Understanding communication channel choices in team knowledge sharing

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to develop and test a model that explains information and communication channel (ICC) choice for knowledge sharing in work teams. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews relevant literature in information and knowledge sharing and communication channel choices to develop the four-layered model. From the four-layered model, an online questionnaire was developed to look at the ICCs that participants have available to them, the ICCs they actually use when sharing information in teams, and their motivations for making their ICC choices. Findings – Although participants reported having access to a wide variety of ICCs, they tended to rely on face-to-face interactions, telephone and e-mail for sharing knowledge. In accordance with the four-layer model, participants reported that ICC choice was impacted by the type of knowledge being shared. In addition, ease of use, reliability, convenience, and the ability of the channel to document communications were all factors motivating ICC selection. Research limitations/implications – The layered model provides a framework for further research to investigate the factors at the outer layers of the four-layered model and the interaction among the layers in affecting ICC choices. Practical implications – The paper attempts to build a model that organizations can use as a guide to implementing strategies for information and knowledge sharing in teams. Originality/value – This paper develops and partially tests a model to understand communication choices and information sharing. It provides a framework to examine “traditional” communication choices in the midst of the uproar of the availability of Web 2.0 technologies.