Promoting Knowledge Sharing
Promoting Knowledge Sharing involves creating and nurturing an environment where information and experiences are openly shared between teams to enhance collective understanding and avoid redundant efforts.
Purpose
The purpose is to leverage collective expertise and experiences across the organisation, thereby increasing efficiency and innovation.
- Reduced Redundancy: Minimises duplicate efforts across different teams.
- Accelerated Learning: Speeds up the learning curve for new team members.
- Enhanced Innovation: Fosters an environment of shared ideas, leading to innovative solutions.
Context
Industry Context
In one 2019 study of 1,000 U.S. workers, employees reported spending nearly 6 hours each week “reinventing the wheel” and duplicating other people’s work.
ZeroBlockers Context
Duplication of work exists in all companies, but when you move everyone to cross-functional teams the problem can become more pronounced. This is because the teams are more autonomous and have more freedom to choose their own tools and processes. The need for knowledge sharing is even more critical in this context.
Methods
| Method | Description | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Running Communities of Practice | Establish forums where team members share insights and best practices related to their expertise. | Builds professional networks and deepens expertise in specific areas. |
| Documenting Good Practice Guidelines | Creating and maintaining guidelines that outline best practices for various functions. | Provides a reference point for teams to follow and align their practices. |
| Creating Good Practice Playbooks | Developing detailed guides that offer step-by-step instructions for common tasks. | Reduces ambiguity and ensures consistent execution of tasks. |
| Collating Templates | Curating a repository of templates for common documents, reports, or processes. | Saves time and effort by providing ready-to-use resources. |
Anti-patterns
- Knowledge Hoarding: Individuals or teams retaining knowledge for power or fear of redundancy.
- Inconsistent Documentation: Sporadic or outdated documentation that leads to misinformation.
- Over-reliance on Informal Sharing: Relying solely on informal methods that may not reach all relevant parties.
Case Studies
Building a Strong Design Community and Culture at Mastercard
How Mastercard enhanced team collaboration and innovation by fostering a strong design community and culture through knowledge sharing initiatives.
Mastercard
Building a Unified Product Community at Delivery Hero
How Delivery Hero enhanced team collaboration and product development by fostering a culture of knowledge sharing.
DeliveryHero
