Capability and Motivation to Receive Knowledge - The Second Half of a Successful Implementation Process
- Rom Global
- Nov 1, 2008
- 3 min read
Implementing knowledge management processes often leads to changes in work processes, work habits, and even role definitions and authorities within the organization. These changes may be accompanied by suspicions, concerns, and even resistance from employees. Identifying and addressing these resistances are necessary steps for the process to succeed. Much has been said and written about dealing with fears and resistance to contributing and sharing knowledge. However, little attention is given to the second half of this process—the difficulties and resistance in receiving and using knowledge.
Motivation to Receive and Use Knowledge:
The motivation to receive and use knowledge, at the employee, manager, or unit level, is often affected by the "Not Invented Here" syndrome. This syndrome refers to resistance to using knowledge that wasn't developed or found by the employees or their close associates. This syndrome has two sources. The first is the fear that using knowledge developed by someone else implies acknowledging that the other person has better knowledge and perhaps even better capability, which could harm the status of the person using it. The second source is internal organizational power struggles that may lead to attempts to diminish the potential power of peer units, managers, or employees by pretending their knowledge inventory isn't unique or valuable. The motivation to use knowledge developed in other parts of the organization may decrease as the competitive atmosphere in the organization grows and as there is greater imbalance in the status of units or employees working in similar fields.
Tools for addressing the motivation aspect of receiving, processing, and using knowledge:
In certain cases, it's recommended that the knowledge contributor's name be shown only in the second view (and not in the first view). This way, the knowledge summary is presented to organizational employees without identifying a specific person or department. This increases the chances that the transferred knowledge content will receive objective attention and be unbiased by the contributor's status and position in the organizational political network.
It's recommended to try emphasizing the personal benefits inherent in using knowledge and expertise developed by others (such as saving time and resources that enable better performance).
Management should emphasize its support for using knowledge from other parts of the organization, encourage its use, and perhaps even provide incentives that encourage learning from peers.
Ability to Receive and Use Knowledge:
The ability to receive, process, and use knowledge largely depends on knowledge gaps between different employees or units in the organization. Knowledge gaps can result from employees or units being at different stages of familiarity and dealing with organizational content, or from the absence of prior knowledge that shapes the filters through which the organization distinguishes between more important and less important knowledge. It's clear, for example, that an eighth-grade student's ability to use mathematical knowledge taught in the third year of university mathematics is much lower than that of a second-year student in the same faculty. Similarly, a new unit in its initial setup stages will struggle to absorb knowledge transferred to it regarding advanced operational stages.
Culture, particularly organizational culture, also affects units' and employees' ability to receive, process, and use knowledge. Social norms, education, language, and work processes assign knowledge similar meanings. However, a different culture may cause the meanings assigned to received knowledge to differ from the intent of the sending parties, hindering the ability to process and use shared knowledge.
Tools for dealing with the ability to receive, process, and use knowledge:
It's highly recommended that the time be invested in creating a unified organizational taxonomy that ensures the shared interpretation of knowledge and meaning agreed upon by all, thus increasing the ability to absorb and use new knowledge.
When performing actions to identify knowledge gaps and determine the need for knowledge sharing (what knowledge to share), try to also map the prerequisite knowledge needed so that those who need it can use it.
In conclusion, when implementing the knowledge management project, it's important to remember that identifying and addressing resistances and obstacles to the process are critical for its success, not only in terms of knowledge contribution and sharing but also in terms of its reception and use. When we plan the implementation phase from the customer aspect of the knowledge management project, we shouldn't settle for technical implementation activities (training for familiarization with the technological system) and presentation of the offered knowledge, but also include activities designed to increase motivation and ability to use the knowledge we want to share.
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