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Knowledge sharing system and communities of practice: supporting DAU's performance learning model - Acquisition, Technology And Logistics

Program Manager - September 1, 2003

Continued from page 1.

AKSS is continuously responding to feedback from users to enhance the content and functions, such as search. "Major strides have been made in developing the search capability in the last year and ensuring that the reference library is complete and accurate," said Bill Hechmer, DAU's project manager for AKSS. "The present focus is on developing a set of interactive 5000 documents that help users move seamlessly from policy to process to references and product formats. This same concept will be used to develop an interactive set of JCIDS documents that have replaced the old Requirements Generation Process." Hechmer also emphasized that the biggest future enhancement to the AKSS in late fiscal 2004 will be access to DAU's new digital object repository (Figure 3). The new repository will house all of the learning and performance support content developed by DAU for its certification courses, continuous learning courses, guidebooks/handbooks, rapid deployment training materials, and other performance support tools. Through this Web-based repository, DAU will publicly share its corporate knowledge with the work force.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

What's new with Communities of Practice?

In July 2003, the name of the Program Management Community of Practice (PM CoP) Web site changed to the Acquisition Community Connection (ACC) to better describe the site as an umbrella for all AT&L-related knowledge communities that are focused on sharing across DoD, including DoD's industry partners. The Program Management Community of Practice is still an active career field community; the name change to ACC is meant to reinforce the vision of the site as a place where the entire AT&L workforce and its industry partners interact and share resources and experiences to support job performance, to avoid duplication of effort, and to advance the physical and virtual connection of people and ideas.

Commenting on communities of practice, Jill Garcia, DAU's expert in CoP development, and knowledge project officer for logistics, said, "DAU is facilitating the development of online CoPs to cover all the functional disciplines of acquisition, technology, and logistics as well as critical cross-cutting business processes like risk management. These CoPs will provide the discretionary knowledge and links to community-member subject matter experts from both government and industry."

The ACC was designed to provide the acquisition workforce with the ability to locate knowledge and experts on demand, at any time, from any location, with confidence that the information is valid and relevant. Program teams can work in specific communities within the ACC to find and share policies, regulations, guidance, examples, templates, lessons learned, and other relevant knowledge. They can also establish private team and personal workspaces where specific program products can be developed and issues resolved. Additionally, ACC offers users the ability to interact online with other community members who have expertise in a particular subject area. According to Mike Dorohovich, DAU's chief editor for ACC, "Creating a successful ACC requires more than just a business case: it requires careful planning, implementation, and working the 'people' side of the equation. The ACC does not just happen by throwing technology at a group of people. The quality and dedication of the core implementation team plays a critical role."

Now that the ACC is steadily growing and the value can be seen, it is much easier to find others to take on the roles that previously had to be provided as an additional initial investment. That so many individuals of different backgrounds are voluntarily participating in ACC, that members are actively recruiting peers, and that even facilitator/editor roles are being filled by individuals outside of the supporting organizations all emphasize the success of early community development.

CoPs are a vital method of providing context to the information and process knowledge contained within an organization. They are available whenever you need them, offering anywhere, anytime support. CoPs help to improve job performance by developing individual skills and competencies and by increasing access to expertise to find answers, solve problems, and accomplish tasks.

To gain full access to and benefit from the site, you must be a member of the ACC (or a legacy member of PM CoP) and log in with a username and password. Membership allows access to other members' contact information and allows members to participate in discussion threads, request workspace areas, and take advantage of a free personal Web space. To join the Acquisition Community Connection, goto <http://acc.dau.mil> and find the "Join" link located on the right side of the screen.

Logistics Community of Practice

The Logistics Community of Practice (LOG CoP) was launched on July 21, 2003. Logistics is a fundamental component and a key enabler of the warfighter's ability to project force. The LOG CoP is intended to provide logisticians with a means to communicate, share resources, and interact with each other to support job performance in all aspects of the defense acquisition system and life cycle support (Figure 4). The LOG CoP is expected to provide the logistics workforce with access to the best available sources of information to enhance job performance. The LOG CoP is located at <http://log.dau.mil>.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

Highlighting the importance of the LOG CoP, DAU Director of the Center for Logistics and Sustainment Rand), Fowler stated, "This is a tool needed by both the DAWIA and non-DAWIA logistics workforce. It's a great reference in the DAU classroom, and their classroom experience becomes a great resource for workforce members to take back to the job site. Logistics and program management workforce members are especially anxious to use the LOG CoP's PBL [performance-based logistics] resources and collaboration power." Summarizing the potential for LOG CoP Lou Kratz, deputy under secretary of defense (Logistics and Materiel Readiness) and functional advisor for Life Cycle Logistics, noted, "LOG CoP could become a Center of Excellence for contemporary logistics tools and best practices."

If you have any questions or are interested in actively participating in the LOG CoP as a content area editor or facilitator, contact Jill Garcia, DAU knowledge project officer, at jill.garcia@dau.mil.

Other Active Communities

Program Management--the Program Management Community is focused to support the unique responsibilities and functions of the program manager and deputy program manager. According to Air Force Maj. James Ashworth, DAU program director for the program management career field, "The Program Management Community is being developed around a unique organizational knowledge structure to make it easier and more intuitive to find appropriate policy, processes, and tools." He added, "The structure breaks down into 'internal' processes/products (those activities typically conducted inside the Program Office); 'external' interfaces (activities between the program managers and outside organizations such as OSD, Congress, Defense Contracting and Management Agency, and industry); and special topics."

The community has a major effort called the "Essential Model Project" found at <http://acc.dau.mil/emp>. John Driessnack, DAU risk subject matter expert and one of the CoP's editors, explained, "The community will run the project over the next year with the goal of identifying the essential models and enduring principles for weapons program management. The DAU Alumni Association will host a special track in its conference next summer for the presentation of papers. It is a great example of how all facets of the university come together to develop knowledge."

Contract Management--the Contract Management (CM) Community is structured around supporting practitioners with the contracting processes, keeping them informed of changes within the contracting field, and offering a forum for communication and collaboration. The Contracting Community of Practice is being enhanced to provide specific areas of interest to include contingency contracting, performance-based service acquisition, and small business. The goal of the community is to add value in the acquisition process by providing the contracting workforce with the knowledge, resources, and collaboration tools to better support war fighters and their mission. Lyle Eesley, DAU director, Center for Contracting, said, "As members of the AT&L contracting profession and serving as business advisors, our goal is to support the warfighters and their mission. This is our focus as we restructure the contracting curriculum at all levels and facilitate the evolution of the Contracting Community of Practice."

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