer Assist / Peer Review		T	O	P	A	R			A
Ritual Dissent		T		P	A	R		I
Stakeholder Analysis and Mapping		T	O	P	A			I
Storytelling		T	O		A	R		I
SWOT		T		P	A	R	B
Visualization		T		P	A		B
World Café			O	P	A				A
Yellow Pages	I	T	O	P	A	R			A

Descriptions of selected methods are also available in the form of the following publications - download them with the links below or order print versions at wlp@deza.admin.ch.

Vademecum - a handy, small pocket guide with a short 2-page description of 28 tools. Available in four languages as download (english/french/german/spanish) and print version.
Flyer - A4 format, 7 pages, 2-4 tools on one page, 22 tools in total, only in web format. (english/french/german/spanish)
Comprehensive Brochure - Full text version, 159 pages, with additional explanations. Available as download and in print. Only in English.

In addition to these KM tools you find here some underlying concepts linked to learning processes in organisations:

Capacity Development: a key concept in SDC for working with strategic partners and developing their capacities in order to contribute to social and structural change in partner countries.
Scaling-up and Replication: Learning from efforts and building on successes: Scaling-up and replication are key strategic elements to ensure sustainability of investment through working on different societal levels and/or in different, comparable contexts.

Click here for links to learning and knowledge-sharing toolkits of other organisations we consider useful.

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