Knowledge sharing is about ensuring that important experiences, insights, and best practices are spread throughout the organization. This can happen through mentorship programs, internal knowledge databases, professional networks, digital collaboration tools and learning platforms.
When knowledge is siloed within an organization, it can hinder creativity and make workflows more cumbersome. Knowledge sharing aims to break down barriers between departments and make information accessible to all employees who may find it relevant to their tasks.
Organizations that actively engage in knowledge sharing become more agile and avoid losing knowledge when employees leave, as it is stored within the company. Digital learning platforms and social learning networks can support this process by facilitating content sharing and collaboration across the organization. This approach prevents employees from being overwhelmed with information that currently seems irrelevant to them, while enabling them to pull the relevant information when they need it.
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The term emerged in the 1990s and has been described by numerous organizational theorists; it is not attributed to a single originator.