Trends and Best Practices in Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer has moved back to the top of knowledge management priorities because organizations face rising knowledge loss risk, faster-changing skills, and digital transformation that depends on documented know-how—not just expertise in people’s heads. APQC’s research points to a clear continuum: teams first identify, map, and prioritize critical knowledge, then transfer expert knowledge to less experienced people through repositories or direct person-to-person methods. That focus outranks many “trendier” KM themes like virtual collaboration or search, largely because workforce churn, remote/hybrid work, and organizational restructuring make informal learning less reliable.

Several forces are driving the renewed urgency. Rapid workforce change increases the chance that critical expertise leaves with departing employees. The pandemic accelerated recognition that knowledge held by a small number of subject matter experts creates a single point of failure, especially when teams can’t learn side-by-side. Mergers, acquisitions, and reorganizations add further churn, while remote and hybrid work reduces the spontaneous mentoring and onboarding that normally spreads know-how. At the same time, changing skill sets—driven by new processes and technology—requires deliberate knowledge transfer to support upskilling and reskilling. Digital transformation adds another layer: automation, machine learning, and AI systems rely on data and documented judgments, so knowledge must be captured and structured enough to be “on the grid.” New tools can harvest knowledge from artifacts like emails or project files, but human curation is still needed to complete the last mile.

APQC then lays out five steps for “excellent” knowledge transfer, distilled from organizations recognized for mature KM programs. First, organizations need clear processes, roles, and responsibilities so knowledge transfer is planned rather than improvised. APQC warns that asking experts to “write down what you know” without a defined method can overwhelm participants. A key success factor is structured project planning that secures manager buy-in, clarifies scope and beneficiaries, and provides time for recipients to ask follow-up questions.

Second, knowledge transfer should be efficient through “tiers of service,” ranging from highly facilitated, deep transfers (such as legacy programs for experts nearing retirement) to faster, lighter-weight exchanges that fit normal work rhythms. APQC groups knowledge transfer approaches into four categories: formal elicitation (interviews and event-based lessons learned), expert/peer-based methods (communities of practice, mentoring, enterprise social networks), learning sessions and events (training, workshops, webinars), and documentation (blogs, wikis, recorded guidance).

Third, transfer must be embedded into daily work. APQC distinguishes “above the flow of work” activities—like workshops and deep dives—from “in the flow of work” design, where employees can both contribute and consume knowledge through the tools and processes they already use. A Collins Aerospace example shows how structured workshops can generate consistent documentation, while SharePoint-based knowledge bases, onboarding navigators, and links to SOPs and communities help learners access that knowledge when they need it.

Fourth, outcomes should be verified and institutionalized by feeding transferred knowledge into learning materials and core business processes, not leaving it in repositories. Goodyear’s learning journals, for instance, turn expert interviews into successor training roadmaps used in technical mentoring.

Finally, organizations must measure and demonstrate impact. Because facilitated transfers can be time- and resource-intensive, APQC recommends tracking more than activity counts—measuring learning outcomes (like reduced time to competency) and business effects. Saudi Aramco’s project management office uses a structured approach to assess knowledge transfer and lessons learned, combining activity metrics, recognition, cost avoidance, and non-financial process improvements.

Overall, knowledge transfer is positioned as a strategic enabler for productivity, digital transformation, organizational agility, and data-driven decision-making—especially when knowledge is designed to move across the enterprise in real time, not just captured for later.