However, if the message is not communicated sufficiently or in the right manner, employees may not understand the tools and approaches available to them, when they would use them, or why. This will result in slow adoption of knowledge-sharing behaviors since people don't know where to go or how to connect. For information on building or improving awareness of KM, see:.
- Deploy a Targeted Communication Plan for Knowledge Management.
- Teach Employees Which Knowledge Management Tool to Use in Which Situation.
- Promote Awareness of Communities of Practice and Communicate Their Value.
2. Cultural.
Culture encompasses behaviors, working norms, unwritten or spoken rules about "how things work," or processes that shape situational context. In large organizations, cultural nuances may change depending on functional, business-unit, geographic, or geo-political boundaries. Examples of cultural barriers include:.
- a corporate culture that does not value knowledge sharing.
- a range of subcultures (e.g., teams) within the organization that are not bound together by the same values or business rules .
and principles.
- the requirement to share knowledge in a language that is not one's primary language.
For information on addressing cultural barriers, see:.
- Why and How to Build a Collaborative Culture.
- Configure Your KM Program to Mirror Existing Structures and Workflows.
- Aim for Global Consistency in KM, but Allow for Some Customization to Accommodate Local Culture.
3. Distance.
Distance is the separation between individuals, teams, functions, and so forth within an organization. These separations may be geographic (e.g., teams in different countries or regions), or they may be structural (e.g., people who are just a few hundred yards away from one another, but are focused on different projects or processes). Regardless of the reason, infrequent contact is a form of distance.
For information on addressing distance barriers, see:.
