Hi all, as the topic above stated, my company (or should I say my boss) decided to have a weekly meeting and after that meeting, everyone in the company takes turn every week to teach everybody what they know (as in working knowledge).

What I want to ask is, is it ok for this sort of thing? I mean teaching everyone in the company what we know which we use to earn a living. This idea is started by my boss himself and not with the agreement and views from workers such as myself....

I need opinions from all of you guys...

may i know who is ur boss??? familiar with my ex senior... haha
he also starter something like tis...end up onli he sharing knowledge as we all junior nth to contribute...haha

is good to share, just hide some important part lo...
tell overview thing.. if wan more detail go learn urself. haha

can i know is that ur company is japanese company?

Haha, my boss is not senior, he's the director of the company. And we (workers) knows something that he don't. So he set this up so he can learn from us... for free.

I know sharing is good (years ago), but not now. I'm worried if after he learns what he wants, he'll treat us badly (no bonus or no increment). Am I worrying too much?

Nope, not a japanese company. Does Japanese company practice this?

You improve yourself by keep on learning and acquiring new skills/knowledge. Don't be scared to share.

BTW, if your skill is something unique, other people will not be able to learn/master it easily, right? If you take years to learn something, do u think your boss can learn it by just a 30 mins lecture by you?

Well, it actually took me 6 months to learn what I know but of course you need to get the concept first before you could really master it. I'm not sure of my boss's ability and I'm worried if he or other colleague could get the concept...

Now what I'm doing is teaching them simple stuff/basic stuff but how long can I drag this? I'll have to find something to drag my teaching longer so that I don't need to teach so much

Actually, this kind of practice is always good for the company and the boss/manager, but whether it is good for the employee is kinda depends on the individual. If there is knowledge sharing, then the company will benefit as it means its employees will be able to contribute better, on top of that once the knowledge level is saturated, i.e. leveled out where most the employees are at the same level, then this will drive competition and again the company will benefit.

On the other hand, from an employees point of view, each person has their own skill and knowledge that gives them the competitive edge. Like you said, teaching others this is practically limiting your own rice bowl.

Carefree,

1) If you think you live on what you know at this moment forever, you must be very naive. If you can learn it in 6 months, someone else can definitely learn it in 6 months too. So, you need to keep on running and learn more stuff.

2) Why do you think you cannot learn from others too??

3) By the way, you learn and know more when you teach someone. If and only if you can teach someone, that is when you really know something. Only when you teach someone, you know whether you have a gap in your knowledge.

4) I had worked in IT/Datacom/telcom world for 20 years and I still need to learn and keep up with the world. What makes you think that your 6 months of learning can last you a while??

5) In this new world, the most important thing is not what you know. Anyone can Google and know a lot of stuff. The most important thing is how fast that you can learn anything..

Dreamer

P.S.: My company used to have what we called brown bag lunch. That means at lunch time, people bring their own lunch to listen to lectures/training from their co-workers. The attendance and presentation are purely voluntary. You could choose to present or attend as you wish. It is lunch hour which is not part of working hour. The presentation material are stored on the server for anyone to learn at any time. This is American company at USA.

By the way, the free seminar / presentation are highly common and open to public for almost all universities at USA. And, some of them are probably webcast over the internet. A lot of MIT lectures videos are stored and available over the Internet too.

So, do you really think what you know is really worth that much??


This post has been edited by dreamer101: Oct 12 2006, 11:45 AM

What do you say if currently it's only me who's teaching and others never teach? This benefits the company but not me or other workers.

Dreamer,

1) 6 months is short, I know. But as I said, you must understand the consept, else, you can't learn it well. Of course I do improve, that's why I'm now taking part time degree study. I don't wanna stuck with what I know now.

2) I do want to learn from others but if others in the learning session do not wish to teach (which they are now), how do you think I could learn?

3) No comment on this point. But I do agree.

4) Same as point (1). On top of that, I do always search for better ways to improve my working speed/quality.

5) Understand, will keep this in mind.

From what you've said, it's good for having a learning session but best is it's on voluntary. What's the point if it's only me who teaches what I know and others do not teach what they know? This is the main reason, and if they can google and learn what I know all this two years of learning, I must them.

If everyone have the same mind set as you, there will be no sharing or caring in this world.

For the learning & teaching stuffs, In another point of view, Isn't this is a good opportunity to show your skill & knowledge and impress your boss. Probably may give you chances for promotion or new task.

In Addition, It you the only one that perform certain task, you probably will end up doing the same thing in a same position forever in the company because nobody else know how do it.

Just my 2cents.

Through out my working years, there has been many many circumstances where I was the only person that share and teach. But, I do it anyhow.

1) There has been many people that teach me and expected nothing in return. This is the way for me to pay back to those people by keeping up the good work.

2) It is beneficial for me to teach. By teaching, I really know my stuff and I learn how to teach.

3) I believe in Karma. And, I believe in doing what I can for the betterment of the world.

4) I do not believe in zero sum game. I do not believe that in order for me to win, someone else has to lose. By sharing, people can move forward faster and better.

I cannot convince you. This is what we called FAITH. Either you believe that sharing is good or it is not. I believe I live a happier life by being generous with my knowledge.

Please noted that if people are not willing to share, why are they giving you advice in lowyat to begin with. They have nothing to gain from you.


Nameless,

There will be people willing to share and those who don't. It is my belief that people that are generous and willing to share have a happier and more furfilling life than people what count their every single action in term of ROI ( return on investment). Life is too short for that kind of calculation.

And, you are what you believe. People that are generous and generally see everyone as generous and have a more optimistic view of the world.

Dreamer