At Aurai many colleagues work for different clients or on different projects. Each project obviously comes with its own challenges and solutions, but at the same time lots of overlap can be found between all assignments. For example, almost all of our projects are being implemented in cloud services such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud. Various techniques and services that are often applied (be it in slightly different ways in each assignment) are SnowFlake, dbt, Databricks, (Py)Spark, Terraform or AWS Sagemaker to name just a few. The continuous evolution of these technologies makes it crucial for data professionals to stay current with the most recent advancements.

There are numerous ways to keep up-to-date with the latest knowledge. There are newsletters, webinars, meet-ups, conferences and of course the internet as an unlimited source of information. Next to this, LLMs such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude are able to give reasonable advice from time to time.

However, I would say most of the above is not based on collaboration, but more of a one way street where you search for information that will help you answer your problem. You might not understand the underlying issues, or you might not even completely understand the answer, but it works! Even so, I think collaborating and learning directly from each other is a key factor for truly learning and growing as a professional. Thus, it is important to share that knowledge internally.

“A knowledge sharing session is a good opportunity to reflect on what I have learned and to share those lessons with my colleagues.”

Since Aurai is growing quickly, it does become more difficult to continuously keep track of what  each colleague is working on. And while collaborating with a colleague on a certain technique or service is always possible, it can be harder to find the right colleague for the right information.  

Therefore, at the start of this year we implemented knowledge sharing sessions at Aurai,and the results so far are great! It is clear that sharing knowledge is a critical practice for keeping up-to-date with the latest developments, techniques and services and thus maintaining competitiveness in the market as a boutique data consultancy company. Whether the focus is on technical expertise or business insights, these sessions help us maximize our collective potential.

There are four key takeaways I would like to focus on in this blog that makes our sessions successful: sharing technical knowledge, sharing business insights, recognizing opportunities and collecting feedback. Let’s explore these one by one.

Sharing technical knowledge

The data industry relies heavily on specialized skills. Furthermore, the field is always rapidly evolving. There is a big chance that you are not able to work with new software tools, methodologies, trends or cloud platform technologies right at their launch. Maybe the scope does not fit your project, the tech stack was already decided or there is too little time left after completing your sprint goals to spend time on learning these new features. But there is a big chance at least one of us at Aurai is working with it. Getting insights from this colleague will help you get familiar with the topic and allows you to remain aligned with current industry developments. When in the future you are able to work with the new technologies, you already have a basic understanding of it, and you know which colleague to go to for more in-depth information or discussions.

“By sharing my knowledge with others, I got the opportunity to not only deepen my own understanding of the topic at hand, but also inspire colleagues to implement elements of my subject to enhance their own work.”

Sharing business insights 

Aurai is active in different branches, from public domain to marketing, logistics, and the energy sector. The solutions we build don’t appear in a vacuum; there is always business context to consider. Thus, next to technical information, it is important to elaborate on the business aspect of an assignment when sharing information about your project.

“As a trainer in business skills at Aurai, I aim to bridge the gap between data and business by sharing how I apply business models and strategies in my work as an analytics translator. My goal is to inspire fellow data professionals to see the business context behind the numbers and drive real impact.”

Creating an overview of which departments and stakeholders are involved, what their core business is and how our solution helps improve their work is key information for successfully completing a project. Sharing this domain specific information may help other colleagues working in the same domain get new insights or ideas.

Note: of course it is mandatory to first discuss with our client which information can be shared during a session. Only the information that the client is comfortable with will be shared with colleagues. In other cases, mock-ups will be used. Recognizing immediate opportunities

Recognizing opportunities

Information gained during knowledge sessions can also help you immediately in your current assignment. It is possible the topic of the presentation contains exactly the feature you were looking for in your project, or solves an issue you or your team were struggling with for a while already. It could also reinvigorate older ideas that were never fleshed out after ideation, because it did not seem like a feasible solution. A knowledge sharing session can trigger new ideas that suddenly make it feasible to work on. 

Furthermore, it might inspire completely new ideas. Solutions you didn’t think of beforehand, but now open many opportunities at your assignment.

“Sharing my work with the group gives me a great outside perspective and can also inspire people with a different view on their own assignments”

Collecting feedback

We’ve mainly talked about the benefits of knowledge sharing sessions from the point of view as a listener. But sharing details about your assignment with colleagues can also be a great setting for gathering feedback. Encouraging an open dialogue and inviting constructive criticism with a diverse set of perspectives from other colleagues help spot inefficiencies, explore ways to address them or suggest improvements. It is also possible the audience identifies opportunities for innovation or growth within your project, which you could pitch to the client afterwards. Thus, collecting suggestions for improvement ensures that the knowledge being shared is not only informative for the audience, but also leads to better outcomes for yourself and your project.

“Being challenged by diverse perspectives from colleagues across different fields and experiences pushes me to refine my approach, resulting in more effective solutions for our clients.”

Conclusion

At Aurai, knowledge sharing sessions are a cornerstone of building an informed and collaborative organization. By focusing on sharing technical knowledge, business insights and encouraging suggestions for improvement, we foster a learning culture that promotes innovation and growth. Engaging in these sessions not only sharpens individual skills but also helps Aurai maintain competitiveness in the market as a boutique data consultancy company.

Do you want to know more about Aurai, our vision, career opportunities or do you see opportunities to work with us? Feel free to reach out to Bob at bob@aurai.com