.png)
“Do you know anything about internal combustion engines?” “Everything!” “Can you fix one?” “No.” In The Big Bang Theory, the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge was the source of countless jokes. Take it one step further, and anyone can recognise their own profession here: alongside theoretical and practical knowledge, there is also that extra layer of experience that comes from the fact that every system has its variables. We can find ourselves in a thousand different workplace situations - machines may behave unusually, communication problems with customers or partners need solving, and so on. Very often, there is no official guidance for these situations, and there couldn’t be.
Frontline employees hold valuable organisational and practical knowledge. Whether it’s fixing a fault or a solution that works in an unexpected situation, this kind of information belongs in a shared knowledge base. Most companies only realise this when an employee leaves - for example, when they change jobs, go on maternity leave or retire. Let’s look at how to turn this personal experience into knowledge everyone can access, while there is still time.
We have all seen paths in parks or between buildings where a diagonal trail, worn into the grass, cuts the corner between two perpendicular walkways. It’s a good example of instinctive, natural human behaviour - and a harmless one at that. Over time, some of these trails are even paved, following exactly the route most people prefer.
The same is true in the workplace. How a process should work - in theory - can of course be documented. Policies and handbooks describe this standard way of operating. In real-life work, however, unexpected situations arise, employees learn to recognise typical errors, or it turns out that there are more efficient solutions.
There is often a wide gap between “this is how I usually do it” and “this would be more efficient for everyone”. Employees may not have the confidence to share their knowledge, or they may not even realise how useful their experience could be to others. It’s also worth highlighting that employees may fear negative consequences if it turns out, for example, that they work differently from the official method - or they simply don’t know where to share what they know.
On the other side of the scale is the question of how to tell which knowledge, working methods and ideas are worth sharing in the first place, and how to document them for the organisation. When it comes to identifying recurring errors and questions, or processes that slow down or complicate onboarding, almost every organisation can benefit greatly from first-hand, practical experience. Another typical sign: the same one or two people always have to be called whenever a particular problem comes up.
Employers therefore need to encourage employees to share their experience, while also setting clear frameworks so that employees understand exactly what kind of knowledge is worth sharing, how to share it, and what purpose it serves. It is the company’s responsibility to determine which of these methods can be generalised and are safe to use.
Knowledge sharing needs motivation, and it’s important that employees don’t experience it as yet another administrative task. Today, mobile-friendly platforms are the most effective tools for this. One question a week, a short questionnaire or a poll is enough to start gathering these personal experiences from employees. What is the most important thing a new colleague should know on their very first day? Which error occurs most often? Is method X or method Y more efficient for a given process?
Once individual ideas and experiences have been collected, they need to be pre-screened and verified before anything is added to the shared knowledge base. This, of course, requires designated subject-matter experts.
Employees’ own solutions can be shared in many formats: frequently asked questions, guides, microlearning materials or checklists. Visual tools shouldn’t be forgotten either - sometimes a photo or video explains a problem more simply than a long description (for example, an image showing correct and incorrect warehouse layouts).
Voluntary knowledge sharing becomes a habit within an organisation when its impact is visible: when employees see their own contribution, receive feedback on their ideas (for example, through “We learned it from you” highlights), and managers recognise their solutions.
On the Blue Colibri platform, frontline employees’ experience can be collected through questionnaires and polls. All of this can then be made available in a shared knowledge base or in microlearning materials, with gamified quizzes to help check understanding. Analytics can show who the new knowledge has reached and where further support is needed, while the recognition feature makes it possible to give direct feedback to the person behind the idea. Best practices can also be shared from time to time in the news feed, in groups and in comments - and non-desk employees can access all of this directly from their mobile phones.
The most useful practical knowledge grows out of employees’ direct experience. Of course, the goal is not to catalogue every informal working method, but to map critical areas and increase efficiency. If taking the diagonal path is more effective, more convenient, faster - and completely safe: why shouldn’t it become a path anyone can take?
