Capturing tacit knowledge for spacecraft operations in ESOC

The paper's focus is on the methodology developed in ESOC for the process of experts knowledge capture. The papers first objective is to illustrate the different techniques usedfor knowledge capture, emphasising the challenges posed by some of these techniques, such as: capturing key content in a limited time, conveying the value of the content, determining the appropriate role for video recording the process, determining what is the most valuable information to be shared, making the information available to the largest number of potential users, determining the extent and frequency of the interviews, encouraging the review of the draft captured materials. The papers second objective is to describe the steps which have been identified for the knowledge capture process: setting expectations and communication rules, structuring and conducting the interviews, preparing the list of questions to encourage the sharing of the tacit knowledge and reviewing the recorded material. Different approaches for the capture of tacit knowledge are investigated as this type of knowledge is the result of human experience and intuition and therefore adaptations of capturing techniques are needed to cope with the different cultural backgrounds of individuals. The different solutions are then negotiated with each interviewee concerning the objectives, the availability, the number of sessions to be performed, the nature and depth of materials to be prepared for further distribution, locations of interviews and many more considerations.