Researchers look at why some workers avoid sharing information with colleagues

Companies want employees to share what they know. After all, research has found that this leads to greater creativity, more innovation, and better performance, for individuals, teams, and organizations. Yet despite companies’ attempts to encourage knowledge-sharing, many employees withhold what they know — a phenomenon known as knowledge hoarding or knowledge hiding.

A team of researchers have been exploring the dynamics behind knowledge sharing in work environments. While this is something many leaders encourage, their study has found that sometimes individuals within a team have certain reasons for hiding knowledge that might be able to help the rest of the group, namely, the fear of criticism. When the work environment is one where team members clearly understand the value behind sharing their knowledge, they are more likely to do so. This has been found to be a more affected approach compared to pressuring a team to collaborate. When we see the meaning behind something we desire to capitalize on it.

Sean Joyner via Archinect - News http://bit.ly/2Zar9Uh