Knowledge Omnosis is not a Strategy
People don't share as much knowledge as you'd think. Especially if it's expected knowledge.
Knowledge Osmosis seems to be the new buzzword for those who advocate for more days in the office. The idea is that putting people into the same room will magically move knowledge from one brain to the next - a bit like migrating your data to a new phone.
How exactly that is supposed to happen isn’t super clear.
Apparently you will overhear your colleagues talking to Product thus snatch that oh-so-crucial release that you missed last week. Nevermind that most people don’t really have time to “overhear” their colleagues while they are concentrating (or trying to concentrate) on their own work.
Unsurprisingly your conversations at the watercooler / coffee machine also imbue a lot of knowledge that you wouldn’t necessarily hear otherwise. Though in my experience people tend to talk about the latest movies / series or their kids and pets.
People don’t just brag about things they assume everybody knows.
Most people do complain about a different process or a particularly annoying customer. They might share how happy or unhappy they are with a new tool that was just introduced. And they won’t talk about those day-to-day things that they take for granted.
Because we usually assume that others know similar things to what we know.
Meaning, if you rely on knowledge osmosis alone - you have no control on which knowledge is going to be shared, and with whom. And frankly, you need to do better.
How can you encourage people to share their knowledge?
Sharing knowledge does not depend on a location. You can create places and situations where it’s “logical” to share knowledge and experiences. In customer facing roles, peer reviews and work shadowing are becoming a thing. For team managers, some companies are experimenting with internal masterminds groups.
Either way, someone needs to define what type of knowledge you want to mobilize and for what purpose. Is the goal the knowledge itself, cohesion in the team, positive learning experiences, or something else?
Define your why, then look into your what, and only then, start designing the how.