What are the 6 secrets of NetEase Games' knowledge management that led to over 20 million platform visits?

As the world's most authoritative and professional knowledge innovation practice exchange platform, the most innovative knowledge-based organization (MIKE) award has unearthed a large number of outstanding knowledge-based enterprises. As the initiator of the MIKE award, Lanling launched the "MIKE Award Case Tour" activity to share excellent knowledge management experiences recognized by global experts with more enterprises that focus on knowledge management construction.

NetEase officially established its online game division in 2001 and is a global leader in game development and publishing. It has independently developed dozens of popular online and mobile games loved by players, such as "Fantasy Westward Journey 2", "Westward Journey 2", "Onmyoji", and "Rate of the Land", and has exclusively represented several globally popular games such as "World of Warcraft", "Hearthstone", and "Minecraft".

"NetEase Games has been building knowledge management since 2012, accumulating nearly 7 years of experience in the field of knowledge management, and won the 'Global MIKE Award' in 2018. Its knowledge management platform has over 30 million visits, a total knowledge sharing scale of over 240,000, a total of over 108,000 discussions and exchanges, and a total of over 2,500 expert users."

In this issue of the "MIKE Award Case Tour" activity, we are fortunate to invite Jia Yong, the knowledge management director of NetEase Games, to share the secrets behind the constructive results of their knowledge management practices.

KM personnel follow up, connecting internal knowledge.
 

Q: What is the internal organizational structure of NetEase Games, and how is the connection of knowledge services established internally?

A: The internal structure of NetEase Games is a typical project-based infrastructure, with more than ten first-level departments such as the Fantasy Division, Westward Journey Division, World Division, and Singularity Division. Each department has multiple specific game project teams, and each game project team includes colleagues from planning, development, art, as well as colleagues from quality assurance, user experience, and project management.

It is worth mentioning that PMs (project management personnel) from the project management center collaborate with colleagues responsible for corporate knowledge management to promote the knowledge management services of the project.

Our KM will focus on two points: first, each division has dedicated KM follow-up personnel; second, breaking down barriers, we also have one or two knowledge management personnel following up in various directions such as planning, development, and art. Currently, the KM team at NetEase Games has 20 people, with 10 dedicated to products and another 10 specifically for knowledge management services and operations.

Focusing on 4 major goals, innovating the knowledge service concept system.
 

Q: What are the goals of knowledge management at NetEase Games? How does this goal orientation promote the development of knowledge management?

A: The knowledge management at NetEase Games revolves around four major goals:

● First, knowledge. We aim to establish a cutting-edge industry systematic knowledge base in the gaming field, not only domestically but globally.

● Second, employees. We hope that based on the knowledge products and knowledge management services we provide, employees can grow faster and engage more effectively in project practices.

● Third, business. Knowledge management must generate business value, so we strongly reinforce the connection with specific project teams and specific divisions.

● Fourth, strategy. We hope to integrate knowledge management with strategy, using knowledge management methods to promote the achievement of strategic goals.


 

▲ Double Cone Model

In terms of the overall living environment, there are two points: one is the creation of internal corporate culture and physical environment, and the other is how to connect better with the external environment.

The above is our knowledge management concept system and core work points, and all matters are defined around this to delineate our business scope.

6 major knowledge management practices to comprehensively promote business development.
 

Q: NetEase Games has accumulated nearly 7 years of experience in knowledge management. What key practical results have been achieved during this period? What experiences are worth learning from for peers?

Q: I will specifically discuss some core key practices, mainly including 6 major aspects.
 

1 Empowering new employee growth and innovation.

Like many companies, our personnel development path includes both professional and management tracks. We pay great attention to comprehensive training for employees and have established a series of training systems, including pre-employment training, professional knowledge courses, mini project practical training, and post-assignment training. Among these, several points are worth mentioning:

▶ First, we have a strong mentor culture. From the moment a new employee receives an offer, they are assigned a corresponding mentor.

▶ Second, incentives. Our internal incentive dimensions are very diverse, with various awards for encouraging innovation and sharing.

▶ Third, an integrated platform. All our learning services are completed on one platform.

After the onboarding training course, new employees will have 1.5 to 2 months to form teams and develop games, which is our mini project practical training. It doesn't have to be fully developed, but the core gameplay must be created. The company will also organize mini project game release events, allowing newcomers to experience the entire game development process and unleash their creativity. If they pass the assessment, they can enter the game field they like. Many excellent works have emerged from this process, and several that won the China Independent Game Award were produced in mini projects, such as "Dream of Surprise" and "Flower Language Moon."

2 Building 3P leadership for management.

This is crucial. We call it 3P leadership based on agile thinking, which is core to managers, requiring rapid iteration and validation, and embracing change. For us, embracing change is a critical point. There are three leadership aspects: first, personnel leadership; second, project leadership, as we are based on a project-based amoeba organization; third, product leadership, where we require managers to go to the front line to interact with users and experience all game products, as our entire culture is product-oriented.

We have corresponding training programs for different levels of management. In the past two years, we have also started promoting the NetEase Business School project, closely tied to 3P leadership, hoping to convey some excellent product practices and strategic-level thoughts to senior management.

3 Building a full-platform knowledge product to promote internal and external collaboration.

We have many knowledge products, including our own knowledge management app and internal instant communication tool POPO, and we have integrated KM services with POPO. Different products target different directions, some for personal knowledge accumulation, some for project teams, and some for connecting the entire professional knowledge base. We have a learning resource and user data center that can connect all platforms and levels. Additionally, we have the "NetEase Game Academy" specifically for external communication and learning.

4 Based on strategy and business value, deeply cultivating knowledge services.

Our goal is not to provide a knowledge product for the business department, but to understand their pain points, provide them with knowledge input, recognize their strengths, and encourage them to output knowledge.

We first do scattered knowledge sharing, then connect through various systems, and also have themed knowledge construction, business areas, and in-depth knowledge services provided by projects. For example, when a project is established, we can provide corresponding knowledge services through the project PM, such as if you need to do global distribution and require resources for several thematic directions, we will package the corresponding topics for you.

Currently, there are over 240,000 resources on our platform, with over 100,000 premium resources, a total access volume of over 30 million, and a total discussion and exchange volume of over 108,000. The number of expert users is very large, and now the number of expert users has reached over 2,500.

5 Innovation Culture and Space

Knowledge management construction cannot be separated from an innovative culture and open space. We have a "Partner Program" for newly recruited employees, where each employee is paired with a partner who plays an important role in their growth and integration into the new environment. During various holidays, we hold activities to create a community atmosphere. Every December, we also hold an annual KM Excellent Sharing Award ceremony.

In addition, we have an open office environment that provides employees with many creative learning and communication spaces, including a VR laboratory, café, reading room, easy room, MTL laboratory, and motion capture room.

6 Open Mindset, Embrace the Future

The technology development in the game development field is changing rapidly. Whether it is the Game Developers Conference (GDC) or the Top 100 Global Software Case Think Tank, NetEase Games sends business representatives to attend and learn.

Since 2013, NetEase Games has invited external industry experts to share within the company. In 2017, we began the "Cross-Border Sharing" series of activities, inviting well-known figures from the fields of television, film, comedy, literature, and online variety shows to share their creative insights at NetEase, promoting cross-border collisions of game creation ideas.

In addition to learning from external sources, NetEase Games also utilizes its rich experience in game development to drive the development of the entire industry, which is also the responsibility of NetEase Games as a leading company in self-developed games. In October 2014, NetEase Game Academy was established, promoting a series of online and offline sharing activities. Online, we launched the NetEase Game Academy APP, making excellent internal training courses and resources available as online courses. Offline, we conduct various sharing activities for students, newcomers to the industry, and industry professionals, including NetEase Game Academy Open Day, university lectures, school-enterprise cooperation, campus competitions, and NetEase Game exploration.

Since 2015, NetEase Games has held a Game Love Day every year on May 20, intending to create a holiday exclusively for game lovers, conveying sincere love to all gamers and thanking them for their support over the years. This year's 520 launch event theme was "Empowering Love with Newness". At the launch, NetEase showcased 51 products, of which 29 are considered new, and almost all classic games are engaged in cultural and public welfare initiatives. NetEase is the first company to truly explore and disseminate Chinese culture through games, and in the future, it will continue to set an example, better promoting the digital integration of games and excellent culture, balancing the entertainment and social aspects of games, and creating more valuable interactive cultural and entertainment products.

Knowledge Management Corporate knowledge management is a process that requires both aspiration and action. From 2012 to 2019, NetEase Games has been continuously exploring the practical path of knowledge management. Moving forward boldly while treading carefully, we believe that the continuous improvement and exploration of NetEase Games KM can safeguard the sustainable development of NetEase Games and provide strong driving force for business innovation and development.