team’s mental wellbeing is to enable and encourage lifelong learning. This can be done through the integrated daily practice of knowledge-sharing across a centre. Often knowledge-sharing within a centre is limited to induction training and formal continuous professional development (CPD) sessions. It can also often focus on younger team members and can fail to provide support beyond initial advancements2. However, the integrated daily practice of knowledge-sharing across the centre embraces formal and informal training and enables a team to freely share what they know across the centre. This is even more important with the increasing levels of innovation and change, requiring our evolving knowledge to be assimilated at an ever-faster rate3. In other words every day the world gets a bit smarter and faster and unless we keep up with it through the sharing of our knowledge every day we as individuals become a bit less smart by comparison and slower. Knowledge-sharing supports individuals and groups to: ● share insights; ● reduce redundant work or “reinventing the wheel”; ● reduce training time for new employees; ● retain knowledge as employees move to other centres or workplaces; ● adapt to changing environments; ● become conscious of how much they do know; ● feel part of the centre and ● build trust. To do this, knowledge-sharing often focuses on objectives such as: ● the sharing of lessons learned; ● continuous improvement; ● understanding what best practices best fit the centre and ● innovation. Where is knowledge retained in a centre? Knowledge is either ‘tacit’ or ‘explicit’. Tacit knowledge is the knowledge a person unconsciously holds, and explicit knowledge is the knowledge a person consciously holds that can easily communicate to others. Generally, most centres focus on the sharing of explicit knowledge through formal training and lines of management. However, the true benefit of knowledge-sharing is realised when: ● there is regular formal and informal sharing of explicit knowledge across the team no matter their position, and ● the internalised tacit knowledge of each team member is converted into explicit knowledge for it to be shared. Knowledge can also be considered embedded knowledge within a system and procedures or embodied knowledge representing a person’s learned capability. Collaborative environments can encourage and support the sharing of tacit knowledge and convert explicit knowledge as well as facilitate knowledge sharing between embedded knowledge to embodied knowledge. How CAN knowledge be shared? Knowledge can be actively managed or ‘pushed’. This is when individuals feed specific knowledge into a shared procedure, process, training program or database for use by others. Alternatively, knowledge can be requested of experts to provide their insights based on their knowledge to a person or group of people on an ad hoc basis (a ‘pull’ approach). How CAN knowledge be managed? At a strategic level, a centre needs to be able to assess what knowledge it currently holds and where does it lay, then assess if that knowledge is in the appropriate place/s. It also needs to assess what knowledge is missing and will need in the future, then plan to acquire that knowledge. At a tactical level, a centre needs to be identifying and formalising existing knowledge, acquire new knowledge, archive redundant knowledge and create procedures, processes or systems to enable effective and efficient knowledgesharing across the centre. At an operational level, knowledge is encouraged to be used and shared across the centre, supporting access to the right knowledge at the right time. How can knowledgesharing be supported and encouraged? Encourage those sharing knowledge to be a mentor and coach. A mentor in terms of enabling a person to be their best self and a coach in terms of a trusted advisor. At team meetings, encourage everyone to share a learning they have had since the last team meeting – for example how they have observed the playground or room layout is working or how the children are using it (Kakapo Creek, Mairangi Bay, Auckland. Photography by CASA and playground equipment from Learning Spaces Global). March 2022 { 21 }
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=