Webinar Recap: Knowledge Management Through a Behavioral Economics Lens

On September 1, Knowledge SUCCESS hosted a webinar to share findings from formative research recently completed by Knowledge SUCCESS. The research, Family Planning Professionals Behavioral Journey in Knowledge Management, looked at possible psychological and behavioral drivers behind how four groups of FP/RH professionals (program managers, technical advisors, researchers, and policymakers) search for and share information.

The hour-long session featured four speakers from the project:

• Ruwaida Salem, Senior Program Officer, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication; Knowledge Solutions Team Lead, Knowledge SUCCESS
• Sarah Hopwood, Senior Associate, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics
• Salim Seif Kombo, Associate, Busara Center for Behavioral Economics
• Anne Ballard Sara, Program Officer II, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Overview of Knowledge Management and Behavioral Economics

The webinar started off defining knowledge management and behavioral economics. Knowledge management is a systematic process of COLLECTING knowledge and CONNECTING people to it. Behavioral economics is the application of psychological insights to understand decisionmaking and explain why our behaviors may vary. Sarah Hopwood (Busara) explained why BE is a useful tool to examine KM. The truth is that our best intentions when it comes to knowledge management don’t always translate to action. BE can help us understand why, and come up with a plan to address behavioral or psychological barriers and opportunities. Hopwood also reviewed the formative research objectives and methods.

Research Findings: How People Seek Out Information

Salim Kombo (Busara) and Ruwaida Salem (CCP) delved into specific behavioral economics mechanisms that are relevant to the ways in which FP/RH professionals seek out information: choice overload, cognitive overload, and learning preferences. With each mechanism, they covered relevant formative research findings and explained how the BE mechanism and research findings, applied together, have implications for knowledge management within the FP/RH community. Finally, they briefly outlined recommendations for how to address barriers.

Research Findings: How People Share Information

Anne Ballard Sara (CCP) shared specific behavioral economics mechanisms that are relevant to the ways in which FP/RH professionals share information: social norms and incentives. With each mechanism, she covered relevant formative research findings and explained how the BE mechanism and research findings, applied together, have implications for knowledge management within the FP/RH community. Finally, she briefly outlined recommendations for how to address barriers.

Key Takeaways

Ruwaida Salem (CCP) wrapped the presentations by summarizing the key takeaways. To address choice and cognitive overload, present people with a few, curated, high-quality resources. To address learning preferences, make use of different learning formats beyond the “traditional” text-based articles. Embrace video and interactive experiences. To address incentives, provide recognition of positive KM behaviors, like sharing information with colleagues or across organizations. Finally, to address social norms around KM, seek buy-in from KM champions within organizations and networks.

Webinar Materials

• Download the webinar handout: How People Search For, Share, and Use Knowledge: 5 Common Barriers and How to Address Them
• Télécharger le document du webinaire: Comment rechercher, partager et utiliser les connaissances: Cinq obstacles répandus et comment les surmonter
• Download the webinar Q&A: Written responses to audience questions