Technology isn’t everything. Successful knowledge management also requires the proper method. We show you the six most important factors for successful knowledge management. They will allow your employees to find information fast as they generate, expand, and retain important information.
Topics such as rapid prototyping, design thinking, and growth hacking are evidence of the business transformation taking place. A new day is dawning in offices everywhere, and it demands high flexibility. Professional knowledge management is becoming a central factor in the competitiveness for businesses. Because knowledge determines action to a significant extent. A survey conducted by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) and Accenture demonstrates how urgently many companies need to professionalize their knowledge management:
- 47% of employees do not trust the information that is available.
- 42% of managers use incorrect or outdated information at least once a week.
- 59% of employees do not have the information that they urgently require.
- Only 37% of CIOs believe that they have enough current information to manage operations.
The goal is to collect the knowledge from the minds of individual employees and computers, update it, and make it usable. Otherwise competitiveness suffers.
With the correct method, knowledge becomes a competitive advantage
You can’t force an employee to share their knowledge. In the following, we talk about creating the right conditions in order to motivate every employee to participate in knowledge management. There are six key factors.
FIRST, you should give employees the latitude and time they need to be able to collect valuable knowledge in the process of their daily work. Make it clear to employees the added value that everyone gains from knowledge management. That should result in most employees being motivated of their own free will. Just like existing CRM data, knowledge also requires regular maintenance. To internalize the significance of knowledge maintenance among employees, it should be included in the targets for the respective departments.
SECOND, you should provide technology that is simple and easy to use and does not require any lengthy training and preferably works in a browser window. Each authorized employee can add knowledge easily from anywhere as well as access it from any type of device including PCs and smartphones. This type of technology supports the first factor we mentioned and its simplicity is crucial for the success of any knowledge management program. The quality of the collected knowledge can be assured through approval processes.
THIRD, responsibilities should be clearly defined. For instance, assign specific documents to a responsible individual who is automatically informed in the event of changes and receives a notice that an update is necessary when the predetermined expiration date of a document is reached. This ensures information remains up to date.
FOURTH, you should classify the knowledge that has been collected. Articles, projects, presentations, knowledge documents, presentations, and persons can thus be more easily combined to form relevant information clusters. Users can assign specified keywords to information, or an editor can classify the information. That depends on the workflows at your company.
FIFTH you should provide an intelligent search feature with drill-down search that uses the classifications. The keywords allow users to narrow down their searches, providing better organization and relevance.
SIXTH, the management software has to offer custom settings. The application should make it possible for contacts to store special knowledge, provide reports on frequently used and important content, and mark frequently used items as favorites. It should also be possible to customize collaboration between users and editors with the tool.
Seeing the value each individual gains
Latitude, clear responsibilities, precisely classified knowledge, an intelligent search feature, and custom configuration options enhance the acceptance of your knowledge management system. One can often observe that employees are afraid of the new transparency that results. You should relieve employees of this fear by communicating with them about all aspects of the transformation and demonstrating the added value that they will personally have from a methodical knowledge management system. If the employees recognize the added value, they will be more ready to share their knowledge — especially if using the system is voluntary. The technologies you use for your knowledge management depends on your company’s structure and the type of knowledge processing being conducted.
Do you want to use the advantages of knowledge management, but you don’t have the right system? Then start your free, no-obligation 30-day SABIO trial today: https://join.getsabio.com/
