In Knowledge Management (KM), the focus is to connect people and leverage the technologies that help make those connections. HIT’s KM team leads FHWA’s knowledge-sharing and collaboration efforts for the Discipline Support System (DSS) and numerous agency-wide initiatives. In 2021, KM supported the agency’s entire workforce by creating tools and opportunities for virtual learning and knowledge sharing across FHWA, while helping ensure the agency is well-positioned for the future.
Workforce Development
KM staff provided support to numerous workforce development initiatives in 2021. With an internal focus, KM was able to work across disciplines and programs to help FHWA staff learn and share knowledge in a virtual setting. KM also hosted three rotational assignments in 2021, giving individuals from different offices and geographic locations the ability to expand their own skills and knowledge. Rotational staff worked on important FHWA initiatives such as FLEx, tools-based training, and collaborative facilitation.
Discipline Support System–Knowledge Management leads the Discipline Council, which is the steering committee for the Discipline Support System (DSS). In this role, KM coordinates cross-discipline activities and facilitates process improvements that benefit all disciplines. This year, KM was instrumental in the Council’s efforts to establish and implement a new process and schedule for discipline awards. KM also led the Council’s peer assessment activity, in which disciplines are partnered to share best practices and evaluate the overall health of their disciplines. KM streamlined the guidance and assessment form, simplified instructions, collected results, and drafted the final report to the Strategic Workforce Council.
Peerapalooza–To fill the gap in the absence of in-person discipline seminars, KM designed a new cross-discipline virtual learning series called Peerapalooza. A joint effort between KM and the Resource Center, each bimonthly Peerapalooza event is designed to be a dynamic, interactive learning series open to all FHWA employees. Each session showcases a different discipline or program area and highlights how they relate to other agency programs and the Administration’s priorities. The goal is to provide an engaging setting for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing on topics that impact the entire workforce. Knowledge Management also designed an immersive virtual platform for the series that includes customized meeting spaces, live theatre events, on-demand videos, a resource library that employees can access during and after the sessions, gamification, and several other interactive features.
Peerapalooza kicked off in September with more than 800 employees attending. The Safety discipline gave presentations on the Safe System Approach and Safety Culture, followed by a lively Q&A session. The Construction and Project Management (CPM) discipline was featured in the second Peerapalooza event in December, which highlighted three key elements for project delivery success–tools, techniques, and technology. The bimonthly series will continue in 2022, beginning with a session hosted by the Office of Federal Lands that will spotlight the recent Arlington Memorial Bridge Rehabilitation project in Washington, DC.
In 2021, Knowledge Management partnered extensively with the Office of Civil Rights (HCR) to create and deliver several new virtual learning opportunities.
Civil Rights Virtual Symposium–KM helped HCR and the Civil Rights discipline champions develop a 3-day Civil Rights Virtual Symposium, held in June 2021. The symposium was attended by Civil Rights specialists from across the agency and included general and breakout sessions covering important program-related topics. KM helped design the agenda, selected a meeting platform, and provided technical support for the symposium.
EEO Awareness Symposium–The KM team also facilitated multiple sessions of the agency-wide 2021 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Awareness Symposium, including facilitating Q&A sessions, conducting polling, and developing a post-event survey of attendees. This three-day virtual event featured 12 sessions and more than 35 panelists, and approximately 1,600 employees attended. KM built the communication SharePoint site to house speaker biographies, presentations, session recordings, and other helpful resources.
FLEx–As the agency’s FLEx (Fully Leveraging Expertise) initiative expanded to additional focus areas in 2021, KM provided expertise and support to two new workgroups–Mission Support and Civil Rights. KM also helped implement an important program for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) FLEx team.
For the Mission Support FLEx workgroup, KM designed and executed a complete outreach and data gathering plan to identify and assess the status of mission support related functions across all FHWA organizations. This included areas such as administrative support, human capital, IT coordination, and financial management and acquisition support. KM staff developed and distributed an agency-wide survey that assessed all units and led four focus groups for different target audiences in December 2021. KM will analyze the survey and focus group data to assist the Mission Support workgroup in developing a recommendations report to the Strategic Workforce Council and Leadership Team.
As a full member of the Civil Rights FLEx workgroup, KM helped collect information from the Civil Rights discipline SharePoint site and discipline members across the agency. The group then developed five FLEx implementation recommendations on how to leverage the expertise and resources across the agency to deliver the Civil Rights program. The recommendations were shared with the discipline and presented to the Strategic Workforce Council and FHWA leadership.
The FOIA FLEx team focused on expanding the knowledge of the agency's FOIA professionals. KM supported the team by helping design, develop and run an 11-week virtual training program. The 5-module program targeted the 150 FOIA coordinators across the agency to help them respond to FOIA requests. After piloting the training in the spring, the official FOIA 101 Training Series kicked off in August 2021. More than 92% of participants indicated the series helped them feel better prepared to successfully process FOIA requests.
Strategic Planning–In September 2021, KM partnered with the Office of Policy to design and facilitate six strategic risk discussions with FHWA’s emerging leaders. The sessions focused on the Administration’s strategic priority areas, including Safety, Economic Strength & Modernization, Climate & Sustainability, Transformation, Organizational Excellence, and Equity. Participants were given scenarios related to each topic, and answered several questions centering on opportunities, threats, likelihood, and mid-term & long-term impacts. This feedback helped confirm FHWA’s strategic risks and inform our agency’s mission, priorities, and goals for the next several years.
Innovation
Knowledge Management support and expertise was essential as FHWA improved its ability to collaborate and share knowledge virtually. Whether it was designing new SharePoint sites for disciplines and programs, using collaboration tools to facilitate important agencywide conversations, or teaching offices to better organize their work through MS Teams, KM stayed at the forefront of efforts to keep FHWA connected, collaborative, and focused on our mission.
KM Collective–Launched in late 2020, the KM Collective webinar series spotlights specific virtual collaboration tools and/or practices. KM brings together practitioners from across the agency to present their own success stories, tips, and lessons learned from using the tool. Each session focuses on one specific topic and provides real-time demos and a takeaway reference guide. There’s time for interactive Q&A, and all sessions are recorded. This year, more than 200 people attended these events, with nearly 600 accessing the KM Collective recordings and resources on the KnowledgePort SharePoint site.
The 2021 KM Collective series covered the following topics:
Coffee & KM–Noting the success of the KM Collective, the Knowledge Management team launched another popular learning series in 2021–Coffee & KM. Open to all FHWA employees, these virtual “office hours” events provide a casual, interactive forum for participants to “ask KM anything” and share their own technology advice or challenges. The unscripted format often yields energetic discussions and valuable tips that benefit all.
KnowledgePort–To increase the accessibility of collaborative tools to all FHWA employees, KnowledgePort houses easy-to-find, easy-to-follow Knowledge Guides on virtual collaboration topics and tools. In addition to tutorials and guides on MS Teams-related topics, KnowledgePort also includes resource materials on virtual engagement tools (polling, breakouts, interactivity activities), past recordings from the KM Collective and Coffee & KM events, and information on other apps including SharePoint and Power BI. KnowledgePort is continually updated to stay current on collaboration tools and topics.
When the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting went virtual in 2021, Knowledge Management was tasked with creating an even more innovative spin on FHWA’s yearly Leadership in Innovation panel. KM helped envision the timely topic and develop a unique session on Innovative Leadership in a Virtual World. The session focused on the project- and leadership-level transformations that occurred during the first 9 months of the health emergency. KM conducted and prerecorded interviews with FHWA and TRB leadership, as well as CEOs from four state DOTs, and used video editing to weave together a cohesive panel conversation. The video segment was followed by a live, virtual Q&A moderated by Amy Lucero. Panelists discussed the challenges they faced and changes they made to ensure their missions stayed intact and their workforces stayed informed, cared for, and productive. The unique session was extremely well attended and well received.
Staying connected and productive was at the top of FHWA’s to do list in 2021, and Knowledge Management answered the call by providing numerous offices and programs with collaboration solutions and virtual activities. These efforts bridged the dual focus of workforce development and innovation. These are just a few examples of KM’s broad support.
Virtual Facilitation and Teambuilding–KM helped numerous offices improve their virtual meetings through tailored trainings and interactive engagement activities such as icebreakers, polls, speed networking, and teambuilding exercises. KM created and delivered presentation material on building cohesive virtual teams and online etiquette, helped fill office retreat agendas with useful teambuilding and collaboration activities, facilitated myriad virtual discussions, and designed interactive agendas for program-centered peer exchanges.
For FHWA’s Office of International Programs (HPIP), KM supported the annual meeting of the World Road Association’s U.S. representatives in February 2021. This was the first virtual offering of the meeting, and KM helped HPIP select an event platform and structure the meeting agenda to allow for collaboration and interaction among all participants. KM also created and led three interactive sessions for the Financial Management Academy, including a speed networking activity, a training session about online etiquette, and a discussion on effective communication and how to ask the right questions.
Knowledge Management has become the go-to resource for customers across the agency looking for new ways to incorporate interactive features into the virtual environment, providing ideas and recommending interactive tools, and even providing training so other offices can create these activities on their own.
Federal Lands Highway (FLH) Acquisition Workforce Focus Group–In November, KM assisted the FLH Acquisition Workgroup by designing and facilitating a focus group on key acquisition workforce initiatives. Garnering input from key stakeholders in the acquisition field, the focus group was an important step in implementing future objectives centered on recruitment/retention, rotational programs, workforce and capacity management, and upskilling opportunities for acquisition members.
Helping IT Help FHWA–FHWA’s Office of Information Technology (HAIS) requested KM’s help in its effort to become a better service provider. Knowledge Management evaluated HAIS’ SharePoint site, conducted an agency-wide survey seeking feedback on current IT services, and facilitated focus groups to identify specific opportunities for improvements. As a result, HAIS has updated its StaffNet page and sends out regular emails to all FHWA staff with IT-related tips. HAIS continues to use the information gathered from the survey and focus groups to improve its communications and overall service quality.
Accessibility Partnering–Knowledge Management, the Office of Civil Rights (HCR), and the Office of Information Technology Services (HAIS) have partnered to support accessibility for FHWA employees in all facets of work. Accessibility partnering efforts have included an accessibility memo for virtual events, a KM Collective session highlighting best practices for inclusion in a virtual environment, and a webinar on successful practices in accessibility hosted by HCR and HAIS. The three offices continue to meet regularly and partner on other accessibility efforts.
