The correct and more useful technique is learning from colleagues who have a deep experience in particular subjects and this is Knowledge Sharing.
Theoretically speaking, Knowledge Sharing is an activity through which knowledge (i.e. information, skills, or expertise) is exchanged among professionals, in this specific case Manager Assistants, and a system to increase the competitive power of organizations, to improve the efficiency through sharing, enhancing and increasing the Intellectual Capital, people, and the Intangible Asset.
In addition, Knowledge Sharing means interaction and exchange of information, experience and best practice to reach common objectives and obtain better results. Since the ’80 organizations have recognized that knowledge constitutes a valuable intangible asset for creating and sustaining competitive advantages.
As people/employees are the Intellectual Capital, Intangible Asset represents the maximum value and the best support to development and innovation.
The Intangible Asset is made of:
• Business relationship
• Human knowledge
• Work methodology
• Social relationship
• Specific Identity linked to the role
To enhance the Intangible Asset through Intellectual Capital means:
• Create innovation
• Attract and develop talents
• Transform information in knowledge
For this reason Knowledge Sharing is at the basis of Intangible Assets maximization, and to reach this maximization are necessary a correct strategy and a straight methodology supported by adequate equipment.
The path to follow is to obtain the best results through:
• Creating value making the individual knowledge available to all the members of the organization
• Using this new knowledge effectively
• Connecting the new knowledge to operations and processes
• Linking the new knowledge to business strategy
The sharing of knowledge constitutes a big challenge for networks and organizations because some people tend to resist sharing their knowledge with the rest of the organization, in fact one big obstacle is the common notion that knowledge is property and ownership, but shared knowledge offers different viewpoints and possible solutions to problems.
To promote knowledge sharing and remove knowledge sharing obstacles, the organizations/networks should encourage discovery and innovation.
At the end of this process the result will be the creation of a common organizational culture.
Until now organizations were our main reference, but the question is if it is possible to apply Knowledge Sharing to networks of people (i.e. associations of professionals) who have the same role in different organizations or companies.
I think this is possible and I am going to show you how.
The point is how to manage “knowledge” in continuous and fast evolution and in particular how to transfer it to people working in different environments and business fields.
The answer is: through training and the correct use of technology.
The first thing is individuating people who have to share the knowledge and people who need to know.
This process can be developed using two different approaches, the first one is giving information knowing in advance the need of the final “client”, the second one is offering specialized and targeted training simple enough to become immediately best practice.
The first option is not useful for our network of Manager Assistants, because we do not know in details what they are expected to do, we cover so many different roles in companies, but the results of the second one are what I call “knowledge workers” able to manage the know-how learnt through training, applying it in office day life.
I want to underline an additional plus to this approach, in fact there are wider and important effects on the organizations, too, because the trained “knowledge workers” will apply this new philosophy to all the working backgrounds becoming an example for the colleagues and giving a positive push to the corporate culture.
Put in action, the training project should be organized in three different modules: theoretical (passing the basic information), practical (case history and exercises), technological (instructing to use the tools).
The development of this project could be divided in four phases:
1. Diagnostic analysis: to analyze the state of the art, to investigate the needs of the project and to delineate a macro-analysis of the requests.
2. Pilot phase: to create a project team working on the criticalities trying to solve them.
3. Implementation phase: considering the results of the Pilot phase, the team identifies the most important areas to be improved.
4. Final release: divided in “definitive launch” and “follow-up”
Looking at this path of development it is mandatory and essential to create among the participants a "Knowledge Sharing Culture" as part of this initiative.
An isolated knowledge program, like the one I am proposing, looked after by a privileged few is worthless and will not survive for long.
Only effective collaboration and communication among professionals which disseminates across the whole network structure will give the necessary boost.
In fact the change must start at the individual.
Every Manager Assistant has a sphere of influence along with their own individual knowledge, and this is where she must believe a knowledge sharing culture can begin.
To create a knowledge sharing culture it is necessary to encourage Manager Assistants to work together more effectively, to collaborate and to share - ultimately to make their knowledge more productive.
Even though Manager Assistants work in different companies it is possible to organize seminars, round tables, focus groups, because if the old paradigm was “knowledge is power”, today the situation is evolving and “sharing knowledge is power” such as knowledge sharing is in their personal interest .
