A quick glance at a recent job advert for a director of knowledge at a large London firm succinctly demonstrates the main elements of the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and training: “The successful candidate will be expected to develop a comprehensive know-how and training strategy; and to support practice team lawyers through training, know-how and systems for leveraging knowledge.”
Put another way, the job description envisages an interdependence between the firm’s knowledge strategy and its provision of learning and development if both (or either) are to be effective. Indeed, an overarching knowledge strategy can provide the context in which learning and development programmes are designed and run, while training is an essential part of the rollout of knowledge management improvements if they are to be understood and put into practice by fee earners as planned.
