Improving Library Organizational Communication through Intentional Knowledge Management

Abstract

Communication is one of the most important elements affecting productivity and work climate in any organization. Effective organizational communication can contribute to organizational success in many ways including building employee morale, satisfaction, and engagement; giving employees a voice; reducing the chances for misunderstandings; and improving processes and procedures that ultimately create greater efficiencies. Toward that goal, creating a single internal communications hub can drastically reduce the volume of “noise” employees must wade through to access important information. A seven-year knowledge management initiative at the California State University (CSU) San Marcos Library documented the transformation of the library’s organizational communication from decentralized and ineffective communication outlets to a single communication hub, while also identifying areas for future improvements. A Library Task Force created a needs-based matrix of requirements to determine that Confluence, a product from Atlassian, offered the best combination of features, flexibility, design, vendor support, system stability, and cost. Knowledge management is defined broadly as “the conscious process of defining, structuring, retaining, and sharing the knowledge and experience of employees within an organization” (What is knowledge management?, n.d.).