What to Do When There's No Time to Share Knowledge?

Written in collaboration with Sagit Salmon

Who hasn't felt that sharing knowledge requires time and investment that we cannot afford to give? We are all busy and buckling under the weight of daily work, so how do we encourage knowledge-sharing in the workplace? True, in the immediate term, the expectation of sharing knowledge creates a feeling of "wasting" precious work time, and it seems there is no appropriate time to stop and do it. However, it's important to know that time is a precious resource for everyone, and there will never be a surplus. Therefore, don't be tempted to think there will be time to share knowledge in the future; if we don't dedicate time to it, knowledge-sharing will not happen. If we don't adopt a working method where sharing is integral, we might gain a little time in the immediate term, but we will lose much more later.

Previous articles have dealt with the many advantages inherent in knowledge sharing. Since the benefits are known to everyone, we will mention only a limited number, from the time saved by not reinventing the wheel to replicating successes and minimizing mistakes to the consistency that the organization reflects internally and to external customers. Given these advantages, the importance of knowledge sharing is clear. Since there will never be enough time, we need to create a work routine that ensures sharing takes place.

At this stage, we present several points to consider before starting any action:

• When building a new process or initiating one you haven't experienced, check if someone has done it before you. Perhaps you can learn from others' experiences. Why invest time in reinventing the wheel when you can use existing knowledge? Use the time you would spend collecting material and making mistakes to learn from others' experiences and lessons from past mistakes. You may find that you can rely on information another employee documented in the past to save time, just as another employee can later use the process you documented. Experience can produce better results in less time.

• When performing a process you've done before – see if there are tips or insights from previous attempts. As with a new process, a routine organizational process can achieve a significant upgrade by implementing past lessons, critical vision from an additional "eye," and using the experience of process partners.

• Each of us is experienced or an expert in some field – you surely feel that a significant part of your time is devoted to answering questions from others who want to learn from your experience and expertise. Now, imagine how much time you'll save if you document your knowledge and allow everyone to access it. One of the portal's goals is to enable access to domains and content without necessarily knowing who the content expert is.

• Don't worry – sharing does not detract from your expertise but frees up time for you to engage in tasks specific to your job and reduces your question load. After sharing, you'll have time to develop the ideas running through your head that you've struggled to find time for until now. And what about activities or processes that are already documented somewhere? In most cases, you save the products of your experience on a shared drive or send them to an email recipient. If so, why not expose them to additional eyes? (Remember – sharing can also be done while maintaining permission restrictions).

So, when you adopt a mindset that advocates knowledge sharing and brings it to expression in your daily work, you'll discover that today's "trouble" is tomorrow's necessity. More importantly, you'll discover how knowledge sharing saves time rather than wastes it.

And we'll end with a story: In A.A. Milne's book, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin is described as going down the stairs, followed by Pooh Bear. Pooh's bruised head is dragging, and with each step-down, he receives another blow from the new step. He thinks: It hurts so much; there must be another way to go down the stairs, but I'm too busy and in too much pain. If only I had a little time, I would try to find out...

---

Want to learn more about KM strategy?

Here are some articles you might find interesting:

• Hooked- Book Review

• You're It - Book Review

• Decision-making in the new world of collaboration