Learn how to share your knowledge

How to share your knowledge effectively

Sharing your knowledge with team members and colleagues in other departments is vital for your organization. Lower training costs, higher productivity, and better quality of output are just a few examples of the benefits. In our article about the advantages, you will learn why sharing your knowledge is important. If you want to know more about knowledge sharing best practices, scroll down!

6 best practices for sharing your knowledge

1. Share knowledge that is relevant and valuable for your colleagues and organization

Start by identifying what knowledge your colleagues are missing, and what most of them would benefit from. This way, you can decide what knowledge is the most relevant and valuable to share.

One way of doing this is with surveys or opinion polls. This helps you hit two birds with one stone: you’ll learn what information colleagues miss, and you’ll make them feel valued because you’re asking them for their opinion.

Once you start the practice of knowledge sharing, you can expect colleagues to perform better and work more effectively because they benefit from best practices, tips and tricks, and other information that is of value to them.

2. Use a zero learning curve authoring tool to implement Employee-generated Learning

A great example of how you can share knowledge in an organization is by capturing your knowledge to create resources. If your organization has a simple-to-use e-learning authoring tool, you can create these resources efficiently, even if you have never done that before. These tools often have a simple UI and no bells and whistles, which makes capturing knowledge a joyful experience.

3. Make sure all shared knowledge is up to date

When you exchange information with others, make sure it is up to date. You can avoid sharing outdated information if your organization has implemented a knowledge-sharing platform or by creating and updating resources yourself. With an Employee-generated Resources approach to knowledge sharing, you give get full ownership of your learning content. This is an excellent example of how you can best share knowledge with others.

4. Share accomplishments and reward sharing activities

A great way to start sharing knowledge at work and get each other in the right mindset is by rewarding participation and celebrating achievements. You can do this by nominating colleagues, listing their names in an internal newsletter, giving them more responsibilities, and so on. Working in this way will make you all feel valued. It also gives everyone an incentive to participate in knowledge sharing.

5. Create a competition-free environment

Competition is a great motivation driver, but it can also backfire. Create an environment in which you and your colleagues feel comfortable and safe to share knowledge. Make sure everybody understands the benefits of asking questions, giving feedback, and sharing knowledge in your organization, and embrace shared knowledge together.

6. Create and share different types of learning content

Whether you create your learning content or find it online, don’t confine to courses alone and allow yourself to share tactical know-how in other commonly found formats or content types like:

• Checklists
• Curated lists of resources
• Cheat sheets
• Videos
• How to procedures
• Podcasts

An even better practice is making a combination. Having colleagues read a short article, watch a video, and make a quiz, for example, helps them to internalize information faster, and apply it to their work more quickly. Are you struggling on sharing your knowledge yet? Find out the full guide on knowledge sharing, and how to overcome the barriers of knowledge sharing.