Sharing knowledge with colleagues starts with the right knowledge-sharing tool!

As an HR professional, you naturally want your employees to perform at their best. Knowledge sharing within organizations is a method that contributes significantly to this. But what exactly is knowledge sharing, and what are the actual benefits?

Sharing knowledge with colleagues or knowledge sharing within organizations is the transfer of one's own expertise to colleagues or other professionals in the field, for example through verbal communication or online training. Once your employees make knowledge sharing a habit, you will see them collaborating more as a team, feeling more motivated, and delivering higher-quality work.

It is also worth noting that knowledge sharing within organizations is a component of knowledge management. Let's dive a bit deeper into that.

Knowledge management is often described as the creation, management, sharing, and use of the knowledge and information available within an organization. In other words: making optimal use of the resources you already have at your disposal! It would be a waste not to, right?!

It is no surprise that online knowledge platforms have been popping up like mushrooms lately. It is, of course, very convenient to be able to learn regardless of time and place, especially when live classes are off the table due to a (not-to-be-named) virus.

You could, of course, fill your intranet with off-the-shelf solutions. After all, there are various providers that sell standard training modules. However, we believe that is a missed opportunity. Every company has its own experts who are excellent at their jobs and possess valuable knowledge. This knowledge is completely tailored to the organization and based on real-world experience. No standard course can compete with that. With the tips below, you can encourage these professionals to share their information with their colleagues.

Would you like to know more about how to build a diverse team with different areas of expertise, skills, and personalities? Then read our blog on recruitment and selection!

How do you encourage (online) knowledge sharing with colleagues?

It must be clear to employees that you want them to share their valuable knowledge with colleagues, and that they are encouraged to contribute to the internal knowledge platform. Explicitly invite everyone to share their practical tips and tricks with others. Make it attractive to pitch ideas by adding a small competition, and above all, keep it simple.

Roll out the red carpet!

Don't get us wrong. We aren't talking about sharing advanced rocket science. Quite the opposite. Ideally, the shared information should be very practical and relevant to the daily operations of the organization. This increases the likelihood that colleagues will actively visit the knowledge portal to learn and actually put that knowledge to use. No one benefits from long, theoretical treatises on a subject that rarely comes up. No matter how well-intentioned, this type of content can end up gathering dust in the archives for years.

Also, take a look at intrinsic motivation in relation to e-learning. That is how you truly motivate your employees.

A masterclass in knowledge management

You can come up with the most brilliant IT solutions, but if they don't meet the users' needs, they will be ignored and your investment will be for nothing. Give your knowledge platform extra bottom-up power by sitting down with a good cross-section of the organization to gauge interest.

Preferably choose colleagues from different departments who are known as early adopters and are open to change.

Use these internal knowledge ambassadors to list what is needed. The platform must be attractive enough for employees to keep coming back. What knowledge do they feel is missing? Are there certain "hot" topics that could be explored further? Is there a lot of reading done in the organization, or is the target audience more interested in photos or video material?

It is also interesting to identify key figures for each topic who can be approached first for a contribution. For example, the financial controller talking about budgeting, an HR manager explaining how to prevent absenteeism, or a warehouse employee showing how to place an order as efficiently as possible.

Foster trust and collegiality

Collegial behavior and mutual trust are important for job satisfaction in any company. But they are also two basic requirements for the success of your internal knowledge sharing. If there is a competitive work atmosphere where people are afraid that others will steal their ideas, they will prefer to keep their knowledge and experience to themselves. Criticizing others because their information isn't interesting to you creates fear and ensures that no new contributions will be written anytime soon.

It is therefore a good idea, when launching your internal knowledge platform, to pay attention to the “why” of this portal: sharing your knowledge and experience with your colleagues. You are not writing content to show off or to outdo anyone. You are simply helping other employees and making work easier and more enjoyable together. 

Give knowledge sharing in the workplace a nudge  

Knowledge sharing within organizations often doesn't happen on its own. So don't expect a huge tsunami of contributions to flood the internal knowledge platform right away. It often takes people time to find their way to a new medium. That applies to readers, but especially to authors who have a great deal of professional expertise but rarely, if ever, publish in public. Sometimes a bit of reluctance has to be overcome.

So it is smart to start by actively approaching potential knowledge providers and asking them to write a contribution for the platform. If the topic is easy to illustrate visually, vlogging is of course also a great option. Above all, don't let people “flounder”. Offer to have a communications employee read along and edit where necessary. Think along about attractive photo and video material. And provide a clear point of contact the poster can turn to when things aren't quite working out. 

The right knowledge-sharing tool

Choose a platform for sharing knowledge that can be accessed as flexibly as possible. We're not just talking about a program that runs on a computer or laptop, but preferably also on a tablet or phone. Keep the layout clear; a filter by target group and topic helps enormously here. People then aren't flooded with unnecessary knowledge but get more targeted information. And of course, since we've all turned into Google monsters: make sure there is an optimal search function, so knowledge can easily be looked up by topic. 

Apart from all the “hard” IT requirements, it is also smart to zoom in on the design of the online learning environment. The eye wants something too, so an easy-to-read font and calm visuals make it extra appealing to log in again. Finally, the platform may also include funny, light-hearted facts. It doesn't all have to get too heavy. You can convey knowledge with humor too!

Looking for a platform for sharing knowledge? Start the conversation with Pluvo!