Command IG introduces Community of Practice Web site Published June 16, 2006 By Ron Scharven Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Many have heard the old joke that goes “We’re the IG and we’re here to help.” Well, the HQ Air Force Materiel Command Inspector General is here to help with their brand new Community of Practice Web site. According to the outgoing IG, Col. Henry L. Andrews, Jr., the CoP allows the IG team to collaborate with each other not just at the home station but while they are on the road. “It’s a better way to promulgate policy to the field and to allow us to share information, to coordinate new instructions, to keep everybody better informed about the state of the command as the Inspector General is reflecting the policy of the staff at headquarters,” Colonel Andrews said. “There were many different Web sites out there with different information and since we didn’t own them, it was very cumbersome to update the pages,” explained Maj. Bill Bower, command communication information inspector. “There was a template available to use and we knew what the ‘vision’ was but we had to figure out a way to embody that in the CoP so we would get the information out to the field,” he continued. Colonel Andrews wanted to make it easier to do business with the IG, to provide a single face for all the customers throughout the command and ease of access to information, process links and create a work environment the IG owned and managed that could be adjusted as necessary – one-stop shopping for IG information. Major Bower said that it took a couple of months to create the CoP – design the layout and decide what was going to be put on it. “Then we spent time educating people in the office on what the CoP was,” the major said. “The hardest part was not creating the work space but getting people in the field and in the IG office to use it properly, but you have to start with the people here first.” What’s on the CoP? “We put everything you need to get ready for an inspection,” explained Master Sgt. Greg Scott, manager, information management and the knowledge owner. “Among the documents on the CoP are current checklists, findings, IG reports, and the inspection schedule. There is also an IG message board and key AFMC/IG links. “Anyone can see the IG public page and can request permissions to delve into other areas if needed. We do restrict some information to IG members only. Our CoP is also evolving to be our central planning tool for the IG Team to prepare for an inspection,” he explained. Another new product from the IG is Crosstell. “Crosstell is a short newsletter emailed to the field to let them know about changes to inspection processes, arrivals and departures from the IG team and new things the IG is doing,” said Maj. Pete Ames, Unit Compliance Inspection branch chief. It’s just an organized, simple way to get information to the field he said. It will also be archived on the CoP. “You have to pull information out of the CoP but with the Crosstell, we’re pushing the information to the field,” Major Bower said. “For example, we are working on an AFMC instruction to complement the Inspector General Activities AFI 90-201. We don’t want to send the whole AFMCI out but publicizing its status in the Crosstell lets the field know about it and they can look at it for themselves,” he explained. “In the May 2006 issue of the Crosstell, there was a section announcing the IG CoP and where to find it,” Major Ames said. “Basically the Crosstell saves personnel a bit of time by giving them the highlights of the newest IG information. The Crosstell will also tell them where they can go to directly access that section of the CoP,” he said. “Crosstell will be sent to the field when we have enough new information to warrant a new issue but not less than quarterly. There is an organizational mailbox for people to send their information to us. Our editor will put that in to the newsletter and distribute it electronically,” Major Ames said.