Knowledge sharing is a part of the much larger continuous
learning cycle – learn before, during and after doing. This itself relies on a willingness and
freedom to communicate, something that the study above shows is an increasingly
complex task particularly in large multi-national organisations.
It reminds me of a project I worked on for an organisation
about 12 months ago helping them to develop a learning programme that would be
deployed globally and taught through e learning and virtual learning. The method of deployment relied heavily on
participants to proactively communicate freely, effectively sometimes in a language
that was not their mother tongue.
We found that the most effective way to encourage
communication was through development of a learning charter that everyone
(students and teachers alike) agreed to before commencement of the
programme. The learning charter set out
a set of guidelines for behaviour, interaction, time keeping and consideration
of others. It was the basis for
developing an open environment where individuals felt they were able to express
themselves and would be listened to and where there was no fear of repercussion
for getting something wrong. In addition
to the learning charter, part of the success of the programme was getting the
‘teachers’ to develop a consultative coaching style to provide flexibility in
the programme – giving more time and encouragement to those that needed
it. The programme was so effective that
within six months of launch it had a waiting list of participants.
We hope to be covering more on communication, learning and
associated KM techniques in later issues.
We would be keen to hear of your experiences.
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