Posted by ROSEMARY on December 29, 1999 at 18:32:11:

In Reply to: It's all about communities... posted by Kees de Vos on December 27, 1999 at 09:18:47:

Kees,

Thanks for posting this summary of the key points we all should remember.

People share for different reasons and we can't apply a linear approach to how to motivate people to share. Every person will have their own agendas, fears, drivers and motivators. What cuts across this personal aspect to sharing is working within a community of people where you are all pulling together to achieve a common goal. Of course rewards and recognition have to be consistent.

I work within the legal industry. One of the main requirements to being made partner is having expertise in an area of practice. This requires knowledge, experience and judgement ... typical knowledge industry! Having common goals and shared values helps pull everyone together so that knowledge (or even client) hoarding is obviously counter productive to the health of the firm as a whole. We have a number of systems and practices established to facilitate knowledge sharing, but a one of the fundamental aspects of helping develop a culture of people wanting to share and work together relies on intrinsic rewards people gain from working together to achieve shared goals. THEN you need to have top down commitment to implementing consequences of not playing by the rules.

Mind you, it's easy to write about all of this - making it happen is the constant challenge!!

Kind regards
Rosemary
To me knowledge management is only one ingredient necessary to building a healthy and dynamic organisation.

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