Why would I form an Information Steward team?
Your organization may need an Information Steward team.
Narration by author:
An Information Steward team coalesces people, information, habits, and focused intended outcomes. The multi-disciplinary, cross-functional team of regular collaborators develop rhythms and create possible solutions to challenging problems or new opportunities. The team is incubator, designer, tester, experimenter.
When needing innovative options for new revenue streams, for example, or evaluating new interactions for meaningful partnerships, the Information Steward team speaks with partners, customers, and colleagues to assess the current state, pilots possible solutions with all stakeholders, then recommends actions. The multi-disciplinary nature of the Information Steward team supports the broad range of skills needed in the lifecycle of the strategic work.
A standing, multi-talented Information Steward team develops the trust absent in ad-hoc task force configurations. The team solidifies rhythms and habits, of communication, decision-making, process. The ideal Information Steward team flows and easily adjusts to new time-bound projects without the startup costs of an ad-hoc team.
A successful Information Steward team possesses a variety of skills, perspectives, and "languages" for addressing challenging projects. That diversity among the team is foundational.
Depending on the size of your organization and the quantity of resources, a standing Information Steward team may seem like a luxury. Rather than an extra, consider the scenario where personnel from different departments are gathered as a single team: people from communications, finance, IT, research, external relations, human resources, sales. No need to add head count (at least initially, if experimenting with an Information Steward team).
What you would gain from a standing Information Steward team is sound, tested ideas. Practical, business-focused decisions would be backed by collaborative processes and vetted decision choices. The process assures all stakeholder voices are integrated into solutions. Evaluating the short- and long-term success of those selected solutions will be baked into the activities.
Another label for an "Information Steward" team might be "Strategic Initiatives." The emphasis on the former of "steward" as both verb and noun elevates these team members: active stewards of information, resources, process, solutions, human relations, etc., all towards a shared goal. Stewards see the holistic ecosystem of your organization. Perhaps your organization needs an Information Steward team.
Related Pages
The knowledge of the elders is sometimes written.
As a librarian and knowledge manager, the "Information Steward" moniker grew out of information organization practices in academic libraries and international development nonprofit work. Examining who I am, what I believe, and my habits in vocational environments, I now recognize a broader scope of my work.
Knowledge sharing values lived out as habits. How individuals and teams practice knowledge sharing emerges from the values and culture embraced by those individuals. Rules, processes, and expectations succeed or fail based on the energy embodied in the culture. What is the knowledge sharing culture of your team or organization? The following activities may help illuminate the root of your knowledge sharing culture.
Stewarding information across work departments and teams necessitates links, relationships, visibility, and lines of communication at the highest level of the organization. Consequently, Information Steward co-leads will report directly to the organization's leader (CEO, President, Executive Director).
Narration
When two lead together, we, as a team, achieve a multiplier effect.
Knowledge Mobilization
What could a Knowledge Stewardship team look like? Consider the foundational elements below from which a scenario is then briefly sketched. The new model may only be achieved over the course of a few years through multiple step-wise iterations.