The Importance of Tribal Knowledge in your Organization

Groups will always band together and be united by their shared knowledge. This knowledge is not formal practice, nor is it written down anywhere. Tribal knowledge is an informal network of knowledge within a group that benefits that group and allows the group to function as a team.

Tribal knowledge can exist in a group as small as a knitting circle and as large as a corporate enterprise. Any group can have tribal knowledge, but we’re particularly interested in organizations. Tribal knowledge is valuable because it will enhance productivity and efficiency.

Individuals don’t have to know each other particularly well to adopt tribal knowledge, which is shown by the fact that it exists in top organizations.

What does tribal knowledge involve?

Tribal knowledge is informal, shared knowledge and practices that are passed down through generations within a community, organization, or group. You can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but you know it is there. Not everyone in the group may have access to the same tribal knowledge, such as when a team in your organization has very specific knowledge they don’t share with anyone else.

It includes:

1. Cultural norms

2. Traditions

3. Professional Abilities

4. Shared history

5. Hidden Inferences

How is tribal knowledge shared within the organization?

Other than organically, it’s possible to share tribal knowledge intentionally, although it is very difficult.

Tribal knowledge can be shared by:

1. Word-of-mouth advertising – using individuals within your network to transmit the knowledge is a valuable way of sharing tribal knowledge.

2. Hands-on training – another way to share tribal knowledge is to schedule training sessions either in a group or one-on-one.

3. Community-based – relying on the community to pass on tribal knowledge is another way to ensure it is shared.

Examples of tribal knowledge

Here are some examples of tribal knowledge in action:

1. Cooking for family members

2. Historic arts and crafts

3. Gatherings for the community

4. Best practices in the sector

5. Business processes

Why is tribal knowledge important?

1. Maintains culture – tribal knowledge passes culture on from one person to another and therefore maintains the culture of the organization.

2. Helps teamwork – individuals experience more social glue when the tribal knowledge assists with teamwork and working together.

3. Offers insightful ideas – because your team is building on tribal knowledge, they can come up with more insightful ideas.

4. Grows the community – tribal knowledge helps the community to thrive because individuals connect with one another more effectively.

Challenges associated with tribal knowledge

1. Knowledge loss – it can be hard to conserve the knowledge in your organization if it is not regularly studied and shared.

2. Hard to share – some tribal knowledge may be slow to pass around the organization and you might experience bottlenecks.

3. The potential for confusion – as it’s the type of knowledge that’s not written down there’s the potential for confusion.

4. Conflict with systems that are regulated – the way that individuals want to conduct their work using tribal knowledge may conflict with regulated systems.

Solutions to challenges

1. Document key practices – ask experts to document their tribal knowledge so it is available for others in the organization.

2. Mentorship programs – mentorship programs connect individuals within the organization and help them to share their knowledge.

3. Platforms for sharing knowledge – provide internal knowledge-sharing platforms like an AI knowledge base or an intranet.

4. Working together across departments – making an effort to form cross-departmental alliances so that tribal knowledge gets shared

5. In-depth instruction – create in-depth documents that tell people what to do even if they have not come across the tribal knowledge yet

Benefits of tribal knowledge

1. Continuing to gain expertise – you’re leveraging important knowledge held within the organization and encouraging your employees to continue to gain expertise.

2. Updates sharing of knowledge – the way you share knowledge in the organization continues to improve and employees are happier.

3. Encourages creativity – tribal knowledge is very creative and sharing more of it will improve creativity dramatically within your organization.

4. Strengthens connections with others – employee bonds are stronger when they share their tribal knowledge.

5. Increases trust in individual experts – when employees come to know who has the expertise this increases their trust in particular experts.

Conclusion

Tribal knowledge is thriving within any organization – even yours. You just have to know where to look. Tribal knowledge helps individuals to work together and offers deep insight even though it’s not written down or documented in any other way. You can trust tribal knowledge but you shouldn’t rely on it totally when compared with written documentation such as policies and processes.

Tribal knowledge is a big part of culture so you wouldn’t want to eliminate it completely. But make sure it is shared throughout the organization and try to document as much as possible. Eliminate any negative side of tribal knowledge by capturing this knowledge for others to take advantage of.