Examples of Tacit Knowledge

Tacit knowledge example in the workplace

You are a lead software developer at work, under your leadership you have junior developers and the interns. Obviously through experience in software development you have accumulated a lot of knowledge of which some of that knowledge is difficult to transfer to the next person.

For example if a Junior software developer is faced with a problem or a software bug and has been trying and searching all the sources for a solution without any success and the due date to complete the task is around the corner.

He ends up coming to you as the experienced and knowledgeable person when it comes to the software development, you then ask him to bring his machine to you and show you where the problem is. Applying your knowledge gained over the years you then solve the problem or the software bug within minutes.

You then ask the junior developer to come to your office on the following day so that you can take him through how that problem was resolved. Each and every step explained would be recorded down for the future referencing should similar problem come again. This process of explaining to him how the problem was resolved while the notes are taken is known as the transferring of tacit knowledge into explicit.

Tacit knowledge example in the soccer field

As a football player playing right back position, I may kick the ball from my position direct to a player who is in the centre forward position, But I may not be able to explain the details to other person how do I achieve this accuracy when passing the ball to the person far away from me.

Tacit knowledge example on the road

As another example that may be more relatable... take a moment and think about yourself. When driving a car on the highway, the knowledge Now think about your ability to know just how much pressure to apply to the brakes so that you don't stop too short (and potentially get hit by a car behind you) or too late (and potentially hit a car in front of you). While you certainly can read a manual to learn how to use your brakes (explicit knowledge), your ability to properly use them comes from experience (tacit knowledge).

Calming down angry customers in a call center.

As a call centre representative, we receive an angry phone call at least once a day. It could be an irate caller complaining about a bill or even an angry caller getting frustrated about call times. When spoken to rudely and aggressively by irate customers, it can be hard to be polite and helpful in response. However, if a call isn’t handled well, there is a high chance that the customer won’t return. If this happens daily, that is a lot of unreturning customers. And a lot of revenue missed out on. Deescalating an angry phone call leads to customer satisfaction. Which, in turn, leads to a more productive call, shorter handle times, great customer service, and overall better results. I usually deescalate calls by following the steps below.

1. Stay Calm.

2. Pick Words Wisely.

3. Let the Customer Talk.

4. Consider the Way of Speaking.

5. Try not to put them on hold.

6. Being Honest.

Share your examples of when you had to share or apply tacit knowledge in your life in the comments section below.