How Knowledge Management Can Help You and Your Team

As an organization grows and evolves, it is bound to develop internal knowledge – an invaluable source of information for the company. In order to use this internal knowledge in a way that’s effective, teams must find a way to collect, share and utilize information in a way that is easy and accessible to everyone 

While knowledge management may have a variety of goals, its primary goal is almost always to connect the right people with the right information at the right time. Without knowledge management, an organization will fail to improve its operational inefficiencies, continue to make the same mistakes and waste time repeating tasks. However, with it, the expertise and learnings are shared with those who need it the most.

Knowledge management is a cyclical process to create, share, structure, and audit knowledge. In the long run, it can raise the collective expertise level of a company and eliminate wasted time. Here are the top 10 ways knowledge management can be helpful for both you and your team.

1. It makes finding relevant resources and information easy

Quick access to relevant resources and information is extremely important, especially if one or more of the following situations arise:

• The customer demands a quick response
• Employees need to assess markets for analyzing trends
• Strategy planning
• Creating new products and/or services
• Understanding the competition

Without knowledge management, employees are likely to struggle when it comes to finding solutions for these situations. However, with it, teams can easily find what they need and make things more efficient.

2. It can help organizations steer clear of redundant effort

Duplication of effort is an enemy of efficiency, but in an organization where knowledge isn’t easily accessible, it may be necessary. This is where knowledge management can play a beneficial role by reducing the need to do the same thing over and over again. By reducing redundant effort, knowledge management can lead to:

• Work becoming more streamlined
• Team morale to stay high
• Saving money and time
• Focus on important priorities

3. It helps teams make the most of existing experience and expertise

A team isn’t only supposed to follow and learn from its leader. It also holds the potential for individuals within the team to learn from each other’s knowledge and skills. Quite simply, if the team members’ expertise is complementary, the team’s power is bound to be greater.

However, this is easier said than done for large organizations, where individuals may not know the knowledge they require is possessed by someone else. Knowledge management fosters team collaboration by bridging the gap between individuals in a collective setup.

4. It can promote the establishment of standard procedures and processes

Organizations whose standard procedures and processes have not been established tend to struggle. This is due to the fact that without standard procedures and processes in place, new employees often make mistakes and more effort has to be put in to rectify those mistakes.

When standard procedures and processes are defined, employees find it easier to follow and the results tend to be more predictable. For large organizations, this can lead to consistencies in performances across the board. Through knowledge management, organizations can create, store, communicate, and use standard procedures and processes routinely.

5. It can make scarce expertise available to all

Sometimes, within an organization, there may be only a handful of people who are experts in a certain subject. If a situation arises where more employees require this expertise, having a knowledge management system in place can be helpful.

The system will make it easy for employees without the expertise to access the information they require. Over time, learning this information will make the employees better at the subject, which can only be a good thing should the expertise be required again in the future. For instance, training events and community discussion forums can allow employees to tap into scarce expertise and make the most of it.

6. It can accelerate the delivery of solutions to customers

How quickly does an organization resolve the complaints and problems of its customers? Or how effectively can you interact with new prospects? Quite simply, if the time taken to resolve issues or deliver information is more than what the customer expects, it’s bound to result in a disappointment. An organization that executes tasks rapidly can stay ahead of its competitor, and this is exactly what knowledge management facilitates.

Knowledge management can help teams with the knowledge they need to take the quality of their customer service several notches higher. Access to knowledge is also likely to lead to innovations as employees put their own spin on what they have learned. This can lead to unique solutions that make customers happy and feel taken care of.

7. It allows for the reusability of proven problem-solving experiences

The term ‘best practices’ is commonly used, but what does it mean? It can take years for an organization to figure out what its best practices should be, and typically, they are figured out when problems need resolutions. Knowledge management allows these problem-solving experiences to be stored safely so they can be accessed and reused when and if needed again in the future.

It also reduces the time and expenses of figuring out solutions for problems that were resolved successfully. All in all, it facilitates an organization to always stay in the loop of how problems have been resolved in the past and, of course, learn from them.

8. It facilitates faster and better decision making

Knowledge management consists of various elements, such as support, search, and structure. This environment allows relevant information to be delivered when it is most required. As a result, organizations can make better decisions that steer them through the challenges of both the short and the long runs.

Before tough decisions, knowledge management can help in providing relevant information to all stakeholders. This allows the stakeholders to review the information and come to an agreement with regard to the impending decision.

9. It allows for the reuse of information, documents, and skills

When you’ve created a successful procedure, you want to make sure that other people follow it whenever a situation like this arises. A paper or presentation that addresses a recurring need should be used in all upcoming instances that are comparable. You want the same solution, service, and product to be repeated as much as possible.

This becomes especially significant when members of your organization have discovered a common problem to solve, know how to provide a recurrent service, or have created a new product. Reuse benefits organizations because it reduces rework, avoids issues, saves time, and speeds up progress, just like recycling does for the environment.

10. It can demonstrate to clients how information is applied to their advantage

It’s critical to be able to set your business apart from competitors in markets that are competitive. If you are able to achieve this, it can be easier to persuade new and existing consumers to begin or continue doing business with you.

However, this can only happen if you can show them that you have extensive knowledge and know how to use it to their advantage. In contrast, failing to do so could expose you to threats from rivals who can show off their knowledge management skills and advantages.

Conclusion

More and more organizations are turning to knowledge management systems for enhancing the productivity and efficiency of their teams. Knowledge management software solutions consist of a variety of features such as note-taking software, multiple-device compatibility, branding and customization tools, and more. If you want your organization’s knowledge management to be at its best, it’s about time you considered adopting and integrating a knowledge management system.

For more information, check out www.klyck.io/resources