Knowledge sharing and learning in projects - Focusing on time restriction

Abstract

Projects can be seen as a learning arena. New knowledge can be developed, and existing knowledge can be shared in projects. Several project-based organizations (PBOs) could see the importance of knowledge sharing and learning in projects – for instance to deal effectively with changes and uncertainty, and to increase productivity. However, they find it difficult to unleash a greater extent of potential benefits of learning and knowledge sharing. One of the difficulties that has been widely mentioned by practitioners and researchers is time restriction. This paper aims to look closer at how time restriction could play out its role in knowledge sharing and learning in PBOs. In addition, this paper addresses how to deal effectively with this barrier and provides suggestions for making improvement in organizational practices that can enhance knowledge sharing and learning. In order to address the topic of this paper, relevant data is collected through conducting interviews in PBOs in Norway. The interviews are of semi-structured nature. As a possible impact, the results can lead to further research by testing the suggestions in case projects or focusing on certain aspects of the results as an in-depth study.