Let’s say a team member wants to replicate a report, host a recurring meeting for the first time, or upload a new piece of software to their machine. Do they know who to ask or where to find that knowledge?
Or are they left to Google answers and contact other teams independently? Do they even know who to contact?
Businesses often discuss how to work “smarter, not harder” but fail to consider how knowledge transfers (or lack thereof!) can impact their business.
Inefficient knowledge sharing costs businesses millions of dollars annually, with the average employee spending 5.3 hours per week waiting for assistance or insights from colleagues.
A proper knowledge management strategy can streamline this process, improving employee and company efficiency.
So, what is knowledge management, and how can your company implement it?
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What is knowledge management?
Knowledge management is capturing, organizing, and sharing information and resources within a company or organization.
Knowledge management is about more than just gathering information. The key to successful knowledge management is ensuring everyone can find and use your stored knowledge.
Let’s say your company hosts an annual virtual summit involving several speakers, dozens of presentations, and break-out rooms for smaller meetings.
Jason, a member of your HR department, has led the planning for the past three years. However, during the summit planning session, he’ll be on paternity leave this year.
Here’s how the process might look, with and without a successful knowledge management system.
With knowledge management
Before taking leave, Jason sits down with this year’s session planner, Kate, and shares a digital knowledge map he’s used to store a step-by-step guide to planning the session. It includes links to resources, a guide to using the meeting software, examples of past presentations, and a checklist of tasks.
In just a few hours, he successfully transfers knowledge and shares all the resources Kate needs to plan the summit. While there is a learning curve, Kate can plan the summit successfully.
Without knowledge management
Before taking leave, Jason has a meeting with Kate, where he shares a Google Drive, several emails, a copy of last year’s digital calendar, and several paper resources. Over the next several days, he sends Kate other resources and forwards emails he thinks will be helpful.
When it’s time to plan the summit, Kate needs help understanding the software, misses deadlines, and scrambles to upload speaker presentations at the last minute. She messages Jason several times during his leaving, leaving her feeling guilty and Jason stressed.
The summit takes her longer to plan, and several technical difficulties occur during the live stream.
Ultimately, the entire company benefits by ensuring Jason’s knowledge is stored and easy to navigate.
Download the e-book: Unlocking the potential of knowledge management: A practical guide
4 types of knowledge management
Let’s take a look at the four types of knowledge management.
1. Declarative knowledge management
Declarative knowledge is factual, static knowledge. This information is often historical and unlikely to change.
Examples: The name of your founder or the year the company was incorporated.
2. Explicit knowledge management
Explicit knowledge is easy to capture, store, and then share. It is the most common data stored in databases, memos, videos, and other simple business storage solutions.
Examples: The sales figures from the previous year or a marketing report.
3. Tacit knowledge management
Tacit knowledge is knowledge inside people’s minds that is not easy to explain, package, or transfer to others. It is primarily experience-based, and people can act with experience more than they can explain to others.
It may be stored as a video, document, or knowledge map.
Examples: The steps for troubleshooting a problem in code or where to get assistance with a specific customer support problem.
4. Procedural knowledge management
Procedural knowledge is the knowledge of a specific process or procedure. This information is often stored in a step-by-step guide, video, or flowchart.
Examples: A guide to installing new software or onboarding a new team member.
The benefits of knowledge management
Sharing knowledge helps everyone work faster and avoid wasting time re-doing work someone else has already completed. But if you’re still determining if it’s worth the effort, understanding the core benefits of building a knowledge management system can be helpful.
1. Improved efficiency
A well-implemented knowledge management system helps minimize wasted efforts and money.
Sharing knowledge makes it easier to deliver more effective projects because your team isn’t constantly searching for information or repeating processes.
2. Reduces errors
When your team can easily access information about processes, technology, or previous mistakes, they are less likely to repeat mistakes in the future and can avoid common pitfalls.
3. Better decision-making
Accurate knowledge of the entire organization, tasks, and processes makes it easy to make sound business decisions.
4. Enhanced customer satisfaction
Sharing business knowledge and cross-team collaboration helps employees respond promptly and personally to customers and clients.
5. Improved collaboration
Knowledge management makes collaborating on projects easier for team members.
How to create a knowledge management strategy
Let’s say your team needs to organize a conference, but no one on the team helped prepare for last year’s conference.
Wouldn’t it be easier if you had access to a conference planning knowledge map like the one below? Using a map would help you determine the steps you need to take and the best way to assign those steps, among other things.
For example, you would know what steps to take and when, how to best allocate those tasks, and who to approach for assistance along the way.
If you need a knowledge map to streamline your planning and decision-making process, consider this the ideal opportunity to create one. Here’s how to get started.
1. Determine what knowledge is important
During the initial planning phase, management should determine what data will be collected and how.
Documenting all the knowledge in a large company can be time-consuming. It’s essential to prioritize more critical expertise in the first round.
Priority should be based on specific outcomes you want to achieve—improving innovation, customer service, or overall organizational efficiency.
2. Choose a knowledge management system
Next, your organization should choose what system (or systems!) you will use to gather and store the documentation.
The systems should be easily accessible to all teams and may vary based on the type of knowledge.
For example, some might be stored as a video, while others are stored in a written document.
However, all documentation should be stored in one single repository. This might mean using a knowledge map and adding links to a video or outside PDFs.
3. Organize the knowledge
The information stored is only valuable if people can find what they need. During the organizing stage, data should be logically arranged using rules established by the organization.
For instance, all customer-related data may be in one database table, sales data may be in another database table, etc. Connections can be created between resources to link them.
4. Summarize knowledge for ease of use
Only some information needs a 25-page report to be helpful. If large amounts of data become unwieldy, consider adding summaries and diagrams.
Rather than relying on individual pieces of data, knowledge flows can be improved with tables, charts, or executive summaries. Focusing on knowledge flows makes it easy to review data quickly and allows teams to make decisions faster.
Knowledge management diagrams are another straightforward way to organize data into an easy-to-use format.
5. Train your team
Once the documentation and summaries have been created, ensure your team knows how to search and filter information to find the needed data. Training might include hosting training sessions, sending emails, or having management explain the new processes.
During the training is also an excellent time to look for bottlenecks in the knowledge transfer process that slow users down.
6. Measure and evaluate performance
Finally, measure and evaluate the performance of your knowledge management process by tracking usage and polling employees. Find out what pain points they face, what knowledge they still don’t have access to, and what aspects of the current system work well.
Use this information to improve and refine your depository and storage policies over time.
Knowledge management best practices
Now that you know how to create a knowledge-sharing and management practice, it’s time to implement your plan. Before you get started, review these best practices to avoid common roadblocks.
1. Use the right knowledge-sharing tools
Technology is continuously evolving. What worked well yesterday needs to be updated.
Think of your cell phone, for example. In the last two years, phones have gotten smarter, faster, and smaller.
Older knowledge management systems rely on a decentralized architecture, which means people need to know where the data is saved.
All this confusion hinders organizations from reaping all the benefits of knowledge management. Of course, having the proper knowledge management tools in place will help you reap the benefits.
2. Get buy-in from both leadership and employees
Company leaders must communicate goals, report on progress, and enforce compliance regarding knowledge management. They should regularly set expectations and then evaluate whether employees have met them.
Employee acceptance often hinges on the knowledge management tools that an organization adopts. Employee acceptance plummets if those tools need to be updated and more convenient to use.
3. Make information easy to find
A knowledge management system will not benefit if people can’t find the resources, expertise, or information they need. Investing in a practical, well-designed knowledge management tool is essential to help your organization rise above these challenges.
You want the way you store information to give you a competitive advantage, not hold your company back.
How to choose a knowledge management system
Choosing the right knowledge management system can make or break the success of knowledge transfer. However, there is no one-size-fits-all knowledge management system.
Selecting the right platform means looking deeply at your needs and the features necessary for your organization.
Here are four features to remember when choosing your knowledge management system.
1. Ease of use
How easy a platform is to both add and find information makes all the difference. Pick a platform that serves your needs and is intuitive to use.
2. Customization
Different types of knowledge can be shared in various formats, such as a whiteboard, mind map, or video. Choose a tool that can be adjusted to fit your business needs rather than changing your processes to fit the tool.
3. Data accuracy
Big data can drive your business, but only when interpreted correctly. The best knowledge management tools collect and provide the data without alteration.
4. Scorecard analytics and data caching
Look for a system to view the most recurring topics and problems. They can offer insights into your employees’ performance and pressing customer issues.
This information lets you establish your strengths and weaknesses and take the necessary corrective measures.
How to implement knowledge management in your organization
Your company is filled with subject matter experts with detailed knowledge about their industry, your product, and your customers. Don’t let that knowledge stay siloed in their brains.
The right knowledge management system and strategy helps your business leverage the most critical part of your business — your people.
MindManager helps your knowledge management system run more smoothly.
Our knowledge management templates make it easier to capture and store knowledge. Features like sticky notes, filter and search, and the ability to link to external files improve your team’s ability to find the information they need when they need it.
Ready to tackle your knowledge management needs in MindManager? Try it for free.
