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How do you encourage institutional knowledge sharing?
How do you combat the following scenario?
You’re new to a company. There are a bunch of other employees around you who aren’t. In fact, many of them have been there for a long long time. And they know lots of things about this new jungle you’ve just set foot in. They know the short cuts; they know the sacred cows; they know the clowns with the short fuse and they know the ones you want to share a brew with; they know how to win favors with him and they know what not to say to her; they know who to go to when you need this and who to stay away from when you need that; they know where all the bodies are buried. And yes, they know the secret handshake. They know all the things you can’t learn from an orientation session or an employee hand book. They acquired all this knowledge simply because they’ve been hanging around a hell of a lot longer than you have. And rather than share all of that rich knowledge – I mean this stuff is gold – with you, they keep it all boxed up in their personal safe. Ain’t no way they’re going to give you a leg up after all that time they’ve put in. Nope. This is how they keep their edge on you, this is how they make the new guys earn their stripes.
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5 Answers
Bring cookies??
No, really. In my experience, getting to know your colleagues as people and connecting with them on a personal level does wonders with bonding & knowledge sharing. Break the ice with a delicious (& nostalgic) treat, and start getting to know people. Ask about hobbies, families, sports teams, etc... Go to lunch or grab a cocktail during happy hour. Once you've developed a stronger relationship, people are more likely to offer up workplace-related information.
Everyone's experience is unique and answers to this question will be consistent with those differences. So, drawing only on my own experience, the most important single thing one can do is to make sure that the employees around you don't' view you, rightly or wrongly, as a threat. While there may be some people who just don't like newbies and will sandbag you for the sheer joy of it, most are not that way and are most likely to isolate new employees who are viewed as threats, either to existing staff's futures or to the established order (read "rut".)
This is no mean feat: you must be capable of doing what your job demands while assuring those around you that you have no designs on their positions. Be too soft and they will view you as weak; be too aggressive and they will erect walls around you. This is one of those things not easily quantified, but the best tool to accomplish it is real world experience in a variety of trenches and with a variety of people. From there, it is an art.
One of the practices we use in our client work is "Peer Coaching". Peer Coaching is used to develop specific skills, problem solve and just make the job easier and more efficient. We have the clients utilize a fairly structured process so the meetings don't become "bitch" sessions and so there is tangible output in terms of actionable items.
As a part of the on-boarding process for new and/or transferred employees, integrating them into one or more Peer Coaching groups goes a long way toward their learning the "secret hand shake".
Often the bulk of company culture is learned through "osmosis" from veterans to newer associates. Everyone should have pleasant communication experience between peers. Formal coaching classes are more likely to serve orientation purposes.
Interesting question Charlie. In your layout of the situation, it is interesting that your supervisor (or manager) is not mentioned. Presumably, the company had some reason for hiring you, and depending upon the position, you actually have some responsbilities for activities to be done. I find building rapport with the new boss and the new colleagues often begins with keeping your head down and delivering on what they hired you to do in the first place. To the extent that existing politics may be getting in the way of you being productive, it should be identified professionally to the manager. If it does not get in the way of your being productive, just be patient - everybody likes the new person if they can deliver results.
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