HKSM

A system of tools and practices that collects, organizes, shares, and makes project knowledge reusable for current and future work.

Key Points

• Includes repositories, wikis, templates, tagging, and search to make knowledge easy to find.
• Covers explicit artifacts (documents, code, decision logs) and helps surface tacit knowledge through discussions and communities of practice.
• Works best when tied to lifecycle events like retrospectives, demos, and lessons learned to continuously capture updates.
• Benefits: faster onboarding, less rework, preserved organizational memory; needs governance for accuracy, access control, and relevance.

Example

A program office sets up a shared wiki and document library where teams store sprint retrospectives, decision logs, architecture diagrams, and FAQs. New team members search the KMS to find prior defect root causes and approved solutions, reducing ramp-up time and preventing repeat mistakes.

PMP Example Question

A project manager wants to reduce repeated defects and speed up onboarding across agile teams. Which action best uses a Knowledge Management System (KMS)?

1. Publish a searchable lessons learned page linking defect root causes to fixes and standards.
2. Increase the length of daily standups to discuss more issues.
3. Ask each developer to keep personal notes on their laptops.
4. Hold a one-time training session without recording or posting materials.

Correct Answer: A — Create a shared, searchable repository of lessons and solutions for reuse

Explanation: A KMS captures and exposes knowledge so others can find and apply it later. The other options do not organize and share knowledge for reuse.