“From the first step to collective growth: Personal Experience of implementing knowledge sharing in my Team”

In this article, I want to share my personal experience with implementing knowledge sharing within a team. Let’s start with a brief background and explore how we came to understand the importance of information exchange.

When I first joined the company, it was a small startup with ambitious plans. The product and the team were compact, and knowledge-sharing naturally occurred during the development process. However, as time passed, the product and the team grew, and we noticed the complexity of training new employees and keeping track of all the improvements we were implementing.

First Steps

The first thing we did was to start holding quarterly presentations for everyone. During these meetings, we briefly but informatively described the new features implemented in the product. This approach brought us several advantages:

1. The entire team was aware of changes in the product.
2. We developed presentation skills within the team.
3. We received feedback and improved the presentation format.
4. Anyone interested could find out who to approach with specific questions.

However, over time, we identified some drawbacks to this approach:

1. A large number of features accumulated over the quarter, making it challenging to allocate enough time for each.
2. Presentations became cumbersome and not always sufficiently in-depth.
3. Some goals we wanted to achieve were not covered by these presentations.

During this period, we were also introducing a new type of onboarding for new team members — pre-release presentations. It was a kind of beta test for the entire department. We discussed features, and their integration with other functionalities, shared tips, and often came up with new ideas that ultimately improved our product. We concluded that this practice was indeed beneficial and decided to integrate everything into one efficient knowledge-sharing tool.

Goals of Knowledge Exchange

Then we asked ourselves why we were implementing knowledge sharing in our team. Let’s highlight a few key points:

1. Networking Development: Earlier, when we worked in the office, communication was a daily practice. In remote work conditions, communication narrowed down to daily meetings and brief exchanges. It became important for us to set up and improve communication within the team and with other groups.
2. Productivity growth: New team members could adapt more quickly, and know where to find the necessary information, reducing the number of questions to the management and helping them start tasks more efficiently.
3. Structuring knowledge and skills: Preparing presentations helped review the theoretical foundation, delve into processes, and outline key areas of responsibility. Discussing issues with colleagues allows us to look at tasks from different perspectives and improves the quality of implementation.
4. Accelerating and facilitating the onboarding process for newcomers: Regular meetings with presentations of new features, discussing tasks before release, and sharing experiences help new employees integrate into the team faster.

Our Implemented Solutions

After discussing with the team, we decided to introduce weekly meetings, gradually implementing knowledge sharing. These meetings include:

1. Presentation of new features.
2. Display of tasks before release.
3. Analysis of specific parts of existing functionality.
4. Discussion of new technologies and ideas for improving internal processes.
5. Discussion of ideas for product improvement.
6. Exchange of curious and amusing moments.

These events are conducted systematically, recorded on video, and bring the following benefits:

1. The entire team is aware of all changes in the system, positively impacting task testing.
2. New employees receive information and can review video recordings of past meetings, as well as ask questions that interest them.
3. Everyone knows who to approach for various questions to get the necessary information.
4. The quality of released tasks is improved.
5. New ideas for product improvement emerge.

The next step was to abandon quarterly presentations. Instead, we decided to introduce a digest with recordings of all presentations and internal articles for other teams. This step received a lot of positive feedback, and now everyone can revisit the information they need at any time.

We don’t stop at what we’ve achieved, and we have many ideas for improving these processes. I’ll be glad if my experience proves useful to someone.