Knowledge is power, especially when you share it with others. As a company, the knowledge you have in-house is one of the biggest advantages you can grab on your competition. By sharing knowledge, you increase your employees’ productivity and innovativeness. In addition, you create continuity and prevent the knowledge in your organisation from being lost. In this blog, we will tell you more about the effect of knowledge sharing in your organisation and how to promote it.
What do we mean by knowledge sharing?
By knowledge sharing we mean the process by which individuals or teams within your organisation share their knowledge, information, experience and skills with others. With knowledge sharing, it is not only important that information is transferred, but that as an organisation you facilitate an environment in which employees are encouraged to share knowledge with each other and get new ideas.
Knowledge sharing, as you might imagine, is enormously broad. You can set up knowledge sharing in various ways. Think for instance of (informal) discussions between colleagues, presentations, workshops, training courses or by sharing documents such as reports and studies. Knowledge sharing can also be stimulated by technologies such as knowledge banks, collaboration tools and intranet solutions such as Bundeling!
Why is knowledge sharing important?
Knowledge sharing is very important for organisations because it can lead to more innovation, higher productivity, better collaboration and better employee development. Moreover, it can contribute to a positive corporate culture in which employees feel appreciated and involved.
In addition, with knowledge sharing you realise an important piece of continuity within your organisation. By sharing knowledge, important information can be retained and transferred within the organisation. Even when employees leave the organisation.
How do you stimulate knowledge sharing in your organisation?
Knowledge sharing can be organised in various ways. We have formulated a number of examples you can apply yourself. With these tips, you ensure that every employee shares or gains knowledge and experience within your organisation!
- Link knowledge to practice: The quickest way to acquire new knowledge is in practice. When you share new knowledge or information with your colleagues, it works best if you immediately link this information to issues or situations in practice. Applying knowledge in practice makes the information stick longer.
- Share knowledge in different forms: Ask your colleagues in what form they absorb knowledge best. That could be anything. For example, e-learnings in which your employees watch videos with explanations or workshops in game form. Ask your employees to participate in a small survey in which you ask questions about different forms of knowledge sharing.
- Create a knowledge base: Create one central place where your employees can easily access all the documents, presentations or other information that are important to them. This could be an intranet or an online collaboration platform such as Google Drive or an internal communication platform such as Bundeling!
- Organise training courses and workshops: Training courses and workshops are the way to boost your employees’ skills and knowledge. You can organise training internally by assigning experienced colleagues to do this. Of course, you can also choose to hire training courses and workshops from a third party.
- Collaboration: Working together is perhaps the best way to encourage knowledge sharing. Encourage your colleagues to work together and exchange information. As a company, you can do this by dividing employees into teams or putting them on joint projects.
- Be selective in the knowledge shared: Not everything is relevant to share. Oversharing may be as bad as sharing too little. Be selective in what you share. This does not mean that you should withhold information, but that you should think carefully about the knowledge you share. By sharing too much, you ensure that your employees do not store all the knowledge. Separate main and side issues for your colleagues. That way, you can be sure that only the most important information will stick.
- Provide a platform that encourages knowledge sharing: Technology is your friend when it comes to knowledge sharing. There are a lot of tools that make knowledge sharing easier within your organisation. We already mentioned the example of the knowledge base, but an internal communication platform also contributes to sharing information and ideas. With a platform like Bundeling platform, you can keep employees informed about important developments, ideas and best practices within your organisation.
- Make knowledge sharing part of the corporate culture: Do you really want to get knowledge sharing right? Then make it an integral part of your organisation. You do this by setting objectives within your organisation and translating them into personal objectives for your employees, which you give feedback on during end-of-year appraisals, for instance. Ultimately, you want knowledge sharing to be encouraged and valued within your company. This will make employees feel free to share ideas and information with each other.
- Ensure open communication (channels): Open communication is key when you want to encourage knowledge sharing. Employees need to feel comfortable within your organisation. Make sure your colleagues dare to ask questions and give feedback. As management, you can do this by having an open-door policy or organising feedback sessions. You can also set up your intranet in a way that promotes two-way communication.
- Reward knowledge sharing: Employees who actively share knowledge are not only looking after themselves, but also growing other people in your organisation. This will benefit you immensely as a company. So make sure there is also a reward structure for employees who engage in this way. This can be done, for instance, by awarding a bonus or certificate to these people. Let your employees know clearly that their efforts will be rewarded!
Connect Smarter with Bundeling
Put knowledge sharing at the heart of your organisation with Bundeling. Use the Bundeling platform to connect your colleagues 24/7. Bundeling has already helped over 800 organisations structure their internal communication and share important business information. Connect Smarter with Bundeling. Contact us for a free demo!
