Introduction

In my line of work, I often interact with university students.

At Kanazawa Institute of Technology, where I work, there are extracurricular activities called “Projects” that allow students to put into practice what they’ve learned in their courses.

Examples of these projects range from hardware-focused activities like robot competitions to software-focused ones like application development. For those interested in more details, I recommend checking out Kanazawa Institute of Technology’s project list.

One unique challenge of these projects is that students can only participate for about three years.

While external factors like the increasing pace of job hunting contribute, the limited time students can remain in these projects makes “handover of information” extremely important—yet difficult to achieve.

From here on, I will refer to these extracurricular activities (projects) as “organizations.”

The Limitations of Information Transfer

In any organization, senior members pass down “information” to junior members.

This “information” often includes technical stacks, operational history, and the thoughts of their predecessors—essentially the history of the organization.

However, passing down all of this information completely is extremely difficult.

Over time, the depth of information naturally diminishes.

Yet, from observing and listening to students, I’ve realized something.

Many organizations have allowed their information to become alarmingly shallow.

One plausible reason is the decline in face-to-face activities due to COVID-19.

The oral transmission of information, which relied heavily on face-to-face interaction, has been disrupted.

Additionally, few organizations consciously manage information.

Rather than relying on individuals, shouldn’t organizations proactively engage in handing down information?

Those Passing Down and Those Receiving Information

In many cases, individuals or organizations take on the role of passing down information.

Sometimes this is done proactively; other times it’s driven by necessity.

Regardless, those who pass down information usually prepare for the task.

But what about the recipients?

How many recipients start with a mindset of actively seeking to learn?

Recipients must take initiative to gain knowledge.

Moreover, they should focus on building relationships that foster a sense of necessity to learn and a shared atmosphere where the importance of information is recognized.

In other words, recipients need to be inherently self-directed.

Preventing Information From Becoming Dependent on Individuals

In any workplace, there are likely “specialists” or “information brokers.”

For example:

  • A specialist who is the go-to person for a specific topic or problem.
  • An information broker who connects people, saying, “If it’s about this, you should talk to yyy or zzz.”

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with such roles, this can lead to information becoming overly reliant on individuals.

The ideal direction is not wrong. However, if possible, everyone should be capable of acting as an “information broker.”

When you find yourself stuck, you should be able to independently identify whom to turn to.

The ability to seek out resources on your own is a skill that will become increasingly valuable.

Conclusion

What started as a casual blog post turned out to be a useful way for me to organize my thoughts.

There’s much more I want to write about, such as organizational structure and culture.

If the mood strikes, I’d like to document more on these topics.

I hope this article provides some inspiration or sparks ideas for its readers.