Barriers to Effective Knowledge Management in IT Projects: Insights from the Sri Lankan Telecommunications Industry

The accelerating pace of digitization within the telecommunications industry has led to a substantial increase in IT project initiatives, placing a greater emphasis on effective knowledge management (KM) as a key driver of project success.KM is instrumental in fostering operational efficiency, innovation, and continuous improvement.Despite its critical importance, many IT projects encounter significant barriers to the adoption and integration of KM practices.This study explores KM practices in IT project environments, with a particular focus on the Telecom industry in Sri Lanka.Employing a structured questionnaire administered to project managers, the research identifies key impediments to KM implementation.The findings indicate that time constraints are the primary challenge, hindering the systematic capture and transfer of knowledge.This limitation, in turn, restricts access to the tacit expertise of experienced professionals, diminishing opportunities for organizational learning and capability development.Moreover, the study emphasizes the necessity of articulating a clear role for KM within IT project governance to support informed decision-making, enhance team collaboration, and ensure sustainable project outcomes.The insights presented advocate for the development of context-specific KM frameworks tailored to the telecommunications sector, aimed at safeguarding institutional knowledge and enabling innovation in future project cycles.