Many companies initiate grandiose knowledge management initiatives but do little to help staff improve their performance. Putting information on the Intranet is not enough. The expertise to do something better, new or different may require additional skills and tools, as well as access to relevant knowledge. Successful companies take practical steps to enable their people to compete and win.

Within most organizations there are certain critical workgroups who have a direct impact upon bottom line performance and the achievement of key corporate goals. Improving their performance can deliver quick and tangible results. Hence, they might appear an obvious target for mentoring support. However, traditional mentoring can be costly, difficult to organize and might not be appropriate.

Often there are practical problems to address, such as not having enough experienced mentors to go around, or the difficulty of getting people with crowded diaries together in one place at the same time. Some groups require a mix of skills to succeed and someone qualified to mentor in one area might not be applicable in another. Many people are also on the move, and traditional mentoring support might not always be available at the time and location it is required.

Sales and customer support staff often represent a group challenge traditional approaches to training, mentoring and support. Ideally, they should be interacting with customers. Time at an office location can mean lost revenue and/or a frustrated customer. Interacting with prospects can also throw up unfamiliar issues.

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