Organizational
Barriers
Everyone puts up barriers, either deliberately or
inadvertently. 3M tries to dismantle these barriers by making knowledge sharing
an expectation of its employees. Anyone promoted to staff, division, or
corporate scientist level has as an expectation of their job that they are
sharing information and processes with peers and business units. Webster states
that it is very difficult to reach the higher levels in the 3M technical
communities unless you share information and, therefore, are well-known across
the organization. It is an absolute expectation of job promotion.
The other key to knowledge sharing is to not have any
explicit barriers. Rewards and recognition systems can become barriers by
encouraging people to hold ideas and knowledge close rather than share them.