Knowledge is the capital of every organization. But knowledge isn’t always neatly stored in a manual or database. Sometimes it’s in the minds of your employees, sometimes in the way a team works together, and sometimes in the systems you use every day. Internal knowledge sharing starts with understanding what types of knowledge actually exist. Because only once you know what kind of knowledge you have can you determine how best to manage, share, and utilize it.
There are five main types of knowledge management, each of which plays a different role within an organization. Below, we’ve listed them for you in a clear overview.
Knowledge Management as a Driver of Organizational Performance
Effective knowledge management is more than just maintaining an intranet or creating an FAQ. It is the way an organization learns, grows, and empowers its employees to make better decisions. Especially in sectors where customer contact is central—such as government, healthcare, or business services—structured internal knowledge sharing is a direct driver of better service and lower operational costs.
Organizations that take knowledge management seriously find that employees find answers more quickly, make fewer mistakes, and are less reliant on colleagues who just happen to “know everything.” This not only saves time but also leads to a more consistent customer experience. The five types of knowledge management listed below will help you determine where your organization currently stands and where the greatest opportunities for growth lie.
1: Tacit knowledge — unspoken expertise
Tacit knowledge, also known as implicit knowledge, is the expertise that employees possess but find difficult to explain or put into writing. It’s the instinct of an experienced customer service representative who immediately senses when a conversation needs to take a different turn. Or the intuition of a technician who recognizes a malfunction even before the error message appears.
This type of knowledge is valuable but fragile. It disappears as soon as an employee leaves the organization, unless you actively invest in making it visible. Methods such as mentoring, job shadowing, and structured knowledge-sharing sessions help to partially make tacit knowledge explicit and transfer it to colleagues.
Tacit knowledge is particularly critical in organizations with high turnover or an aging workforce. If years of experience are stored solely in the minds of a few key individuals, the organization faces a serious risk. Internal knowledge sharing therefore literally begins here: with the people.
2: Explicit knowledge — documented and immediately shareable
Explicit knowledge is the opposite of tacit knowledge: it is knowledge that has already been documented in documents, manuals, procedures, and databases. Examples include product specifications, customer service response scripts, or step-by-step instructions for an onboarding process.
This type of knowledge management is the most recognizable and the easiest to organize. A well-organized knowledge base for customer service teams is a classic example of explicit knowledge in practice. Employees can quickly search, find what they need, and immediately provide the right information to customers, without having to guess or consult colleagues.
The challenge with explicit knowledge lies not in recording it, but in keeping it up to date. Outdated information is sometimes worse than no information at all, because employees mistakenly rely on it. So make sure there is clear ownership and periodic review cycles.
3: Procedural Knowledge Management — Knowledge in Action
Procedural knowledge management is about knowing how to do something. It’s not about the rules, but about the steps you take to achieve a result. Examples include handling a complaint, processing a request, or escalating an incident to the appropriate department.
This type of knowledge is closely related to explicit knowledge, but the distinction lies in its application. Procedural knowledge is process-oriented and can often be visualized using flowcharts, decision trees, or workflows. It is also the type of knowledge best suited for automation: if a process always proceeds in the same way, technology can take over part of the execution.
For organizations with many repetitive customer contact processes, procedural knowledge management is a direct path to increased efficiency. By properly documenting and standardizing processes, you lower the learning curve for new employees and reduce the likelihood of errors during peak periods.
4: Embedded knowledge — knowledge embedded in systems and processes
Embedded knowledge is the knowledge that is ingrained in an organization’s tools, systems, and structures. It’s found in the configuration of your phone system, in the routing rules of your contact center, and in the algorithms behind your chatbot. This knowledge isn’t immediately visible, but it does guide the daily behavior of employees and customers.
This type of knowledge management is often underestimated because it is invisible. Yet it is crucial: if the knowledge embedded in your systems is outdated, your organization operates based on assumptions that have long since ceased to be accurate. This manifests itself in poor routing, customers being directed to the wrong department, or automations that cause more problems than they solve.
Keeping embedded knowledge up to date requires collaboration between IT, operations, and the people who work with the systems on a daily basis. They’re the ones who notice when something isn’t right anymore. Good contact center technology also makes it easier to update this knowledge without the need for major technical projects.
5: Cultural Knowledge Management — Shared Values and Norms
Cultural knowledge management refers to the unwritten rules, shared values, and collective beliefs that determine how people in an organization interact with one another and make decisions. It is the reason why employees at one organization proactively call customers with bad news, while at another organization they wait for the customer to call.
This type of knowledge is the most difficult to manage because it cannot be captured in a document. It grows organically out of leadership, behavior, and shared experiences. Nevertheless, cultural knowledge management has a direct impact on internal knowledge sharing: in a culture where knowledge sharing is valued and rewarded, information flows naturally. In a culture of silos and interdepartmental competition, that flow stagnates.
Investing in cultural knowledge management means investing in trust, psychological safety, and a shared understanding of what “good service” means. This starts with leadership that leads by example and positions knowledge sharing as a team strength rather than a personal threat.
What type of knowledge management is right for your organization?
The five types of knowledge management are not mutually exclusive. In practice, every organization deals with all five, but the balance varies. An organization with many experienced employees and high turnover benefits from making tacit knowledge explicit. An organization with outdated systems needs to invest in embedded knowledge. And an organization where departments work at cross-purposes faces, first and foremost, a cultural challenge.
The smartest approach is to start with an honest assessment: where is knowledge leaking out of your organization? Where are employees repeating the same mistakes because information isn’t available or can’t be found? And where are the processes that can be virtually automated, so that employees can focus on the complex questions that truly require human insight?
- Identify what knowledge currently exists only in employees’ minds
- Assess the quality and currency of your existing documentation
- Identify processes that are procedural in nature and suitable for automation
- Check whether the knowledge in your systems still aligns with current reality
- Ask yourself whether the culture in your organization encourages or hinders knowledge sharing
How Pegamento Helps with Internal Knowledge Sharing
We understand that, in practice, knowledge management requires more than just a good plan. It requires the right technology, the right processes, and a partner who thinks along with you about the long term. Pegamento helps organizations systematically improve knowledge sharing, from the knowledge base to the smart automation of repetitive processes.
- Knowledge Bases for Customer Service Teams: We build and implement knowledge bases that provide employees with the right information immediately, without having to search for it or consult colleagues.
- Agentic AI for knowledge-driven automation: Our Agentic AI assistants represent an evolution from task-executing bots to self-thinking assistants that not only follow instructions but also take the initiative and act independently based on available knowledge.
- Omnichannel contact center solutions: By bringing together phone, chat, WhatsApp, and email on a single platform, we eliminate knowledge silos across channels and give your team a complete overview.
- Customized solutions with standard building blocks: no costly custom development, but a smart combination of proven modules that perfectly fit your situation, all under one roof.
- Certified quality: We operate in compliance with ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 9001, and ISO 26000, so you can be sure that knowledge management is also set up securely and responsibly.
Would you like to know how your organization can take internal knowledge sharing to the next level? Contact us, and we’d be happy to help you figure out the first step.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get started with a knowledge audit if I don't know where to begin?
Start small and specific: choose one team or one process and ask yourself what would happen if the most experienced employee left tomorrow. What knowledge would be lost along with them? Use that exercise as a starting point for a broader assessment. Next, you can use the five types of knowledge management as a checklist to assess your organization’s status in each category.
What’s the biggest risk if you don’t actively manage tacit knowledge?
The biggest risk is knowledge loss due to employee turnover. If crucial expertise resides solely in the minds of a few key individuals, your organization is vulnerable in the event of illness, retirement, or departure. This not only leads to a decline in quality but also to higher onboarding costs for new employees and a more inconsistent customer experience. Active knowledge transfer through mentoring and knowledge sessions is the most direct way to mitigate this risk.
How do I ensure that a knowledge base stays up-to-date and doesn’t become outdated?
The key lies in clear ownership: assign a person responsible for each knowledge domain who periodically checks whether the information is still accurate. Set up fixed review cycles—for example, quarterly—and make it easy for employees to flag outdated or incorrect information through a feedback mechanism within the knowledge base itself. This way, keeping the knowledge base up to date becomes a shared responsibility rather than a one-time task.
When is automation a logical next step after documenting procedural knowledge?
Automation becomes a viable option as soon as a process is fully predictable and repeatable: the same steps, the same decision points, the same end result. If you’ve documented a process as a flowchart or decision tree and there are few exceptions, that’s a strong indication that technology can take over part of the execution. Start with the processes that occur most frequently and require the most time from employees.
How do I address cultural resistance to knowledge sharing?
Cultural resistance often stems from fear: the fear that sharing knowledge will make you less indispensable, or that your mistakes will become visible. Address this by explicitly recognizing knowledge sharing and rewarding it as a team strength, not as an individual achievement. Managers play a crucial role here: when they openly share knowledge and show vulnerability, it gives the rest of the team permission to do the same.
Can small organizations also benefit from structured knowledge management, or is that only for large companies?
Small organizations are particularly vulnerable when knowledge isn’t properly safeguarded, because the loss of even one employee can leave a significant gap. Structured knowledge management doesn’t have to be complex or expensive: a well-organized knowledge base, clear process descriptions, and a culture of knowledge sharing already provide a strong foundation. The scale adapts to the organization, but the principles are universally applicable.
How do I know which type of knowledge management is the highest priority for my organization?
Look for where the pain is greatest: where do employees repeatedly make the same mistakes, where does onboarding new colleagues take the longest, or where do customers complain about inconsistent answers? These pain points directly point to the type of knowledge that needs attention. A brief internal survey of team leaders and frontline employees often quickly provides a clear picture of the biggest bottlenecks.
