There is little doubt that the ability to share knowledge within a company is key to its success. Avoiding the common pitfall of having pockets of knowledge in isolated locations will allow your company to run smoother and more efficiently. One of the best ways to achieve this exchange and flow of knowledge is through a flexible workforce that can operate between teams.
But how does this work and why is it a good idea?
Streamline your company structure
Many businesses are set-up with distinct teams within an organisation. Very often, there is little or no movement of staff between these teams. While it has the benefit of building up specialised areas within your workforce, the danger is that it can kill knowledge sharing dead.
If an employee works with the same colleagues in the same team all their working life, then they will naturally contain their knowledge within that structure. This is bad for a company as the knowledge they may not be sharing across the whole workforce may be something that all would find helpful.
Get flexible!
A great idea for companies in terms of avoiding this and helping with knowledge sharing is to make your teams more flexible. Move people around regularly so they interact with all aspects of the business and can pass their knowledge onto colleagues. This will naturally improve knowledge sharing within your organisation and lead to business practices improving. It will not only spread good practice within the business from team to team but will also help eliminate bad practice overall as people see a better way of working. This doesn't have to be in terms of permanent moves within teams either. You may have staff shadow other colleagues for a day to share knowledge or have people help out other teams during busy periods.
Structuring your business in such a way to encourage flexible working is great for making sure essential knowledge flows around your company. Get in touch today and let us show you how Noodlepod can help your organisation work smarter by sharing essential knowledge and learning from each other on various projects.