Knowledge Management in Projects: Explicit and Tacit Knowledge Sharing

PMBOK v8 Definition

Knowledge management is the process of managing both explicit and tacit knowledge for two purposes: reusing existing knowledge and creating new knowledge. The key activities that underpin both purposes are knowledge sharing and integration, which incorporates knowledge from different domains, contextual knowledge, and project management knowledge. This process belongs to the Executing Process Group and the Project Knowledge Management Knowledge Area.

Managing projects requires both explicit knowledge (formal, systematic, codified using words, pictures, or numbers—including manuals, procedures, and documented processes) and tacit knowledge (residing in the minds of individual experts or in social groups and situations, often shared through conversations and interactions).

Why It Matters for the Exam

Knowledge management appears frequently on the PMI exam because it addresses a critical project success factor: ensuring lessons learned are actually applied, not just documented. Questions test your understanding of how tacit knowledge is shared through interpersonal techniques versus how explicit knowledge is stored through information management tools. Expect situational questions where you must select the appropriate knowledge-sharing technique for a given scenario.

Key Points to Remember (for the exam)

• Main Inputs: Enterprise environmental factors, organizational process assets, deliverables, stakeholder register, resource breakdown structure
• Main Output: Lessons learned register (updated throughout the project, not just at the end)
• Key Tools for Tacit Knowledge: Communities of practice, work shadowing and reverse shadowing, discussion forums (focus groups), knowledge-sharing events (seminars, conferences), workshops (problem-solving sessions, learning reviews), creativity and idea management techniques, knowledge fairs and cafés, training involving interaction among learners
• Key Tools for Explicit Knowledge: Information management tools such as databases, registers, and web searches
• Common Confusion: Thinking knowledge management is only about documenting lessons learned at project closure → Reality: It involves continuous knowledge sharing and integration throughout the project lifecycle
• Critical Distinction: Codified explicit knowledge lacks context and is open to different interpretations; tacit knowledge has further context but is difficult to codify
• Enabling Environment: Tacit knowledge is shared by fostering a collaborative and trust-filled environment

Typical PMI Exam Example

A project team is working on a complex software implementation. The project manager notices that experienced developers have valuable insights about past failures that are not documented anywhere. To capture this tacit knowledge, the project manager organizes a workshop with problem-solving sessions and learning reviews. This approach aligns with knowledge management tools that focus on interaction and conversation rather than documentation alone.

PMI Exam Traps

• Trap: Selecting "document lessons learned in a database" as the only knowledge management activity → Reality: Documentation is explicit knowledge management; tacit knowledge requires interpersonal techniques like workshops, communities of practice, and shadowing
• Trap: Confusing knowledge management with information management → Reality: Information management handles explicit knowledge (databases, registers); knowledge management includes both explicit AND tacit knowledge through human interaction
• Trap: Thinking lessons learned are captured only at project end → Reality: The lessons learned register is updated continuously throughout the project, including through in-progress postmortems and retrospective meetings
• Trap: Assuming all knowledge can be easily codified and shared → Reality: Tacit knowledge resides in experts' minds and experience; it requires trust-filled environments and conversational techniques to transfer

Important PMI Connections

Quick Review Questions

1. A project manager wants to share the tacit knowledge of a retiring expert with junior team members. Which technique is most appropriate according to PMBOK v8?
2. What is the key difference between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge in terms of how they are shared?
3. During which process group is the lessons learned register updated?
4. Why is codified explicit knowledge sometimes not understood or applied correctly?
5. What type of environment is necessary for effective tacit knowledge sharing?

PMBOK v8 Reference

Section 2.4 – Manage Project Knowledge (Executing Process Group, Project Knowledge Management Knowledge Area)