Finding Knowledge
How do you ensure you are remaining relevant and current in your industry?
Do your customers see you as a source of knowledge with up to date industry information?
Do you have a knowledge base in your business?
Many professional organisations and associations require their members to maintain a state of continuous learning and members have to accumulate ‘x’ amount of learning ‘credits’. It is one of their ways of ensuring members stay current and relevant. Do you have anything like this?
When was the last time your team received training or attended an industry relevant seminar? One of the many excuses given for not maintaining learning is being too busy. The old adage “if you always do what you have always done you will always get what you have always got” is a warning - there is a better way. (BTW if you are smugly thinking “I like what I currently have” you would do well to look at how innovative thinking from Uber and Air B’n’B turned two comfortable industries upside down)
There are many ways to stay relevant and current with what is happening in your industry. Some of the most obvious ones are to receive training from your suppliers as they are always looking to bring in something new and keep the cutting edge and oftentimes that training will be free and relate closely to the products and services that you offer.
Attending expos and trade fairs is another excellent way for finding out what is new, what is cutting edge and how people are doing things differently in your market space. You can also see some innovations in other markets that you could potentially bring into yours.
What industry magazines do you subscribe to? Do you get hard copies delivered to the company that everybody can have a chance to read and peruse through or do you prefer to get online content? It can be very useful to encourage team members to share what caught their interest over the week in the plethora of content that is available.
Obviously one of the richest sources of information and learning lies within the people inside your organisation. Is your information stored only inside your employees’ heads - or do you have a learning centre or a knowledge base that captures key information? Things like: how to use certain machinery, how your filing system works, intellectual property, customer and supplier information?
Books and videos are another great way of finding knowledge. For me personally, this is my preferred option as I travel a lot and use audiobooks from authors who have spent years finding what works in industry. (I also have a huge amount of actual books as I love reading when I am able).
Knowledge is everywhere if you choose to look for it. Having a methodology of finding it and system and discipline to ensure you actually absorb it can be one of the greatest keys of success. Here’s to yours!
