In the world of Knowledge Management, there are many partners. We are familiar with the community leaders, the experts, the content managers and, of course, the knowledge workers. One group of knowledge holders is usually neglected. I am referring to the knowledge junctions.
The knowledge junctions are not necessarily the knowledge holders themselves. Yet these are the workers that know who to turn to in every situation. They are those that will know the intra-organizational knowledge experts as well as the extra-organizational ones. They are also those that will know the pros and cons of utilizing the different experts. In the networking world they are referred to as "coordinators".
Apparently, once we begin to manage the knowledge and its experts, the knowledge junctions are redundant. This is incorrect, as Knowledge Management is a gradual process. Furthermore, KM cannot possibly encompass all subjects, neither breadth of activity not depth of expertise. Knowledge junctions complete the knowledge which was not managed.
How does one manage knowledge junctions?
Cultivate them and acknowledge them as you would knowledge experts.
Provide them with a platform, both human (referencing when credit is due) and virtual (in portal, white pages or any other homepage relevant to the organization).
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