This is the third post in a three-part series exploring how we communicate within our organizations. This week, we explore the institutional knowledges and values that we don’t always talk about (but should).
July 19, 2023
By Rachel Smith
When I began working at Maestro, I was not only new to the company—I was new to sales. My previous career had been working in environmental agencies, museums, and zoos where I translated scientific information into content consumable by the general public. After that, I took seven years to stay home with my children.
After years of parenting, I was highly skilled in answering rapid-fire questions, but those questions were things like, “What do you call the My Little Pony if she has wings and a horn?” (an alicorn), “Why don’t we just call it oneteen and twoteen instead of 11 and 12?” (that would make more sense), and “Why is Taylor Swift never ever ever getting back together with her boyfriend?” (Okay, so maybe I wasn’t so great at answering some of these.)
Every day in my new job I would hear a new word or phrase or acronym and ask my husband, “Is that a sales thing or a term all working people use now?” I could at least look up the sales terminology to find out what it meant. The hardest concepts to grasp weren’t those that were specific to employment in the 2010s or even unique to sales—it was those that were singularly Maestro. There are customs and bits of knowledge in every workplace that are specific to the company or even to a particular group of people at the company. How do those things get communicated? And why should we care?
There are different kinds of knowledge within a workplace, and some are easier to transfer than others. First, there’s explicit knowledge. This is data that is easily stored, such as information in your CRM or your company training manual. This is the easiest kind of knowledge to transfer between individuals as it’s usually something contained in a file.
Next, there’s implicit knowledge. This knowledge is more individually developed and has more to do with skills and practice. If explicit knowledge is the “what,” implicit knowledge is the “how.” How do you build trust with a prospect? How can you uncover your client’s pain points? Implicit knowledge is more difficult to transfer since it has more to do with technique, but shadowing a mentor or watching recorded successful sales calls are ways to help pass on this type of knowledge.
Finally, there’s tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the most difficult to transfer because it has more to do with feelings and experience. It’s the “unspoken” knowledge within an organization. If you read the first blog in this series, tacit knowledge is how Adam knows that a quick “K” from Mike is fine but a “K” from me means I’m at least having a bad day and it’s very possible I’m throwing darts at a picture of your face on my bulletin board.
Tacit knowledge transfer requires intentional communication between employees, especially between long-term employees and new hires. It’s letting a new co-worker know that Mike can find anything in our Box folder and answer any questions you could possibly have, and that if you only receive a quick “thanks” from Will after sending him a deliverable it means everything is cool.
We’ve written about the importance of having a high-quality onboarding program in retaining employees. Adding to that a means of sharing tacit knowledge will make new employees feel more at ease and help them ramp up faster because they’ll have a clearer idea of what’s expected and how to proceed.
How does culture get shared? The physical characteristics of any ethnic group get passed down through genes. But what about the customs and values of that group? How do those get passed down? Through memes. The word “meme” comes from the ancient Greek word “mimeme” which means “something imitated.”
In 1976, long before the “I can haz cheezburger” cat was on our collective radar, Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme.” If genes are units of DNA-based heredity, Dawkins defined memes as units of culture. He said they could be ideas, melodies, sayings—really any bit of information—that travels from brain to brain through imitation.
You can think about your unspoken company culture as being passed from person to person in the same way. Is it okay to post something funny on the company Slack channel? Do you expect me to respond right away to an email received at three in the morning? Do we always have our camera on during Zoom calls? These are all things we figure out by observing what others do and imitating them. But could there be a way from new employees to learn this kind of company culture faster?
Do you know what’s a great way to reinforce your company culture and make new employees feel like part of the group quicker? Memes—and this time I am talking about the “I can haz cheezburger” cat kind. Research supports that sharing memes that everyone on your team “gets” strengthens the collective identity of the group. Memes are fun—like instant inside jokes—but they can also make potentially sensitive or complex topics easier to talk about.
Tacit company knowledge is so difficult to share because it’s not something written down. Unless, of course, you decide to write it down. Maestro has helped many leaders create “working with me” documents. These documents answer questions your employees likely have about how you communicate best, what you value in your employees, how you deliver feedback, how you like to receive feedback, and what you expect from your team.
“Working with me” documents aren’t only for CEOs. Any individuals working closely with others will benefit from knowing each other’s strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and communication styles. Sharing this kind of information can eliminate a lot of stress, circumvent conflict and confusion, and make projects go smoother and quicker.
You can also write a “working with me” document for your organization. That’s what Giles Turnbull and his team did at Government Digital Service (GDS) when the organization was hiring. The result was an “It’s ok to…” list that includes things such as, “it’s ok to say ‘I don’t know,’” “it’s ok to make mistakes,” “it’s ok to say yes when anyone does a coffee run,” and “it’s ok to have off-days.”
Two things about this “it’s ok to…” list. One, it’s a great idea. A list is such a simple way to quickly share tacit organizational knowledge. And two, GDS sounds amazing. I’m going to apply for a job there right away. I’m kidding, and I know I can kid about things because Will has told me that “it’s okay to use humor in your blogs.” If I don’t hear anything from him, I’ll assume that means everything is fine.
Don’t leave your questions for the Maestro team unspoken. Reach out to us at mastery@maestrogroup.co.
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