How Can We Make Knowledge Sharing More Engaging for Employees? Suggestions Needed

I started one activity in my organization: a knowledge-sharing session every month with one employee. Can anyone please suggest some other related activities with employees that can help them gain knowledge or that could be more interesting for all?

Dear Krutika,

It's great that you've initiated a knowledge-sharing session! To further build on this, I would suggest first clarifying your primary intention—whether it's to motivate the employee leading the session or to benefit all employees who attend. This will help guide the structure and objectives of the sessions.

In addition to the knowledge-sharing activity, you can consider HR-related sessions that focus on creating awareness about important topics like EPF, ESI, all other labor laws, and your company HR policies. Many employees, even at the top level, may not have completed their e-nominations or enrolled their family members in EPF and ESI. A session led by one of the HR team members on this topic could be highly beneficial for everyone.

Other suggestions could include:

(1) Employee wellness sessions (focusing on mental and physical health)

(2) Skill-building workshops (on leadership, communication, or time management)

(3) Career development programs (guiding employees on growth opportunities within the company)

(4) Team-building activities (to enhance collaboration and camaraderie)

These activities can help engage employees and foster both personal and professional development across your organization.

Dear Krutika Hire,

It is a pleasure to note that you would like to initiate Knowledge Sharing (KS) sessions in your company. Sharing knowledge is a noble deed. Lord Krishna has said: "यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवता:" (it means "there is nothing as sublime and pure as knowledge" and the meaning in Hindi is "जहां स्त्रियों की पूजा होती है वहां देवता विराजमान होते हैं।")

I wanted to reply to your post long ago, but as I was preoccupied with something else, I could not do so. Somehow I found time today.

Types of KS Sessions

In the organization, KS sessions can be intradepartmental or interdepartmental. Irrespective of the type, the sessions should be interesting, and people should look forward to attending such sessions. But there lies a risk as well. In a zeal to display one's knowledge, employees should not download presentations from Google or take the help of ChatGPT and pass them off as their own. Otherwise, KS sessions could foster a culture of copy and paste and defeat the purpose of initiating them. Some could take advantage of these sessions to hone their presentation skills, whereas others, to improve their listening skills, could remain listeners forever!

Guidelines for KS Sessions

You can create guidelines for the KS sessions. Some of them are as follows:

a) The presenter needs to focus on a particular skill or a set of knowledge. He/she needs to explain how he/she acquired the skill, what the sources were, and the challenges faced in mastering the skill.

b) Furthermore, how did he or she put the skill into use in day-to-day work? What challenges were faced while implementing the learning? What follow-up was done to augment the skill set?

c) How did the organization or the department benefit from the implementation of a new skill set? How was productivity improved? On what parameters was the increase measured?

Final Comments

The KS sessions should foster healthy competition among the departments to present better sessions. The sessions should help in improving general knowledge about other departments. Otherwise, if monotony sets in, the interest in the sessions could fizzle out, and so could the initiative itself!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Implement a stress-relieving exercise program for senior executives

Implement a stress-relieving exercise program for senior executives on a monthly basis.

Organize physical activities for all employees

Organize physical activities for all employees in groups.

Focus on enhancing company project skills

Focus on enhancing company project skills for each employee.

Thank you