I want to start this blog post by asking a question.
Question: Once you complete a training class, a college course, and/or a seminar are you then ready right away to apply what you’ve learned to effectively do your job?
I believe in 90% of the cases that answer is NO!
So how do we begin to address this? One proven way is to have a trusted mentor with the expertise you need to work with your team or individual to implement what has been learned. Mentoring or instituting a mentor protégé program is a proven method to transfer knowledge. Knowledge Management (KM) like any other discipline, needs mentors (or experts) to assist organizations to properly carry out their vision and mission for implementing KM. To properly execute KM at your organization, no matter if your organization is new to KM or have a need to bring your team to another level of understanding, mentoring is the preferred method.
Mentor, Coach or Consultant (adapted from Afif Tabsh)
So what distinguishes a mentor, coach or consultant:
Mentor: Someone who has a considerable amount of experience in a specific field, topic, industry and uses it to guide others, to show them how to use it and understand why it’s used a certain way.
Coach: Someone who has the skills and know-how of asking the right questions to people to extract ideas, concerns and decisions from them. A coach works through others to get results rather than show them the way or guide them into a solution.
Consultant: Someone who has the knowledge and expertise in a certain field, topic or industry along with the skills of how to facilitate discussions and ask the right questions to be able to give you the best solution for a specific issue or problem you are facing.
A Mentor is a combination of both Coach and Consultant!
What we are doing at my firm A.J. Rhem & Associates is implementing an online mentoring environment for Knowledge Management. We are taking the idea of the mentor and creating an environment where those who are working with KM to execute KM projects and/or establish KM programs can receive the guidance needed to achieve success and deliver on what KM can do for you as a practitioner and your organization.
Knowledge Management Mentor – Online
The KM Mentor.com site brings essential KM concepts to all subscribers that are not only from a foundational perspective but also from a practical application. These concepts include but are not limited to, capturing and codifying tacit and explicit knowledge, KM methods, information architecture, search, KM and social media, KM and Big Data, and the adoption of KM.
KM Mentor provides access to:
- Presentations by industry leaders on a variety of topics
- KM templates and instruction on executing KM strategy, performing knowledge transfer, and KM assessments and audits
- KM program and project implementation guidance
- Insights and reviews on KM tools
- Guidance on implementing and executing various KM Methods
- Specialized KM publications
- A private secure collaboration community for members to discuss ideas and get expert answers and advice
As always I welcome your comments!
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