Steering Committee or Leadership Team

The role of a steering committee is to create purpose and context, set direction and priorities, and provide resources. Usually a cross-functional team made up of members of senior management, the steering committee validates knowledge management and related activities and sets direction. Steering committees provide support in a myriad of ways, such as funding, minimizing barriers, approving initiatives, and promoting knowledge sharing throughout the enterprise. As the bridge between the KM initiatives and the formal organization, the steering committee links the business units, corporate, and IT, which ensures that the organizational strategy dictates the scope and direction of the KM initiatives, instead of the preferences of any one group.

3M

At 3M, two full-time KM practitioners lead and facilitate the cross-functional corporate steering team. The KM steering team is composed of representatives from major areas around the company including Six Sigma, IT, HR, library and information services, and marketing. The KM steering team is responsible for developing and deploying KM strategies for 3M, defined through three objectives:

establish and promote organizational awareness of the KM strategy,
work with business units to improve KM practices, and
replicate KM tools and processes.

NASA JPL

The NASA executive steering committee—consisting of the chief information officer, the chief engineer, and the associate administrator for HR and education— sponsors the cross-agency KM team. The executive steering committee coordinates with the cross-agency KM team, which includes KM leads in each enterprise (i.e., business unit) and center (i.e., geographic location such as JPL). The KM team and leads meets virtually to address issues such as who will be responsible for the championship of KM at the local level, implementation of strategic goals, and roll-out of operational processes and tools.