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Learn how to implement knowledge-sharing strategies and discover the best knowledge-sharing tools.
Knowledge sharing is the lifeblood of any organization's growth and sustainability. It's a process that’s not just concerned with enhancing individual skill sets but also with creating a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. But how do you establish knowledge sharing strategies, and effectively manage them?
The answer is easier than you might think. In this guide, we'll show you how to establish a successful knowledge sharing framework for your organization, no matter its size or industry.
Knowledge sharing in the workplace refers to the process of providing or exchanging information between members of a company’s workforce.
It can come in two forms — Tacit or Explicit.
Tacit knowledge refers to skills learned from experience by continuous action. Tacit knowledge can’t be easily taught or documented, since it’s subjective and unique to an individual. Examples of tacit knowledge include being able to study a client’s body language, or knowing how to handle people.
Explicit knowledge refers to step-by-by and procedural knowledge. Research, guides, and user manuals are examples of explicit knowledge.
Company knowledge sharing when done right, prevents brain drain and eliminates unnecessary competition amongst your most important employees.
A typical example of knowledge sharing in the workplace could be a monthly team meeting where employees share successful strategies they've implemented or challenges they've overcome. The team member who led a successful marketing campaign, for example, might explain their tactics and decision-making process. This knowledge is then accessible to the rest of the team, who can learn from it, apply it to their work, or even improve upon it.
Another instance could be a shared digital document or repository where team members contribute insights or ideas. It acts as a living, evolving resource that the entire team can use to solve problems, generate innovative ideas, or even onboard new members.
Employees lose an average of 102 minutes each day looking for the right information to execute tasks at work. That is approximately 1.7 hours out of a typical eight-hour workday. A large percentage of this is due to a lack of knowledge sharing in companies.
Also, companies with a solid knowledge sharing system can retain valuable talent and help them share their expertise without burning out.
Aside from these obvious advantages, there are other benefits of company-wide knowledge sharing. We’ll look at them below.
Knowledge sharing makes idea and innovation management easier in a company. It's like opening all windows in a room - fresh air flows freely, bringing in new energy and perspectives.
When employees share their experiences and insights, it helps others think up new ideas. They might see a new way to improve a process, a fresh angle for a product, or spot a new opportunity in the market.
Also, when everyone knows the same information, it's like everyone has the same starting line in a race. More people feel inspired to share their ideas, creating a buzzing hive of innovation.
Read more on innovation and idea management here.
Knowledge sharing makes it easy for all the members of your team to contribute their respective abilities to the project at hand.
With all ideas out in the open, team members can give and get advice quickly. This means that working on a project is smoother for everyone involved. When people can work together without a hitch, it helps everyone do their best work.
Oftentimes, the next big product from your company is hidden somewhere in your employee's “book of crazy ideas” and sometimes it never leaves that book. It’s not because they don’t want to share, but maybe there isn’t an effective way to communicate the idea.
Knowledge sharing sessions in companies make this less likely to happen. When you allow your employees to discuss and share ideas on certain topics without having to jump through hoops, great ideas pop up.
Think about a project as a big machine. Each team member is a crucial part, like a cog or a gear. For the machine to work well, every part needs to know its role. And no one can know their role if they don’t have any information.
If your project manager shares the right information, tasks, and tools with the team, everyone understands their jobs better and are better engaged. It's just like oiling a machine.
When managers encourage knowledge sharing within a company, they build a strong employee learning culture.
The employees would easily learn from one another and be open to teaching others as well. Companies that continually indulge in knowledge sharing activities build a culture that new employees would easily key into when they are hired.
When a company encourages knowledge sharing, problems are often solved faster.
Imagine this: an employee runs into a tough challenge. Instead of spending hours or days trying to figure it out, they can tap into the collective wisdom of their colleagues. Someone else might have encountered a similar problem before and can share how they resolved it. This way, solutions are found quickly, saving precious time and resources.
Knowledge sharing can create a sense of connection and value in the workplace, which is important for employee engagement. When employees share and learn from each other's experiences, they feel more involved and valuable to the company. They are not just working, but also contributing to the company's knowledge base. This feeling of being an integral part of the company can boost motivation, job satisfaction, and overall performance.
You can create knowledge sharing through the implementation of knowledge sharing activities. What are knowledge sharing activities? They are practices that inform and educate employees while giving them an avenue to share their ideas as well. Some of these activities include :
Most knowledge sharing activities can easily be achieved through the use of knowledge management tools or software. They come with a wide range of amazing features, and we’ll look at a few below.
There are many tools and software that can help facilitate effective knowledge sharing within an organization. These platforms create a unified space where information can be easily stored, accessed, and distributed among team members.
Assembly offers an easy-to-use, modern, and secure intranet that will help your team work smarter, not harder. Assembly is an automated, all-in-one communication, collaboration, and engagement hub that helps organizations engage, find meaning, stay informed, and save time at work. Assembly's flexible intranet can also help you improve communication, drive idea management, and simplify common processes. It's a flexible intranet platform that brings together people, knowledge, and engagement into one secure place.
Key features:
With Assembly, knowledge sharing isn't just a routine process, it's a rich and rewarding experience that strengthens bonds, improves engagement, and builds a positive company culture. All these features combined elevate Assembly a step above other tools, turning it into an indispensable ally in your company's growth and success.
Slack is a popular communication tool that brings all your team's conversations into one place. It's like turning a giant office into a compact chat room where everyone can talk, share, and discuss.
Key features:
Confluence is a collaboration tool by Atlassian that functions as a corporate wiki. It allows teams to create, share, and collaborate on projects in one place.
Key features:
Notion is a highly customizable workspace that blends your everyday work apps into one. It allows you to take notes, add tasks, manage projects, and more, all within a single platform.
Key features:
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a suite of cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools developed by Google. It brings together apps like Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and more into a cohesive cloud-based system.
Key features:
Knowledge management systems make it easy to share, find, and use information. They also have other benefits. Some of them include:
Setting up your company to use knowledge sharing tools is a relatively easy task. Here's a simple, step-by-step guide to making these valuable tools part of your everyday operations.
It’s also important that you share your needs with the businesses you’re considering. A 30-min consultation call with any of the companies you choose to work with will do the trick. You have to make sure you include information on how and what you’d use the software for. Details like your company size, and the average number of clients/customers are also important.
Remember, the goal of using a knowledge sharing tool is to make your company more efficient and collaborative. Choose a tool that best fits your needs, and take the time to implement it properly for the best results.
Knowledge sharing makes it easier to develop new ideas, work as a team, collaborate, and get things done faster. Adopting the right tools makes this even easier, and helps you share information more quickly and efficiently. However, it's not just about sharing knowledge, though — it's also about creating a workplace where everyone's ideas are valued and rewarded.
With Assembly, you can create that workplace. Assembly offers an organized platform where everyone can easily share and access information. It also provides an avenue for you to recognize and reward your team's contributions, encouraging a culture where every idea is appreciated.
Give it a try! Book a demo to figure out how best we can serve you.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
Explore GuideYes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.
There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.
Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.
The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.
We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.
At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.
The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.
We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.
If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.
Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!
While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.
Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.
Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.
That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.
They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.
No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.
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