The value of knowledge

It is said that knowledge is power. Knowledge also makes good commercial sense, especially when distilled into financial return. Knowledge mitigates risk, builds relationships and helps grow strong businesses.

A significant amount of knowledge can be acquired through stakeholder and partner networks. A culture of information exchange and knowledge transfer takes time to build up, but there are a number of key activities that can assist with this process.

Knowledge transfer sessions

Sharing knowledge in face-to-face meetings is something organisations have been doing since the dawn of time. Digital channels facilitate the process of interactions of this nature through forums, webinars, live chat and video cast services. There are a number of advantages associated with the use of these tactical tools, including:

• Real time interaction
• Removal of reliance on scribes / minuting as there is often a permanent record of the session captured e.g. a recording of a webinar or the discourse of a live chat session
• Non-location dependent – allows sessions to reach a global audience
• Multi channel integration in one environment – e.g. a webinar supported with instant messenger for questions to the host(s) and presentation delivered via a web portal
• Reduced cost.

Few organisations fully utilise these services, which are commonplace in client facing environments for the cultivation of partner and stakeholder relationships and the sharing of knowledge.

The greater relative convenience and additional advantages offered by digital channels can provide an opportunity for organisations to develop regular knowledge sharing sessions.

Knowledge sharing groups

Harnessing the power of the interconnected web is key for developing relationships and partnerships based on a solid foundation of knowledge sharing.

Knowledge hubs and wikis are now more common place for large organisations, some of which have invested in the development of bespoke systems and tools.

There is perhaps a perception that the technology required to implement this type of programme is beyond the reach of many small and medium sized enterprises. However, through the use of open source solutions such as MediaWiki or eFront and managed hosted solutions such as SocialGO, a lot can be achieved with limited technical resources.

The enabling tasks for establishing a knowledge sharing group can be more easily completed via the use of digital tools, specifically:

• Thought leader lists – a database can be built by thought leaders themselves, thus saving time and cost e.g. partner employee registration with an organisation’s wiki
• Knowledge themes – online information architecture can simplify the organisation of knowledge into themes, categories and sections
• Linking of ideas and concepts – the web is ideal for enabling cross informational linking that drives new ideas e.g. a collaborative online workshop presentation that consolidates and references several different partner concepts
• Modification of ideas – use of wikis is potentially beneficial but not without risk
• Collaborative content creation – the ability to quickly sift, edit and add to information online facilitates the process of collaboration
• The sharing of digital assets through content libraries

Shared digital asset and content production

Working with partners to jointly produce digital assets and content can present significant benefits to an organisation. The output of such activity may be targeted at a closed loop internal audience or could be opened up to a wider external audience to continue the knowledge harvesting process.

Co-produced editorial and expert guest writers from partner organisations can also potentially add credibility to an organisation’s message to external audiences.

Sharing technical knowledge and expertise

Technical teams within your organisation will be no strangers to the approaches to knowledge sharing commonly found in the software and applications development world.

The sharing of developer tool kits and Application Programme Interfaces with networks of partners and stakeholders is nothing new, but transitioning to this state from a more traditional model can be a huge shift for organisations supplying digital products and services.

The degree to which this approach is adopted will depend on a number of factors including commercial, risk and cultural considerations.

Choose your sharing model

Depending on the number and nature of the partnership relationships your organisation has, there are a number of different models available to support the development of a digital knowledge sharing strategy. Three possible strategies could be:

• Fluid knowledge collaboration – the sharing of knowledge through a collaborative process of creating assets, content and resources. Rather than a rigid process, the output of such activity may be small banks of information that can be regularly updated by all parties, referred to, repackaged and referenced e.g. an indexable list of reference specifications in a knowledge portal or group wiki
• Knowledge distribution – existing knowledge resources shared freely with partners and stakeholder groups e.g. content distribution via an eLearning static brochure ware type platform. (Some type of commenting or feedback loop can be included)
• Internal partner collaboration meets external client collaboration – the output of knowledge sharing activity in an organisation can be continued in an external audience environment e.g. a report produced as a result of several conversations between partners and an organisation via their wiki site could be published externally on a client-facing site that would then continue the process. Version two of the report could incorporate knowledge gained from client’s comments or discussions.

The strategies, tactics and tools discussed in this article can help support joint knowledge sharing projects and collaborative information sharing ventures. However, each individual organisation will no doubt wish to tailor their approach and map it to existing partner or stakeholder networks or those currently being developed.