If the starting point for knowledge management is the recognition that employees anywhere in the company may have knowledge relevant to any initiative the company is engaged in, whether or not that initiative (or indeed that knowledge) is within their direct area of responsibility, then the ending point for knowledge management is the means by which they are able to contribute towards that initiative.

Collaboration between the employees who are able to contribute towards an initiative can take any number of forms, and the circumstances will always define the most appropriate mechanisms by which information is delivered to users and methods used by people to communicate with one another. However the three most common and familiar forms are email or other text-based communication, audio and/or video communication, and application sharing or collaborative editing of web-based file stores.

Effective collaboration does more than just facilitate or improve communication, often in a manner that wouldn't otherwise be available - it also brings multiple perspectives and expertise to bear on an initiative, thereby ensuring that you are able to produce an optimum solution in the shortest amount of time.