Effective Knowledge
Management
ow can you
most effectively develop a knowledge sharing culture that supports
collaboration and enhances relations and the effective transfer of knowledge?
What is the best approach to eradicate siloed working, and build a culture of
transparency and the broadest contribution? Contributor Nick Gold, MD –
Speakers Corner.
A flat
structure in any organisation is a panacea that businesses focus on to empower
them to create a culture of progression where their employees feel engaged and
invested. However, the issue with this seemingly idyllic set-up is that for any
successful organisation to make critical decisions and move forward, there is a
natural need for hierarchy, leadership and key decision makers. Managing
by consensus is a fantastic goal as it means that the entire team naturally are
engaged with the decision, as they feel they own it, but the truth is that in
the sizeable majority of any business there will be a proportion of people that
will ‘accept’ why the decision has been made, but it might not be their
preference.
Thus, a
company needs to differentiate between engagement and flat structures.
Flat structures are a natural consequence of an organisation where silos have
been broken down and the staff, whichever area they work in day to day, have
cross team conversations, where all parties view discussions and meetings
between different areas as a chance to get positive input from different
viewpoints. The flat structure comes from team members having natural
respect for each other and security in their knowledge, expertise and job role.
I am
privileged that my daily role within the speaking industry offers the
opportunity to get a chance to meet and listen to many amazing leaders from all
kinds of industries and sectors. A common theme I hear, and one that has
certainly contributed to my personal management style, is that acceptance of
the knowledge that your success is driven by your team will yield better
results and create a more positive working environment. Admitting to
yourself and your team that you do not have all the answers is a very powerful
tool, rather than a show of weakness. Confessing this and taking this leap is a
massive stepping stone for any successful leader. If your team support you and
understand that this statement is not a show of weakness, then you know the
people around you have your back and your company is ideally positioned to move
forward with the right decisions made by the right people.
Too often
knowledge sharing is achieved by companies publishing white papers or creating
intranets, where each individual department can demonstrate their knowledge and
understanding of their specific areas. While systems such as these give
reassurance to the other teams within the organisation that each sub-division
is comprised of experts in that field, to me, it is not the most effective
process. These systems create a culture of passive listening, i.e. the
‘experts’ are always the ones providing the answers, rather than engaging
everyone in the conversation. True knowledge sharing only comes where everyone
is involved in the conversation and given the opportunity to challenge and
question that status quo.
While I work
in a sector where we focus on the impact of the keynote speech and its ability
to change perceptions, challenge presumptions and encourage the formulation of
new ideas, I would suggest that the term ‘keynote speech’ is a misnomer and
should always be seen as the start of a conversation. The discussion after the
keynote, the open exploration of ideas and the Q&A session is where the
real value for all parties can be extracted and where the interesting ‘stuff’
emerges for both the individual and for the company.
This move
away from a one-way stream of knowledge sharing to a two-way conversation will
encourage a couple of side effects. Firstly, established assumptions or
processes will be challenged as the unaware party (for want of a better name)
will ask uninhibited questions with no agenda. Secondly, a realisation to both
the individual as well as the wider company that the best conversation comes
when people have diversity of experience and use this difference to draw
solutions to the business problems they are facing.
Both
realisations lead to the same conclusion that it is important for businesses to
break traditional patterns of thought, in order to move forward and encourage
diverse solutions to difficult problems. A company that has promoted this
policy really well is Google, and how they actively engage and encourage their
employees to use their 20% time – the idea is that you spend 20% of your time
working on a project that is not directly aligned with your day to day job but
a personal passion of the individual to explore primarily for their own benefit
and in the longer term for the benefit of the company. This policy is a
reminder that personal development outside of ‘work development’ is no longer a
separate activity. Dedicating time to exterior projects is becoming more
valued as it is more and more commonly accepted that the best place to look for
inspiration for your business is outside of the sector you are in. Giants such
as Amazon, Netflix and John Lewis are setting the benchmark for service and innovation,
so it is these organisations that you need to pitch yourself against.
So, giving
people space, time and encouragement to do something for themselves can only
help and inspire their allegiance and dedication to the company. This doesn’t
mean they can’t be challenged about how they can relate their new skills to the
company, but they should be asked to share their knowledge as it will foster a
comfortable sense of knowledge sharing, breaking down traditional business
silos. The final point I would like to touch on, which is absolutely critical,
is the need for transparency. This impacts the culture of the business
entirely. We live and work in a society where job satisfaction and personal
life satisfaction are getting more and more intertwined, as such, a company
needs to be open to an individual, not only by investing in them, but by making
them aware of the type of company they are part of – through transparency. A
company must build trust and security for its employees through a culture of
openness and transparency. Businesses should be comfortable in sharing both in
good times as well as difficult times. Ultimately, if a business is having
issues, surely the best people to pull the company around are the team who can
help guide the leadership and direction.
While within
itself, transparency has massive positive impact for the culture of trust, it
also doubles up as the starkest version of knowledge sharing within a business
and thus will set a precedent to the rest of the business of the positive impact
of a knowledge sharing culture, that all parties can get involved in.
We live in
an age where the workplace and the individual’s engagement within it is
increasingly more important to both the success of the company as well as the
personal goals of the individual. A business that embraces a culture of
transparency as well as actively encouraging their team to expand their
horizons can foster a culture where knowledge sharing is no longer a forced
activity but rather a natural part of the conversation. If a company achieves
this as part of their culture, they are creating an environment both the
company and the individuals can prosper in.
Regards
Prof. Pralhad Jadhav
Master of Library &
Information Science (NET Qualified)
Senior Manager @ Knowledge
Repository
Khaitan & Co
Twitter Handle | @Pralhad161978
No comments:
Post a Comment