Encouraging knowledge sharing within remote and hybrid teams is crucial for collaboration, innovation, and maintaining a strong team culture. Here are effective strategies to foster knowledge sharing in these environments:

Create a Culture of Openness

Lead by example: Leaders and managers should regularly share their insights, decisions, and lessons learned.

Celebrate contributions: Recognise and reward team members who actively share knowledge or help others grow.

Leverage the Right Tools

Make sure that your knowledge management tool is accessible for all – cloud solutions are more secure than ever and will allow remote and office based staff equal access – not just to search information but to collaborate as though in the same room. Ongoing knowledge exchange through your knowledge management system allows insights to be shared directly in the KM platform.

Document, Don’t Just Discuss

Encourage summarising discussions, decisions, and learnings in written formats that are accessible for current and future team members. Many knowledge management tools will provide the ability to turn informal discussions into structured explicit knowledge.

With version control a built in feature in most knowledge management solutions, information is accurate and relevant, with the ability to see the changes between revisions.

Ensure Equal Access

Cloud solutions which are flexible in terms of localisation and tailoring ensures that a single platform can be used, maximising the ability to share and collaborate. A personalised workspace, a workflow which reflects your department’s document curation process and access to your most relevant documents as soon as you login will provide a strong baseline for user adoption – key to unlocking tacit knowledge and sharing effectively.

Recording meetings or training sessions and uploading them to the knowledge base ensures the location of your employees will not impact their access to important information.

Encourage Questions & Curiosity

Normalise asking questions in public forums, often available as a feature in the knowledge base—this opens the door for collective knowledge and shows that curiosity is valued.

Create an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) format with leaders or experts within the company. Look for a knowledge management tool which provides this feature, with a workflow to ensure no question is left unanswered.

Knowledge Silos are a common problem within organisations, particularly in distributed and hybrid environments, it’s easy for knowledge to become isolated within individuals or small groups. Promoting knowledge sharing ensures everyone has access to the same insights and resources, improving overall team coherence and better problem solving. When teams have access to a broader base of knowledge, they make more informed decisions.