How to Setup Intranet Knowledge Sharing for Your Company

Knowledge sharing is the lifeblood of any organization's growth and sustainability. It's a process that’s not just concerned with enhancing individual skill sets but also with creating a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. But how do you establish knowledge sharing strategies, and effectively manage them? 

The answer is easier than you might think. In this guide, we'll show you how to establish a successful knowledge sharing framework for your organization, no matter its size or industry. 

What Is Knowledge Sharing? 

Knowledge sharing in the workplace refers to the process of providing or exchanging information between members of a company’s workforce. 

It can come in two forms — Tacit or Explicit.

‍Tacit knowledge refers to skills learned from experience by continuous action. Tacit knowledge can’t be easily taught or documented, since it’s subjective and unique to an individual. Examples of tacit knowledge include being able to study a client’s body language, or knowing how to handle people.

Explicit knowledge refers to step-by-by and procedural knowledge. Research, guides, and user manuals are examples of explicit knowledge.  

Company knowledge sharing when done right, prevents brain drain and eliminates unnecessary competition amongst your most important employees. 

What Is an Example of Knowledge Sharing in the Workplace?

A typical example of knowledge sharing in the workplace could be a monthly team meeting where employees share successful strategies they've implemented or challenges they've overcome. The team member who led a successful marketing campaign, for example, might explain their tactics and decision-making process. This knowledge is then accessible to the rest of the team, who can learn from it, apply it to their work, or even improve upon it. 

Another instance could be a shared digital document or repository where team members contribute insights or ideas. It acts as a living, evolving resource that the entire team can use to solve problems, generate innovative ideas, or even onboard new members.

Why Is Knowledge Sharing Important for Companies?

Employees lose an average of 102 minutes each day looking for the right information to execute tasks at work. That is approximately 1.7 hours out of a typical eight-hour workday. A large percentage of this is due to a lack of knowledge sharing in companies.

Also, companies with a solid knowledge sharing system can retain valuable talent and help them share their expertise without burning out.

Aside from these obvious advantages, there are other benefits of company-wide knowledge sharing. We’ll look at them below.

What Are the 7 Benefits of Knowledge Sharing?

1. Better Idea and Innovation Management 

Knowledge sharing makes idea and innovation management easier in a company. It's like opening all windows in a room - fresh air flows freely, bringing in new energy and perspectives. 

When employees share their experiences and insights, it helps others think up new ideas. They might see a new way to improve a process, a fresh angle for a product, or spot a new opportunity in the market. 

Also, when everyone knows the same information, it's like everyone has the same starting line in a race. More people feel inspired to share their ideas, creating a buzzing hive of innovation. 

Read more on innovation and idea management here.

2. Fosters Easy Collaboration

Knowledge sharing makes it easy for all the members of your team to contribute their respective abilities to the project at hand. 

With all ideas out in the open, team members can give and get advice quickly. This means that working on a project is smoother for everyone involved. When people can work together without a hitch, it helps everyone do their best work.  

3. Improves Communication

Oftentimes, the next big product from your company is hidden somewhere in your employee's “book of crazy ideas” and sometimes it never leaves that book. It’s not because they don’t want to share, but maybe there isn’t an effective way to communicate the idea.  

Knowledge sharing sessions in companies make this less likely to happen. When you allow your employees to discuss and share ideas on certain topics without having to jump through hoops, great ideas pop up.

4. Enhances Project Execution

Think about a project as a big machine. Each team member is a crucial part, like a cog or a gear. For the machine to work well, every part needs to know its role. And no one can know their role if they don’t have any information. 

If your project manager shares the right information, tasks, and tools with the team, everyone understands their jobs better and are better engaged. It's just like oiling a machine. 

5. Builds Strong Employee Learning Culture

When managers encourage knowledge sharing within a company, they build a strong employee learning culture.

The employees would easily learn from one another and be open to teaching others as well. Companies that continually indulge in knowledge sharing activities build a culture that new employees would easily key into when they are hired.

6. Speeds Up Problem-solving

When a company encourages knowledge sharing, problems are often solved faster. 

Imagine this: an employee runs into a tough challenge. Instead of spending hours or days trying to figure it out, they can tap into the collective wisdom of their colleagues. Someone else might have encountered a similar problem before and can share how they resolved it. This way, solutions are found quickly, saving precious time and resources. 

7. Increases Employee Engagement

Knowledge sharing can create a sense of connection and value in the workplace, which is important for employee engagement. When employees share and learn from each other's experiences, they feel more involved and valuable to the company. They are not just working, but also contributing to the company's knowledge base. This feeling of being an integral part of the company can boost motivation, job satisfaction, and overall performance.

How Do You Create Knowledge Sharing?

You can create knowledge sharing through the implementation of knowledge sharing activities. What are knowledge sharing activities? They are practices that inform and educate employees while giving them an avenue to share their ideas as well. Some of these activities include :

1. Brainstorming or knowledge sharing sessions for employees
2. Creating a knowledge repository that contains all the information employees need
3. Mentoring sessions for new and older employees to interact
4. Incentivizing knowledge sharing by offering rewards
5. The onboarding process for new employees
6. Consulting knowledge sharing companies to review your policies
7. Implementing knowledge management software

Most knowledge sharing activities can easily be achieved through the use of knowledge management tools or software. They come with a wide range of amazing features, and we’ll look at a few below. 

Effective Knowledge Sharing Tools and Software

There are many tools and software that can help facilitate effective knowledge sharing within an organization. These platforms create a unified space where information can be easily stored, accessed, and distributed among team members.

1. Assembly 

Assembly offers an easy-to-use, modern, and secure intranet that will help your team work smarter, not harder. Assembly is an automated, all-in-one communication, collaboration, and engagement hub that helps organizations engage, find meaning, stay informed, and save time at work. Assembly's flexible intranet can also help you improve communication, drive idea management, and simplify common processes. It's a flexible intranet platform that brings together people, knowledge, and engagement into one secure place.

Key features:

• Keep your team updated: Push important announcements, updates, and information directly to your employees, ensuring everyone stays in the loop.
• Find critical information: Make it easy for your employees to find vital documents, procedures, and details, streamlining operations and saving time.
• Efficient storage: Use Assembly as your secure hub for capturing and storing essential internal communication and recognition data.
• Employee recognition: With Assembly, team members are encouraged to share knowledge, and are celebrated for it. The recognition tool helps you craft a recognition program that fits your company culture, boosting morale and strengthening team cohesion.
• Reward system: Knowledge sharing becomes even more appealing with Assembly's customizable rewards. Whether it's contributing an innovative idea or helping a peer, every act of sharing is an opportunity to earn something special.
• Real-time feedback: On Assembly, everyone can give and get feedback right away. This makes knowledge exchange more dynamic and responsive.
• Social engagement: In Assembly, sharing knowledge is not a one-way street, it's a community event. You can make information exchange between your employees more interactive and engaging with features like shoutouts, comments, and likes.
• Seamless integration: Assembly doesn't exist in a silo. It syncs smoothly with popular tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace. This means you can pull in knowledge from various sources and collect them in one unified platform.

With Assembly, knowledge sharing isn't just a routine process, it's a rich and rewarding experience that strengthens bonds, improves engagement, and builds a positive company culture. All these features combined elevate Assembly a step above other tools, turning it into an indispensable ally in your company's growth and success.

2. Slack

Slack is a popular communication tool that brings all your team's conversations into one place. It's like turning a giant office into a compact chat room where everyone can talk, share, and discuss.

Key features:

• Channels: Organize conversations by topics, teams, or projects for easy access and reference.
• Direct messages: Have one-on-one discussions or small group chats.
• File sharing: Share files, documents, images, and more directly in the conversation.
• Search: Quickly find past conversations or files with powerful search functionality.
• Integrations: Connect with other tools like Google Drive or Dropbox to increase collaboration.

3. Confluence

Confluence is a collaboration tool by Atlassian that functions as a corporate wiki. It allows teams to create, share, and collaborate on projects in one place.

Key features:

• Pages and blogs: Create detailed documents or blog posts about specific topics.
• Space directory: Organize your work into different spaces for each team or project.
• Page templates: Use pre-set templates for meeting notes, project plans, and more.
• Inline comments: Discuss and give feedback directly on the page.
• Integration: Works well with other Atlassian products like JIRA for better project management.

4. Notion

Notion is a highly customizable workspace that blends your everyday work apps into one. It allows you to take notes, add tasks, manage projects, and more, all within a single platform.

Key features:

• Versatile editor: Write, plan, and structure your work your way.
• Integrated workspace: Combine notes, tasks, wikis, and databases into one.
• Collaboration: Share your workspace with your team and collaborate in real time.
• Templates: Use pre-made templates to streamline your workflow.
• Mobile & desktop apps: Work from anywhere, anytime.

5. Google Workspace

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a suite of cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools developed by Google. It brings together apps like Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and more into a cohesive cloud-based system.

Key features:

• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides: Collaborate on text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in real time.
• Google Drive: Store and share files securely in the cloud.
• Google Meet: Host video meetings with your team or clients.
• Gmail: Manage your work emails efficiently.
• Calendar: Schedule your meetings and manage your time effectively.
• Integration: All apps work seamlessly with each other for a smooth user experience.

Why Should You Include Knowledge Sharing Tools Company-wide?

Knowledge management systems make it easy to share, find, and use information. They also have other benefits. Some of them include:

1. Efficient information access: Company knowledge sharing software acts as a central repository, storing crucial company information in one place. This eliminates the need for employees to sift through countless documents or emails, saving time and increasing efficiency.
2. Better collaboration: These tools often come with features that encourage and simplify teamwork, such as shared workspaces, document co-editing, and task assignments. They facilitate seamless collaboration, making it easier for employees to work together, regardless of their location.
3. Knowledge preservation: When employees leave, their knowledge doesn't have to go with them. By using knowledge sharing software, important insights and information can be documented and preserved, ensuring continuity and minimizing disruption.
4. Enhanced learning opportunities: With a well-organized, searchable knowledge base at their disposal, employees can easily access information to help them learn new skills or enhance their existing ones. This can lead to improved performance and greater job satisfaction.
5. Encourages innovation: By making diverse knowledge and ideas easily accessible, these tools can spark creativity and innovation. Employees can build on each other's ideas, leading to the development of innovative solutions and improvements.
6. Streamlines onboarding: For new employees, these tools can significantly shorten the learning curve. They can tap into the collective knowledge of the company, understand workflows, and get up to speed faster.
7. Improved customer service: With easy access to a stored wealth of information, customer service teams can resolve issues faster and more effectively, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
8. Informed decision-making: Knowledge sharing tools place all your company’s data at your fingertips, making it easier for leaders to make informed decisions. Managers and executives can leverage historical data, analytics, and insights shared by the team to stay ahead of the competition.
9. Cost-effective: Implementing company knowledge sharing tools can be a cost-effective move. It reduces the need for constant in-person training and meetings and helps avoid costly mistakes born out of a lack of information.

How to Incorporate Knowledge Sharing Tools and Software for Your Company  

Setting up your company to use knowledge sharing tools is a relatively easy task. Here's a simple, step-by-step guide to making these valuable tools part of your everyday operations.

1. Identify your needs: Understand what you're trying to achieve with a knowledge sharing tool. Are you looking to improve collaboration? Preserve company knowledge? Streamline communication? Knowing your objectives will help you select the right tool.

It’s also important that you share your needs with the businesses you’re considering. A 30-min consultation call with any of the companies you choose to work with will do the trick. You have to make sure you include information on how and what you’d use the software for. Details like your company size, and the average number of clients/customers are also important.

2. Research the tools: Not all tools are created equal. Some may be better for video communication (like Loom), while others excel at document collaboration (like Google Workspace). Take the time to research and evaluate the different options based on your needs.
3. Test before you invest: Most tools offer a free trial. Use this opportunity to test the tool with a small group within your company. Collect feedback about its ease of use, features, and how well it fits your needs.
4. Plan your rollout: Once you've selected a tool, plan how you'll introduce it to your company. You might start with one department or project and gradually expand its use.
5. Train your team: Make sure everyone knows how to use the new tool. You might hold a training session, create a user guide, or ask the vendor for resources.
6. Promote usage: Encourage your team to use the tool regularly. Show them how it can make their work easier and more efficient. Celebrate early successes to motivate continued use.
7. Review and adjust: After the tool has been in use for some time, gather feedback. What's working well? What could be improved? Use this feedback to adjust your usage and get the most from the tool.

Remember, the goal of using a knowledge sharing tool is to make your company more efficient and collaborative. Choose a tool that best fits your needs, and take the time to implement it properly for the best results.

Harness Efficient Collaboration with Assembly

Knowledge sharing makes it easier to develop new ideas, work as a team, collaborate, and get things done faster. Adopting the right tools makes this even easier, and helps you share information more quickly and efficiently. However, it's not just about sharing knowledge, though — it's also about creating a workplace where everyone's ideas are valued and rewarded. 

With Assembly, you can create that workplace. Assembly offers an organized platform where everyone can easily share and access information. It also provides an avenue for you to recognize and reward your team's contributions, encouraging a culture where every idea is appreciated. 

Give it a try! Book a demo to figure out how best we can serve you.