Think creatively to support your industry group program. OR, where there’s a will there’s a way.

So, you’re not a Big Four firm. While the Big Four enjoy the luxury of having sophisticated internal resources for each of their industry practice teams, much smaller firms with smaller budgets can learn from the Big Four. Naturally, you may need to adjust implementation based on your available resources. At the Big Four firm where I worked, the industry program evolved and improved with each new iteration. During my time as senior knowledge manager for the national real estate leadership team, a host of changes occurred as the industry program moved to version 2.0. As the firm’s smallest industry, real estate wasn’t offered a fully built-out, dedicated support team.

Larger industry groups were supported by the following:

  • Dedicated researchers/writers for thought leadership.
  • A dedicated market intelligence researcher.
  • A full-time national marketing manager who developed and led marketing strategy execution.
  • Assistance with the practice’s financial reports, PowerPoint presentations and internal communications for the national industry leader.
  • A full-time senior manager who maintained a knowledge management site on the firm’s intranet platform.

Supported by the firm’s learning and organizational development department, larger industry teams also developed robust courses and fully built-out training.

Our support team, on the other hand, consisted of just three dedicated resources – a marketing manager, a senior knowledge manager (me), and an executive assistant/financial manager. There was also a partially dedicated market intelligence professional who helped with thought leadership and competitive analysis.

Why did our real estate practice survive and thrive?
Because everyone pitched in and wore multiple hats. As knowledge manager, I also helped produce thought leadership, internal communications/newsletters and competitive analysis; facilitated strategy workshops; and identified internal and external real estate training courses and resources who could fill in the gaps. Being the “real estate knowledge manager,” was my primary responsibility, but it was made clear that pitching in to help where resources were scarce would be key to my success.