Tacit knowledge is the knowledge that people gain from experience. It is the knowledge that lives inside people’s heads; it is institutional memory. Capturing tacit knowledge is key to a smooth running organization, because transitions can be managed more effectively.

Tacit knowledge is difficult to capture, so, in general, we only chip away at it. Onboarding is a good example of passing on tacit knowledge. Onboarding helps new employees get up to speed a little faster by passing along nuggets of knowledge that might otherwise take them a long time to figure out themselves. The difference between the internal search engine and the company-wide Google branded engine, providing a What to Store Where handout and showing people how to download the people search extension are some examples of very basic knowledge to include in onboarding.

The problem comes as people gain more experience and need more specific or specialized knowledge. More specialized knowledge is often held by fewer people. Because those people have been with the company longer or were recently hired for that specialized knowledge, they have less time to write down the processes. In some companies, such specialized knowledge may be considered job security. Some people don’t share it in case it leads to forced early retirement or a layoff. In general, however, passing on specialized knowledge leads to more collaborations and greater innovation.

There are three basic tools anyone can use to start capturing tacit knowledge: video-to-text transcription, Lessons Learned and a standard project folder structure. All captured information should be managed in a KM platform, and accessible through an intuitive web interface.

Saying these can be used means the possibility is there. Video-to-text transcription is the most complex and expensive. Still, anyone can record a video and store it for later transcription. Lessons Learned can be organized using simple tools such as Excel or Google Sheets. Finally, a standard project folder structure should be de rigeur in every company. Being creative with folders only leads to confusion and time wasting.

Companies need to become ever more agile, which means that established processes and information sharing practices become increasingly outdated. Fostering collaboration based on real expertise by combining capabilities is an important process to develop. If you can help colleagues to find an expert inside their division and ask questions while simultaneously building a knowledge base out of the questions and their answers, you are further ahead than most companies. At the very least, such a process enables wider knowledge sharing.

The sharing, and subsequent capturing of tacit knowledge is freeing. By sharing knowledge, not only can it be improved, but it gives people space to create new processes, new drugs and, thus, new tacit knowledge. People who share their knowledge are revered and consulted on related projects.

There are other techniques you can use to capture tacit knowledge right now:

• Communities of Practice
• Shadowing/ Mentoring
• Podcasts
• Interviews
• Video meetings
• Speaker series

Use templates to create a Community of Practice. Using an established infrastructure with additional expertise will allow people to connect with like-minded colleagues at a similar level. Having a space with which to share specialized knowledge in a give and take manner makes sharing tacit knowledge more natural. Working together cross-functionally, colleagues can accomplish more than they can as individuals.

Shadowing and mentoring is a tried and true method that can take a few different forms. Often a younger/less experienced member of a team will follow a more experienced team member around as they do parts of their job. In some cases the shadower just observes. In other cases, the shadowee or mentor explains everything they do in real time. In the first instance, the shadower often doesn’t get all the information the shadowee has to offer since there is only so much a person can glean when watching someone write or read on their computer. When the shadowee has to explain everything, the shadower gets a lot more information, but the process can be exhausting and frustrating for the shadowee, which is not conducive to transferring tacit knowledge. Additionally, the process makes their job take more time, so it doesn’t make sense to have a shadow 40 hours per week.

Podcasts and interviews can be the same. They have subtle differences. Being interviewed on a podcast can make the person holding the tacit knowledge feel important. Also, there is an element of security as usually there isn’t a live audience. The interview is recorded and can then be available for people to hear later.

In a regular interview, it is important for the event to be recorded in some way. Often, interviews take place in front of an audience, which may not be as comfortable for the interviewee. A preset list of questions, furnished in advance, helps the interviewee feel prepared and more comfortable. Video or tape recording the interview is critical for future reference.

Video meetings can also be recorded, depending on company policy. Video meetings are good, because the interviewee can show slides as well. The visual aspect engages different senses and can help the information be assimilated better. On the downside, editing can be required to focus the video for future viewing.

Finally, many departments have speaker events or forums. Colleagues can learn a lot from outside speakers. However, hosting internal people is a great way to gather tacit knowledge. The topics may be focused, but every little bit helps. Often these are hosted online and can easily be recorded.

Get started now capturing tacit knowledge. Every little bit helps and eventually you will have a library of information from our experts that we can use to further innovate. Furthering innovations helps us help more patients.

-A version of this article was first published at Roche and Genentech-

Offboarding is a KM activity because we transfer knowledge about the workings of an organization from members of the community leaving us to those who will continue the work. Most established companies have a robust corporate general offboarding process that involves a variety of activities and meetings with your management team members, IT and HR. Knowledge sharing specific to your department is not always included in the general offboarding process.

Sharing department and team practices, helpful websites, and tips and tricks during offboarding helps vital work continue. For example, discussing the most important drive folders and how they are used can be helpful in keeping documents available to those who will continue the work. Sharing this type of information always enables a team member to find documents faster and more easily after a colleague departs.

You can easily create an offboarding program in your department using existing tools.

Start small. First, decide on the key pieces of knowledge that will help your team continue their vital work, uninterrupted. Second, set up the expectation that these practices are important during onboarding. Third, at team meetings, share small bits of information about what to store where. Finally, regularly remind team members that they need to move all project-related documents to a shared drive.

Setup 1-on-1 meetings with people who are leaving. Future retirees and others who have been with the company for a long time, or hold extensive specialized knowledge, are especially important to interview. They may have links to relevant information silos that are not obvious, or are not available, to newer employees. People with a lot to share may require several meetings to get everything organized for future use. You might also consider a recorded interview, such as an oral history. Even a simple recording can be reviewed at a later date

An organization-wide offboarding gives employees a good overview of the policies and procedures in which they must engage before their departure date. However, a local, more department or project focused offboarding/training will help departing team members feel more comfortable. It will also help them feel like their work will continue and they won’t leave their team members hanging.

-A version of this article was first published at Roche and Genentech-

Reboarding is a mini-version of onboarding. People who are returning from various types of leaves or sabbaticals as well as those left behind benefit from reboarding.

In addition to planned medical leaves, sabbaticals and parental leaves, reboarding can be helpful if you “reopen your offices after a lockdown or temporary business shutdown.”  Additionally, reboarding, rather than traditional onboarding can really make a difference when a contractor joins in a permanent role, or a former colleague returns after some time away at another company. After all, these latter types of colleagues remember some things from their previous tenure, but need an update or to be reminded.

As I discussed in our articles on onboarding and offboarding, Knowledge Management (KM) is a structure in which reboarding can be slotted at the department or functional level for a high level of effectiveness. Yes, HR probably has a company-wide process, but reboarding planning at the department or functional level is a must for the daily work of the department.

A successful reboarding program requires planning. It also needs to start long before someone goes on leave. It requires having a comprehensive work coverage plan and is a great time to evaluate the workloads of the team. Having a plan in place will help everyone remember things that are important, but don’t come up daily. After a 4 month leave, you may not remember your passwords. If someone has created a strategy for dealing with that before you, use their tacit knowledge.

One of the most important reasons for a reboarding process is to keep valuable employees. You want to keep valuable employees at the department or functional level to continue valuable work, prevent lags in research or important projects and prevent high costs of retraining. There are many other reasons that are relevant to your specific industry.

When people leave the department, they take a lot of institutional memory with them. If you do not have a good way to capture tacit knowledge, then they will be leaving a big hole in your department. The other thing is that training someone new, if you can find them, costs a lot and takes time.

Another important aspect, which reboarding addresses, is fear. Going on a leave means that your employee won’t be seen, so they fear they will be forgotten. Having a plan in place means everyone knows what is happening from the day the plan is started until 4-6 months after the employee’s return. Anxiety has a huge effect on the business. Alleviating as much anxiety as possible is critical to the overall success of the business. People’s fears have to be addressed in a compassionate and concerned way in order to do their best work.

Medical leaves can be harder to plan because they often happen suddenly, thus it is important to engage in succession planning as well. However, the same process teams use for parental leaves, sabbaticals and exchanges can be used for planned medical leaves. Information about workloads and what people do can be fed into the succession planning system.

Supportive managers must never assume. They should not assume that returning new mothers want a lighter workload. Managers should not assume that someone who has returned from a difficult medical leave wants to work fewer days. These questions all need to be part of the reboarding discussion when planning. Managers may need additional training if they are uncomfortable with the messiness surrounding leaves and reboarding.

Beyond HR, support for reboarding can be provided by peers. Organize Communities of Practice that consist of working mothers and/ or working fathers who can provide peer support for parental leaves. CoPs can host a variety of sample documents and provide practical tips and tricks. Additional CoPs can be useful for those returning from medical leaves or sabbaticals. Peer-to-peer CoPs can provide a supportive environment and really help companies reduce turnover.

Implementing Knowledge Management requires time, effort, and ongoing maintenance. While immediate results may not be apparent, the long-term benefits for the company, departments, and teams are substantial.

Resources:

• –https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2020/10/reboarding-in-practice-how-to-reboard-your-employees-successfully.html/
• Returning From Parental Leave Can Be Stressful. How Some Employers Aim to Fix That. – https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/parental-leave-return-stress-331969e4

-A version of this article was first published at Roche and Genentech-