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Video Webinar Reading Time: 2 minutes

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

Watch now: 00:00-11:50

Voir maintenant: 00:00-11:50

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

Watch now: 11:50-31:10

Voir maintenant: 10:36-30:24

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

Watch now: 31:10-40:38

Voir maintenant: 29:53-39:19

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

Watch now: 40:38-42:36

Voir maintenant: 39:19-41:32

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.

Anne Kott

Team Lead, Communications and Content, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Anne Kott, MSPH, is the team lead responsible for communications and content on Knowledge SUCCESS. In her role, she oversees technical, programmatic, and administrative aspects of large-scale knowledge management (KM) and communications programs. Previously, she served as communications director for the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) Project, communications lead for Family Planning Voices, and started her career as a strategic communications consultant for Fortune 500 companies. She earned her MSPH in health communication and health education from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and bachelor's of arts in Anthropology from Bucknell University.