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Fast expert teams (FET) is a Finnish digital innovation for the working world, and it took second place in an international competition. FET participated in the Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital Excellence Awards in Naples, Italy. The competition took place in connection with the European Conference on Knowledge Management (ECKM) 1–2 September 2022.
The Fast expert teams (FET) approach refers to a temporary team of experts that convenes across professional and organizational boundaries to solve a challenging task.
Tens of entries were submitted to the competition, and the nine best were presented in the finals. Kirsimarja Blomqvist, professor of knowledge management at LUT Business School, was behind the research and development for the innovation and presented it to the panel of judges.
“Fast expert teams are a digital organization model and an innovative way to arrange collaboration. Experts from within and beyond the organization are called together to address a challenge or task because they have the particular knowledge and insight needed. The approach highlights expertise accrued from education and practical experience,” Blomqvist describes.
Kirsimarja Blomqvist before the panel of judges in Naples in September 2022.
Fast expert teams
- take advantage of digital tools such as Teams, Howspace and Solved
- are based on trust and shared operating principles
- mean actively managed collaboration between experts
- require meeting in person only occasionally
- utilize a variety of documents, photographs or videos
- are innovative, and commissioners of the teams may end up receiving novel and surprising ideas
- helped in managing the COVID-19 crisis
Inspiration from a workbook
Fast expert teams are connected to the WORK2030 programme, which aims to make the Finnish world of work the best in the world. WORK2030 creates new practices for the professional world in collaboration with employers, industries and experts.
Commissioned by WORK2030, Blomqvist has written a workbook on FET practices for organizations.
WORK2030 enables organizations to try out FET during the programme period and coordinates the wider dissemination of related results and experiences. LUT Business School, in turn, continues to research digital collaboration models and to develop FET further.
“FET is a resource-savvy way of applying collective thinking, problem-solving and learning. The workbook fuses different types of knowledge and know-how and helps to utilize digital tools and grasp new solutions,” sums up Sanna Kulmala, WORK2030 programme director.
The evolution of the operating model involves a great deal of research and development, and hundreds of people have taken part in its testing. In addition to WORK2030, also Business Finland and the European Regional Development Fund have supported the research and development.
More about remote work
Kirsimarja Blomqvist in international media
- The Economist: The remote-working revolution: how to get it right (Youtube-video)
- Le Monde: Déjà en avance, la Finlande devrait pérenniser le télétravail après la crise du Covid-19 (paywall)
Read about a remote work study
- Finns working remotely are happy and productive but miss their colleagues
- See Fast expert teams workbook
More information:
Kirsimarja Blomqvist
Professor of Knowledge Management
LUT Business School
+358 40 755 1693
kirsimarja.blomqvist@lut.fi
Sanna Kulmala
WORK2030 Programme Director
+358 40 411 6378
sanna.kulmala@ttl.fi
