“Knowledge is Power – Shared Knowledge is even more Powerful”
When did you last hear the phrase “knowledge is power”?
This well-known expression has been around for quite some time and is used with varying degrees of seriousness. Undeniably, one’s own knowledge contributes to positioning oneself deliberately – even unique opportunities can arise from a rich pool of knowledge. So why share your own (specialist) knowledge with others? Increased transparency, improved self-organisation and synergy effects for your association or your (member) organisation are just a few of many advantages.
Fundamentally, knowledge management can be divided into two perspectives: personal knowledge and organisational knowledge. As a leader, you can easily benefit from both levels.
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Structure and Organise your personal Knowledge
On the one hand, it brings several advantages if you can structure and systematically prepare your personal knowledge. A “digital home” for your specialist knowledge can be helpful here: you can document your pool of knowledge in a structured manner and always know where to find which information. Your consolidated knowledge can also be useful in inspiring further trains of thought – you essentially inspire yourself and can record new input directly in a safe place that only you can access. This enables you to improve your own efficiency with little effort.
Once you have digitally prepared your personal pool of knowledge, it can also support you if, for example, you wish to exchange and complement knowledge within the leadership team. Share relevant knowledge with like-minded colleagues and benefit from the synergy effects.
Make use of Synergy Effects with Organisational Knowledge Management
Synergy effects become the key term when it comes to organisational knowledge management. Sharing information and knowledge with your leadership team is only one step towards a well-founded, organisation-wide knowledge management system. In general, an organisation benefits greatly when it can systematise the knowledge of its members in a way that makes it findable and usable for everyone.
It is important to note that technical platforms initially only provide the infrastructure for knowledge exchange. The strategic dimension of knowledge management can only unfold once this infrastructure is used deliberately for the distribution of information and knowledge within the organisation.
Simply providing the possibility for knowledge management does not make your organisation more efficient. Knowledge management can only be used profitably when there is a process that strategically and purposefully determines which knowledge is prepared by whom, or which new groups are to be cultivated from it.
Moving away from the “Knowledge is Power” Mindset
To achieve this, an open organisational culture is beneficial – one in which knowledge is identified, stored and shared with others. To dismantle a “knowledge is power” attitude, you can promote communication geared towards mutual understanding: comment on posts on your platform and share insights from your own experience.
Challenges such as a lack of transparency in information flow, increased time expenditure for searching and gathering knowledge, the loss of knowledge due to missing storage locations or the departure of knowledge carriers, are eliminated once you succeed in establishing organisational knowledge management. Over time, you will be able to establish knowledge exchange across hierarchies. All levels benefit from one another, regardless of how long someone has been part of the organisation. These synergy effects ensure that knowledge management is continuously updated and grows.
An advantage of organisational knowledge management that should not be underestimated is the fact that your members can represent the organisation’s interests effectively to the outside world. If members lack sufficient information in this regard, you are in a difficult position, as they have fewer opportunities to assert organisational interests. With an interactive portal, you can communicate important messages and concerns to everyone. Members can carry this knowledge outward and thus strengthen awareness of your organisation.
Conclusion
Only when your members have access to knowledge can they further develop their competences. The uniqueness of these competences gives you an advantage. It is therefore worthwhile to interlink as many of these abilities as possible so that a network of unique expertise emerges – one that no other organisation can offer.
“Knowledge is power” – but shared knowledge makes you and your organisation more powerful and thus more competitive compared to rival institutions.
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