Overview
Learning and successfully implementing the skills associated with a Knowledge Centered Support (KCS) process takes time and practice. To use a metaphor, remember when you were first learning to drive a car. You first got a learner's permit and had a licensed driver along to teach you how to drive. Initially, you devoted a great deal of attention to all the nuances of driving; however, over time, your proficiency increased, and you became more comfortable with driving. Eventually, you passed a test and received your driver's license, granting you new rights and privileges, enabling you to drive on your own.
To ensure your success with KCS, we have adopted a phased approach to the introduction of KCS and have split up the skills and responsibilities into distinct learning groups. These are Candidate, Contributor, Publisher, and Coach. The chart below highlights the knowledge, skills, abilities, and requirements associated with each level.
Note
The levels of KCS are not linked or related to any specific job or position within the organization. Instead, it is based upon individual skill, experience, and progression through the KCS training process. Within each team, it will not be uncommon to have individuals with a mix of knowledge competencies.
In this article:
KCS Candidate
The individual is responsible for authoring knowledge articles and ensuring they contain all the relevant information.
Skills
- Able to search for and find existing KB articles
- Able to recognize relevant information in the Knowledge base
- Able to exercise judgment in their interaction with existing knowledge
- Link relevant KB articles to tickets
- Obtain and maintain a consistent link rate and accuracy of 75% or better
Abilities
- Create Articles
- For creation opportunities, obtain and maintain a creation rate of 75& or better
- Address Feedback
- Edit Owned Articles
- Use TDX article feedback to Flag it
- View Knowledge Base
Requirements
- Ability to read and write English
- Must complete KCS Candidate training
KCS Contributor
Contributor competencies are incremental to those of the KCS Candidate. They have a strong understanding of the importance of the context of the audience, the content standard, and the KCS processes. They should be able to work independently in creating well-structured KB articles and be adept at enhancing others' articles to make them available to a wider audience.
Skills
- Able to search for and find existing KB articles
- Able to recognize relevant information in the Knowledge base
- Able to exercise judgment in their interaction with existing knowledge
- Link relevant KB articles to tickets
- Obtain and maintain a consistent link rate and accuracy of 85% or better
- Able to review articles for content and make actionable recommendations for improvements
- Able to review articles for style/formatting
- Able to approve article content
Abilities
- Create Articles
- For creation opportunities, obtain and maintain a creation rate of 85% or better
- Address Feedback
- Edit Articles (Fix it)
- Review and Approve revisions to unpublished articles
- Review Articles
- View Knowledge Base
Requirements
- Obtain and maintain 85% or better in the following
- Article Quality Standards
- Link accuracy
- Link Rate
- Create Rate
- Must complete KCS Contributor training and be recommended by a coach
- All requirements of KCS Candidate
- Understanding of Service Catalog & Service Owner
KCS Publisher
Publisher competencies are incremental to those of the KCS Contributor. They have a strong understanding of the technical implications of the knowledge being published, have an understanding of what material is priority information, and have an understanding of copyright and trademark polices enforced by the university. Additionally, they understand and are responsible for ensuring that articles are appropriately addressed to internal or external audiences, and ensuring it is accessible to the intended audience(s).
Skills
- Able to search for and find existing KB articles
- Able to recognize relevant information in the Knowledge base
- Able to exercise judgment in their interaction with existing knowledge
- Link relevant KB articles to tickets
- Obtain and maintain a consistent link rate and accuracy of 90% or better
- Able to review articles for content and make actionable recommendations for improvements
- Able to review articles for style/formatting
- Able to approve article content
- Able to identify correct knowledge audiences (Public, Internal)
- Able to publish articles and revisions
- Able to identify articles for archival
Abilities
- Create Articles
- For creation opportunities, obtain and maintain a creation rate of 90% or better
- Address Feedback
- Edit Articles
- Edit Archived Articles
- Edit Owned Articles
- Review and approve revisions to articles
- Review Articles
- Publish Articles
- View Knowledge Base
Requirements
- Obtain and maintain 90% or better in the following
- Article Quality Standards
- Link accuracy
- Link Rate
- Create Rate
- Must complete KCS Publisher training and be recommended by a coach
- All requirements of KCS Contributor
KCS Coach
A KCS Coach's competencies are the pinnacle of KCS Management. They have a thorough understanding of the KCS Management process, having authored, reviewed, and published many quality KB articles. They are focused on the success of the organization and the customer.
Skills
- Able to search for and find existing KB articles
- Able to recognize relevant information in the KB
- Able to exercise judgment in their interaction with existing knowledge
- Link relevant KB articles to tickets
- Obtain and maintain a consistent link rate and accuracy of 95% or better
- Able to review articles for content and make actionable recommendations for improvements
- Able to review articles for style/formatting
- Able to approve article content
- Able to identify correct knowledge audiences (Public, Internal)
- Able to publish articles and revisions
- Able to identify articles for archival
- Thorough understanding of KCS principles
- Able to train all levels of KCS roles
- Able to write KCS KB articles
Abilities
- Create Articles
- For creation opportunities, obtain and maintain a creation rate of 95% or better
- Address Feedback
- Edit Articles
- Edit Archived Articles
- Edit Owned Articles
- Review and Publish Revisions
- Review Articles
- Publish Articles
- View Knowledge Base
- Need soft skills to work with the full spectrum of stakeholders
Requirements
- Must be a KCS Publisher for at least 6 months
- Obtain and maintain 95% or better in the following
- Article Quality Standards
- Link accuracy
- Link Rate
- Create Rate
- Must complete the KCS Coach training and be approved by one-third of the KCS Council
- All requirements of KCS Publisher
Need additional help or have issues
For support, requests may be submitted anytime by Requesting Support for the Enterprise Service Management service. Support Requests are worked by Priority, based on the Impact and Urgency of need, as well as the order they are received by the IT Employees with the knowledge and permissions to assist with the request.
For immediate assistance, please review the Contact Us page for ways to contact the appropriate support group.