The modern workplace often places demands on workers to quickly learn and apply new practices in their workflow to maintain productivity. One of the easiest ways to learn about best practices and solutions to common problems at work is via colleagues, particularly when using complex software such as spreadsheets, where expertise is essential to reduce the likelihood of errors. Motivating workers to make their expertise visible and to engage in knowledge sharing is crucial for such interactions to occur, however, current research offers limited perspectives on the experience and motivations of knowledge providers.
Focusing on the context of the spreadsheet, this project aims to develop our understanding of motivational barriers to knowledge sharing behaviours among workers, and then to develop and test interventions which could support workers to engage in more effective knowledge sharing behaviours to improve learning within their community.
Funding
The project is funded by an iCase studentship.
People
This project is being delivered by Nancy Xia under the supervision of Prof Anna Cox, Prof Duncan Brumby and Dr Advait Sarkar, Microsoft Research.