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What is knowledge sharing?
Have you ever had a hunch about a new market opportunity or customer need, but you don’t have the information to back it up? Maybe there’s too much information to sort through, or you don’t have the context to interpret it. You may end up making an uninformed decision or no decision at all. That’s a big part of the reason why knowledge sharing is an essential function in your business.
At its most basic level, knowledge sharing in the workplace can be defined as the processes for transferring knowledge between individuals within an organization. An organization with a positive knowledge sharing culture will see efficiency gains and greater innovation capacity, among other benefits. Here are five reasons why knowledge sharing is important in the workplace.
The benefits of knowledge sharing in organizations
1. Knowledge sharing in the workplace supports growth and innovation
If your organization doesn’t value knowledge sharing, it can create resistance to ideas and barriers to innovation within your enterprise. On the other hand, when organizations value and promote a knowledge sharing culture, they’re more competitive and innovative. For example, small or large organizations with more intensive knowledge sharing and knowledge management processes are relatively more competitive than their counterparts.[1] The thing is, knowledge sharing is important because knowledge is akin to insight, and when insights are shared in your organization, it promotes insights-driven decisions that promote growth.
2. Knowledge sharing cuts costs and increases efficiency
If your employees spend hours looking for quality answers to their pressing business questions only to come up short, then your organization is bleeding time and efficiency costs. In other words, teams can’t find the answers they need, so they waste time and money duplicating research. For example, maybe your marketing team commissioned a study on Gen Z values, but your product development team doesn’t know about it, so they commission an expensive, unnecessary study on the same topic. On the other hand, in an organization where knowledge sharing is the norm, not only do teams save time with access to other teams’ knowledge, but they can also commission better research because they can quickly see knowledge gaps. And don’t forget: knowledge sharing supports higher quality decisions in the workplace, so your organization can avoid the costly consequences of poor decision making.
3. Knowledge sharing in the workplace enhances customer centricity
Knowledge sharing is important in the workplace because it enhances the collective ability of an organization’s workforce to understand customers’ situations, perceptions, and expectations, so the business can make customer-centric decisions. When your workforce shares their knowledge about the customer, they can get on the same page about who your customers are, and they can increase existing customer value, promote new value, and reduce churn, building a competitive advantage for growth in your organization. Essentially, knowledge sharing at work empowers more of your employees to understand the needs and desires of your customers and they can therefore create a better, more personalized experience for them.
4. Knowledge sharing increases collaboration, so teams find solutions faster
One barrier to a knowledge sharing work culture is when your employees “hoard” information and safeguard their knowledge because they feel the information is critical to their value and professional advancement. But sharing knowledge in the workplace can be a catalyst for collaboration and busting through organizational silos—and that means employees can find solutions faster and increase performance. If a team’s stuck, they can rely on their knowledge sharing culture to learn what other teams have already experienced, then they can find better solutions faster. Not to mention, in an increasingly hybrid and remote global workforce, the importance of a knowledge sharing culture for remote workers can’t be understated because there are less opportunities for people to meet and share information casually. Also, knowledge sharing can also help prevent knowledge loss when employees leave your organization.
5. Knowledge sharing helps organizations adjust to fast-changing markets
Research shows that sharing knowledge is significantly associated with organizational agility.[2] When teams share their knowledge with other teams in their organization, they can more easily anticipate changes, make decisions, and pivot to keep in step with fast-changing markets and customer needs. Swift decision-making is key to an agile organization that stays competitive.
How do you promote knowledge sharing in your organization?
As you can see, there are many reasons why knowledge sharing is important in the workplace. But if you want to promote a knowledge sharing culture in your organization, it’s key to adopt a knowledge management and knowledge engagement mechanism. The right insights platform can help you create a one-stop-shop for your employees to both share their own knowledge and learn from others, so they can make insights-driven decisions that move your business forward. For a demo of Market Logic’s insights technology, send us a note here and one of our team members will reach out to you!
