Project Tribes

  Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned   ProjectsAtWork  

The knowledge found in project teams can be invaluable, but it isn’t always shared or understood by those outside "the tribe.” Technologies, processes and mindsets are evolving to create a new era of collaboration. By following key principles, tribal knowledge can be turned into organizational power.

As the authors of Executing Your Strategy: How to Break it Down and Get it Done state: “The project — the lowly project — is the true traction point for strategic execution.” Yes, upper management bears ultimate responsibility for an organization’s success or failure. But the magnitude of effort — the bulk of the work to create products and services — happens among project teams and departments — “tribes” — that make up an organization. It stands to reason that the collective knowledge contained within these tribes can contribute significant value when shared across the enterprise.

Stymied by the prevailing hunter-gatherer approach to tap into this knowledge, we’re seeing an increased desire to make it easier to access and organize this information for broader benefit. So how did we arrive at this point and what can we do to make collaboration and information sharing more efficient and cost-effective? It’s time to welcome in a new era.

The Nature of Tribes

Drawing on a 200,000 year-old …

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