How do you get your teams to share knowledge?

I agree, and this reminds me of the expression “the WIIFM” (what’s in it for me). Tying the behavior of knowledge sharing to your organization culture, including the impact on performance reviews and merit increases, is a way to reinforce adoption. Since change is measured by rate of adoption, you’ll need a way to make it “sticky” and consistent across the organization. If you are struggling to embed this behavior into teams, consider the following three questions: 1) Is “knowledge sharing” one of the organization’s core values? 2) Is it currently linked to performance ratings? 3) Is it included in all on-boarding materials? I believe the understanding of the WIIFM starts day 1.

As a leader, the first step to knowledge sharing is…sharing knowledge. Information is a form of power and as a leader or manager you should set the example of what shared power looks like. Not all information can be shared but most of it can. Knowledge sharing can leverage trust building and creativity in teams.

Make knowledge sharing a part of your culture by building it into the agenda of your team meetings. Solicit agenda items in advance to give everyone a chance to share what they think is relevant to the team.

Other valuable channels that enable teams to share knowledge easily and effectively, are mentoring, job shadowing, and utilizing multigenerational talent. These valuable practices engage the workforce to learn a wealth of information and skills from both established staff (whose tenure is esteemed within the company), and creatives (whose innovation and visionary expertise push the business to the next level).

Knowledge sharing needs to be easy, built in to the day to day operations environment and you need to sunshine success. Like most things, if it is in anyway difficult adoption drops, no matter how much you talk about it or build it into the culture. For example in our company the team is on slack daily (similar for MS Teams in other environments), by creating a channel where people can quickly ask for advice / insight and others can quickly respond, you are able to keep it in one place that teams touch daily. This is then reinforced during huddle groups / stand ups where people are encouraged to talk about the success they have had and what they have learnt. Make it easy, make it part of the culture and reinforce positive outcomes.

In my experience, knowledge sharing should be one of the pillars in any team structure and organization. Weekly knowledge sharing sessions should be established to train and develop team members in identifying the scarce skills needed in an organization. This allows teams to approach more potential candidates.

In my research and deployment of Trust programming, there are three core tenets of trust: Trust of character, capability, and communication. Taking a deliberate approach to trust building, based on these three “c’s”, having a common language for trust, and ensuring the team knows “what it looks like when trust is broken” is a path to sharing in a safe space. The Reina Trust Group has an excellent model for teams to learn, adapt, and adopt a “trust framework”. Trust needs to exist in your org’s way of being. Additionally, in my experience, in tandem with this effort should be a focus on creating a sense of belonging. They are related, but not the same. When teammates feel valued, heard, and personally invested, then trust can flourish.

The starting point is to create a culture and environment of trust. When people feel they are in a safe space where they can share and learn without any fear that’s when real collaboration begins.