5 Steps To Build Knowledge Sharing Systems for Successful Remote Teams

In 2020, a Harvard Business ReviewOpens a new window team analyzed how successful global teams get ahead. They discovered that the Pareto Principle still holds true today: 20% of the salespeople at the firm they studied generate 80% of the revenue. The team identified a lack of knowledge sharing as a key struggle, especially for remote teams. They implemented a structured knowledge-sharing strategy to test that theory, including guided meetings between coworkers, which can easily happen in person or remotely. In 24 weeks, the firm saw a 7-figure increase in revenue from the participating teams.  

When your team doesn’t have the information they need to perform well, they simply won’t perform well. This challenge is even more apparent for distributed teams. It’s a familiar scene: people don’t know where to find information, get lost during onboarding, or can’t perform well because they don’t have the guidance needed to succeed. This process is further complicated for global teams working remotely across multiple time zones. To be successful, companies must employ a structured approach to sharing knowledge across teams, time zones, and borders. Here are some best practices to streamline information sharing across distributed teams:

Step 1: Understand the Difference Between Structured and Unstructured Knowledge

Data management differentiates between unstructured and structured data — structured data is predefined, formatted, and easy-to-use information, while unstructured data has been gathered but hasn’t been interpreted or formatted; as a result, it’s far less accessible.

The same concept applies to knowledge. Consider the different types of knowledge: 

Structured Knowledge: Knowledge you can easily write down, such as company revenue numbers, company principles, or step-by-step documentation for completing a specific task. 

Unstructured Knowledge: Complex knowledge that is best learned by practiced repetition until it’s intuitive. For example, a good social media manager has an intuitive understanding of your company’s voice. You can write some rules out, but at a certain point, it’s intuition.

Understanding the difference in types of knowledge is the first step to building a successful knowledge system because it impacts how the knowledge is documented and shared. 

Step 2: Create a Culture of Documentation from the Top Down 

A culture where knowledge is constantly gathered via written documentation creates a valuable encyclopedia of insights your team can access whenever they’d like. This approach has two benefits — it limits unnecessary meetings and provides critical information your team needs to succeed. Managers and team leads should model this behavior themselves and provide their documentation when needed. This highlights the benefits of documentation and encourages teams to implement the practice themselves. 

See More: Successful Change Management Starts with People

Step 3: Write Everything Down 

Train your staff to write down every process they complete — writing a blog post, your team’s current initiatives, how to download specific data, and even company goals. If there’s any chance information could be helpful for anyone (including yourself), it should be documented and put in a place where others can access it. 

Here’s a framework for deciding whether something is worth documenting:

If the knowledge is: 

• A repeatable process
• Something other people do
• Something other people should know
• Something other people are involved with, then you should document it. 

If you’re wavering between writing something down and leaving it be, write it down. It may help streamline the process for yourself, or other people might find it useful even if you don’t think they will. Unstructured data, which isn’t easy to write down, can be communicated through 1-on-1s between team members or written guides to help people learn accurate intuition or videos. 

Step 4: Use the Right Documentation Tools 

Notice this tip isn’t “use documentation tools” or even “use this specific documentation tool.” Instead, it’s about finding the right documentation tool for your organization. The key to successful knowledge sharing is simplifying access. To keep things easy, organize your documentation in the same place. This reduces friction and increases the likelihood that people will contribute to building a library of useful documentation. 

As a general principle, your documentation should be in as few places as possible. When possible, keep it all within one application. Some options:

• Notion (this is what we use at Panther) 
• Almana
• Tettra

There are plenty of others, but these are a good place to start.  

Step 5: Develop a Process for Gaining New Knowledge

If you’re on an asynchronous team, there is inevitably knowledge other team members will need to learn. Developing a process for gaining that knowledge is crucial to streamlining knowledge gaining and limiting unnecessary meetings. 

1. Check documentation first: Train your team to check the documentation before asking a question. If the documentation is easy to access and well organized, most questions can be answered there.  
2. Ask a team member, ideally in a public channel: Asking team members for help should not be discouraged; however, prompting them to ask in an asynchronous, public channel prevents meetings and provides a record for others with the same question. 
3. Set up a call as a last resort: Only take up someone’s time if the first two steps aren’t effective or practical. 

Creating Successful Global Teams Starts With Effective Knowledge Sharing 

Developing, using, and maintaining great knowledge-sharing systems is a key to the good

management of distributed, asynchronous teams. For employers, that means building a culture of documentation from the top down. For employees, this means getting into the habit of documenting their own processes and having a streamlined process for finding knowledge before taking up someone’s time. 

How are you making sure your employees and teams have access to the necessary information to succeed? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

MORE ON WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT

• Forecasting a Healthy Workplace: Simulation as a COVID-19 Mitigation Tool
• How To Get Women Employees Back Into the Workforce Post Pandemic
• Workforce Optimization: Using Data to Find the Right Mix of Employees
• 3 Key Strategies To Engage the Seasonal Workforce Effectively