CKS - KM & User Engagement

Next Class: Fall, 2025 (TBD)

Contact us today for an early quote or for more info...

Welcome to the premier KM & User Engagement course, combining the latest Agile and Design Thinking methods with KM best practices to give you the tools to effectively engage your users for KM initiatives. This 2-day Master Class includes the "KM Foundation" online course, workbook, exam, Certificate, and forever access to our industry-leading LMS. Become a Certified Knowledge Specialist (CKS) in one of the most critical success
factors of KM: user engagement! Details below...

The intersection of Agile, Design Thinking, and KM

Introduction

As the field of KM continues to mature, KM practitioners have taken stock of what has worked and what hasn’t. Efforts to improve KM projects and yield true results have clearly shown that KM efforts fail when:

• Stakeholders and end users are left out of the design process;
• Initiatives are made overly complex or take too long to show value; and
• Experts assume they know the solution, instead of leveraging end users to design and prioritize true KM needs.

What to Expect

This certification course will provide you with a comprehensive background, methodologies, and facilitation techniques – pulling from the best of Agile, Design Thinking, and KM best practices – in order to improve the way you engage users to successfully drive your Knowledge Management transformation. These approaches will provide you with the foundation to:

• Engage a wide array of your end users in KM strategy, design, prioritization, and implementation efforts.
• Make “softer” KM, such as knowledge capture/transfer and change management, possible at your organization by tailoring your approach and demonstrating their value.
• Move the “KM Conversation” forward within your organization, focusing on telling a story in terms of business value, as well as outcomes for individuals and the organization as a whole, in order to garner participation.
• Develop a strategy and roadmap to show iterative progress that will help to develop buy-in and support.

Audience

The certification course is for anyone being asked to “make KM happen” in their organization. It should be considered by:

• CKO’s, Directors, and other KM Managers;
• Organization leaders seeking to leverage KM to advance their business objectives;
• KM Practitioners (either full- or part-time) in charge of collecting requirements, building support, engaging users, or defining a strategy for KM within their organization; and
• Those interested in taking on a leadership role within their organization to help establish or improve Knowledge Management.

What You Will Learn

Through the course, you will learn:

• Background and foundation on Agile, Design Thinking, and other related approaches to strategy, design, and implementation.
• The intersection of Agile, Design Thinking, KM best practices, and how these three approaches can be applied to engage users, address KM challenges, and improve the success and value of KM initiatives.
• Proven methodologies for leading conversations and engaging end users in:
  • Identifying KM needs and challenges;
  • Ideating potential KM solutions to those needs and challenges;
  • Prioritizing KM tasks;
  • Designing, Implementing, and Testing with your end users and stakeholders;
• Actual facilitation approaches, exercises, and techniques.
• Both short-term (workshop) techniques as well as longer-term (strategic planning) applications for Agile, Design Thinking, and KM.

Upon successful completion of the course and exam, you will be a Certified Knowledge Specialist (CKS) in KM & User Engagement; you will be equipped with the Agile, Design Thinking, and KM knowhow to confidently tackle KM challenges at your organization through concentrated approaches and a better understanding of the user.

Meet Your Instructors: Nina Spoelker, Jess DeMay, and Julia Kelly

Nina Spoelker is a Knowledge Management Consultant with a background in project management and team leadership. She works with clients in the government, public, and private sectors to elicit their needs, develop targeted strategies, and implement scalable, tailor-made solutions. She is a certified Knowledge Management Specialist through KMI with in-depth experience in KM strategy, graphic design, content management and governance, change management, Agile facilitation, visioning and roadmapping, and large-scale KM implementation.

Jess DeMay is a versatile and dynamic knowledge manager with a strong background in relationship-building, project management, and content creation. She holds a master’s degree in Knowledge Management, is a Certified Knowledge Manager (CKM), Certified Knowledge Specialist (CKS), and a KCS-Certified Knowledge & Information Management Consultant. She specializes in implementing and scaling advanced knowledge management programs, excelling in knowledge capture and transfer while offering expert technical guidance and analysis for specialized applications and environments.

Julia Kelly is a Strategy Analyst working for Enterprise Knowledge’s Strategic Consulting practice. Her experience ranges from consulting for Fortune 500s to nonprofits. Her background in academic research and publishing has given her a strong ability to interpret and convey information.