You know stuff. You know stuff that Gary and Beth don’t know. And Gary knows stuff you don’t know. So does Beth. Not just general things like your own child’s favorite stuffed friend or the high school lore about that pro athlete that went to your alma mater. You know things related to your job, about your company, and about your industry that others may not be privy to. Some of the “work” things you know, you may assume Gary and Beth also know. Yet they don’t. At least they don’t have the full depth and breadth of understanding you do. And vice versa.
Healthy organizations understand the benefits of knowledge sharing – closing that gap between what some of us know and more of us need to know. Yes, there will be some information that remains limited in reach. However, developing a healthy culture of knowledge management and exchange can increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction, and corporate stability.
Before we can dive into the positive side of the coin, we need to explore its opposite. Knowledge hoarding is when individuals fail to share information that might be of benefit to the full team or organization.
Sure, it could be a misguided attempt at self-preservation. “I’m the only one who knows how to do this. They need me!” It’s more likely, however, that these individuals are just running with a full plate, focused on getting their stuff done. They may have been doing these tasks so long it’s just routine now. They don’t think about how it gets done because they’re busy doing it. They may assume everyone knows the things they do. “This stuff is so basic!”
Yet, regardless of why it occurs, knowledge hoarding has a negative impact on the organization. It can compromise collaboration efforts. It can create sluggish productivity. It can negatively impact innovation, agility, and overall corporate culture.
If knowledge sharing isn’t part of your corporate identity, now is the time to make a change. Create an environment where collaboration, check-ins, and information exchange is common practice. From collaborative digital spaces, process documentation, emails, and casual conversation spaces, make sharing information easily accessible and common practice.
Let’s be honest, hybrid and remote work can make it more difficult to share knowledge unless there’s intentional spaces created and a corporate culture that encourages the give and take. It’s not that these work models can’t have a healthy flow of information. Of course they can, as long as your organization is intentional about it.
As a leader, make sure you are modeling the behavior. Check in with your team. Ask for their input and updates. Share the info they need or might find helpful to streamline their own processes. Make space for weekly (or otherwise regular) check-ins with each team member.
It’s not about micromanaging. Your team can be empowered to work independently and to take initiative as it relates to their role and responsibilities…and you can still be in communication with them to know what all that entails. The exchange of information goes both ways, too. Make sure your team is kept up to date on the details you can share.
Did your team help lay the foundation that led to the sales team landing a big new account? Tell them about it. Is the CIO planning to roll out a new ERP system and is that info ready to go public? Loop the team in with the info you can share. Did you recently attend an industry meeting and glean some helpful data? Summarize it for your team and get them up to speed on it.
As noted earlier, sometimes knowledge hoarding is a misguided attempt at self-preservation. Sometimes it happens because a team member feels spread too thin and is unable to take the time to engage in any form of knowledge sharing.
Be clear about expectations and responsibilities of certain roles. Map out the information that needs to get from one staff member to others. Create reasonable redundancy plans and explain why this back-up role is beneficial to both the company and the team members involved.
People that feel confident in their role and their value to the company are less likely to hoard information, as well as less likely to experience burnout or resist collaboration and support. Take the time to recognize the hard work and accomplishments of your team members – not just individually in your conversations with them, but also publicly.
Make space during team check-ins to recognize wins and a job well done. Celebrate stellar performance and contributions by telling your supervisors and corporate heads what your team is up to, and give specific recognition to the individuals responsible.
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