by Tanja
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by Tanja
Share
Knowledge is at the center of an Open Innovation strategy. In fact, it is defined as “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation” by the founder of Open Innovation himself, Henry Chesbrough.
Meaning if you want to stay ahead of the game you need to focus on adequate knowledge sharing strategies.
WHY? Because it will enhance your organization’s competitive advantage, it will strengthen employee relations, it will lower costs, and it will boost innovation.
Eliminating barriers that hinder your employees to share their knowledge and experiences freely will clear the path for growth not only for your employees but for the entire organisation.
The times are over where organisations accumulated their entire knowledge in the heads of a few chosen individuals. An organisation can only thrive if their employees thrive, namely all of them. And employees thrive when they feel a sense of ownership and engagement which can be created by building a culture of knowledge sharing.
It also works both ways, your employees will feel valued because what they know matters, and they feel trusted because they have access to knowledge that belongs to others.
Once knowledge can flow freely inside and outside the organization, you will be able to adapt more easily to unforeseen changes and accelerate your reaction time to errors.
HOW IS IT DONE? Organisational culture has the strongest positive influence on knowledge sharing. That means that your culture has to incorporate knowledge sharing practices by building an environment that is knowledge-friendly. Allow your employees to have access to knowledge regardless of their position in the company.
Managerial efforts have to be made to facilitate the process of how knowledge is acquired, created, stored, shared, and applied by groups and individuals. Providing employees with tools, technology, and training supports them in their growth path and will make knowledge sharing easier which again makes it easier for your employees to contribute to the organisation’s cause.
When your organisation offers opportunities for learning it will make your teams more productive and employees will be more committed to the company that creates this positive work environment for them.
An organization with a strong knowledge sharing culture is bound for success because it investest in its employees and cherishes their ideas.
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