The KM "A team"

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It's The A-Team
Originally uploaded by Gene Hunt

You know the three enablers of People, Process and Technology? Often shown as overlapping circles?

These three circles should be reflected in the people and skills you choose for your KM implementation team.

KM covers the area of overlap between IT, HR (or Learning and Development) and Organizational Process, and so the task force needs a blend of people who can cover these areas. So we need the following skills on the KM team

People Skills
Coaching and training skills. If the aim of the task force is to introduce new behaviours and practices to the organisation, they will need people skilled in training, coaching and mentoring. Look for people with skills as change agents and business coaches. One or more people with a training background should be on the task force.

Facilitation/influencing skills. The knowledge management implementation task force has a hard job ahead of them, changing the culture of the organisation. They will be working very closely with people, often sceptical people, and they need very good influencing and facilitation skills. Secure facilitation training for the task force members.

Marketing and communication skills. The early stages of implementing knowledge management are all about raising awareness, and "selling" the idea. The task force needs at least one person who is skilled at presenting and marketing. This person will also be kept busy raising the profile of the company's KM and Best Practice activities at external conferences.

Process skills
Skills in operational process. The team need experience and skills in the operations of the business. The organizational backgrounds of the core team need to be varied. The task force will be attempting to change behaviour, and embed knowledge management into the business process, across a large part of the organisation (or indeed the whole organisation). Ideally the task force should contain people with good and credible backgrounds and skills in each major organisational subdivision. This is really to establish as much credibility as possible. When members of the task force are working with business projects, they want to be seen as "part of the business", not "specialists from head office who know nothing about this sector of the business". They have to be able to "talk the language" of the business - they need to be able to communicate in technical language and business language. They act as Best Practice champions within their area of business, and when the working task force is over, may take a leading Knowledge Management role in their subsidiary.

Technology skills.
The task force needs at least one person who has strengths in the details of the current in-house technology, understands the potential of new technology as an enabler for knowledge management, and can help define the most appropriate technologies to introduce to the organisation.

Three circles of KM - three areas of skills for the KM "A Team"