📌 Organisational Memory Summary
Organisational memory refers to the collective knowledge, experiences, and information accumulated by an organisation over time. It includes documents, processes, best practices, and lessons learned from past activities or projects. This memory helps organisations avoid repeating mistakes and supports more informed decision-making.
🙋🏻♂️ Explain Organisational Memory Simply
Think of organisational memory like a giant scrapbook for a company. It stores important notes, instructions, and stories about what has worked well or gone wrong in the past. Just as a family looks at old photos to remember birthdays or holidays, organisations use their memory to remember how to do things better in the future.
📅 How Can it be used?
Organisational memory can help project teams avoid repeating past mistakes by sharing lessons learned from previous projects.
🗺️ Real World Examples
A software company maintains a central database of past project reports and technical solutions. When engineers face a problem, they can search this database to find out how similar issues were resolved before, saving time and reducing repeated errors.
A hospital documents procedures and treatment outcomes in a shared system. New staff can review this information to learn from previous cases, improving patient care and consistency across the organisation.
✅ FAQ
What is organisational memory and why is it important?
Organisational memory is the shared knowledge, experiences, and information that a company gathers over time. It covers everything from old project files to the lessons staff have learned along the way. This memory helps teams avoid repeating past mistakes and makes it easier to make good decisions based on what has worked before.
How can companies keep their organisational memory alive when staff leave?
When people move on, a lot of know-how can walk out the door with them. To keep organisational memory alive, companies should encourage staff to document their work, store key information in shared places, and hold regular knowledge-sharing sessions. This way, new employees can learn from the past and pick up where others left off.
What are some examples of organisational memory in action?
Organisational memory can be seen in many ways, like a team using a checklist built from past project successes, or a company handbook that explains how to handle common problems. Even informal chats where colleagues share stories about what has worked before are part of keeping organisational memory active.
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