INSIGHT ‘‘ I


Whether someone joins in our knowledge projects or not often has less to do with how fancy our tools are and more to do with whether they feel welcomed, valued and have trust in the community.


Hélène Russell is a KM consultant at TheKnowledgeBusiness and Chair of the K&IM SIG.


HAVE just returned from a lovely birthday visit to Venice, a wonderful opportunity to relax in some beautiful surroundings after the winter Christmas


chaos: some wandering about enjoy- ing the architecture, a few art galleries and museums, and (it is Italy after all) some fantastic food. One aspect I particularly enjoyed was their culture of wine, snacks and chat in the early even ing at the bacari before a leisurely dinner later on. Nothing nicer than an Aperol spritz or ombra wine and some cicchetti (small snacks). Wandering the narrow lanes, I’d find myself peering through misted windows to spot the perfect bacaro: bottles gleaming, small plates piled high, groups chatting animatedly over their glasses. It’s interesting to reflect, now I’m home, what made me visit one bar over another. It was rarely the quality of the wine or food that drew me in, but often an indescribable feeling of welcome (or not). That warmth in the air. The body language of the people inside. The sense that you could walk in, order in broken Italian, and somehow belong. And here’s the thing: our knowledge spaces are remarkably similar. Whether someone joins in our knowledge projects or not often has less to do with how fancy our tools are and more to do with whether they feel welcomed, valued and have trust in the community. You can have the most sophisticated knowledge management platform money can buy, with AI search, beautiful dashboards, and seamless integration, and still find it’s a ghost town. The digital doors are shut, the platforms are quiet and the conversation is muted. Meanwhile, down the metaphorical street, someone’s running a simple shared folder and a monthly coffee chat, and it’s buzzing with energy and insight. So what’s the difference? What makes people push open that door and step inside?


The SCARF Framework: Your recipe for


an inviting knowledge space I find David Rock’s SCARF model for creating comfortable spaces for sharing particularly useful here. Rock suggests there are five ingredients for creating


February-March 2026


the right environment for sharing: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness. Think of these as your essential ingredients, like having quality wine, good cicchetti, comfortable seating, friendly staff, and fair prices at your bacaro.


Where errors are visible and condemned, prescribed formats don’t match thinking styles, and recognition goes to those who hoard rather than share, people hover outside in the cold, unsure whether there’s room for them at the bar. But using SCARF, we can warm things up considerably. Status: Frame sharing as contribution,


not competition. In too many organisations, knowledge sharing feels like exposing your ignorance rather than offering your insight. Celebrate all learning and honour all perspectives. Create space to “think out loud” without judgement. Make it clear that the person asking the “stupid question” is adding more value than the person who stays silent with all the answers. When half-formed ideas are welcomed, your bacaro fills up fast. Certainty: Make knowledge sharing tools simple and predictable. Easy-to-access technology solutions help, but consistent rituals matter even more. Your bacaro needs regular opening hours and the same friendly face behind the bar. You need a regular monthly knowledge lunch, or Friday reflection prompts or non-negotiable post action reviews. People relax when they know what they’re walking into. Autonomy: Offer genuine choice in how sharing takes place, so there’s a channel that suits everyone. Instead of mandating participation, share out the opportunities to join knowledge projects as they suit your different people. One person will love editing documentation; another will prefer hosting a webinar; someone else shines in one-on-one mentoring. Let people bring their best selves to the table rather than forcing everyone into the same mould. Relatedness: Focus on the human connections first. Start meetings with a check-in; create smaller groups for conversations; model vulnerability through leadership. Knowledge doesn’t flow between systems, it flows between people who trust each other. Before someone shares, they need to feel they’re among friends. This is why the


best bacari have regulars who greet each other by name, not just excellent wine lists. Fairness: Make sure everyone has the same access to knowledge resources. Make contribution expectations and reward systems transparent and achievable. Build in time for knowledge work where possible, rather than expecting people to do it as extra. Nothing kills a knowledge culture faster than the perception that only certain people benefit from the collective wisdom, or that some contributions count more than others.


The uncomfortable truth Successful knowledge sharing cultures don’t spring up spontaneously. They aren’t built by investing in the latest tools or by mandating contributions. They’re not created by policy documents or org charts. Knowledge sharing occurs when, like the best bacari in Venice, you create the right atmosphere to draw people in. This work isn’t easy or glamorous. It requires sustained attention to the human elements that most of us were never trained to manage. It means noticing when someone feels excluded, adjusting when your processes create barriers, and constantly tending to the culture like a gardener rather than building it like an architect. But when you get it right? The returns are extraordinary. Information flows freely. Problems get solved faster. Innovation accelerates. New employees get up to speed in weeks rather than months. And your organisation becomes genuinely more efficient, more effective, and more profitable. So the next time you’re wondering why your knowledge management initiative isn’t gaining traction, don’t immediately upgrade your software. Instead, ask yourself: would I want to spend my evening in this space? Does it feel warm? Welcoming? Human?


Because if you wouldn’t linger here over an Aperol spritz, chances are your colleagues won’t linger here with their hard-won insights either.


How do you create welcoming spaces? I’d love to know. Email me your thoughts at helenerussell@theknowledgebusiness.co.uk and join the K&IM SIG for friendly networking and learning events. IP


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 15


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