Part 2:
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Do you understand the difference between information and knowledge? In a business context, information gathering happens at all levels of an organization. It can include everything from customer interactions to internal company meetings. On the other hand, knowledge is what every member of an organization understands and uses in their everyday activities. 75% of companies realize that knowledge management is crucial for their success. Let's look at knowledge management and its benefits to your workplace.
What is Knowledge Management?
So, what is knowledge management? IBM defines knowledge management as a way to identify, organize, store and share information. A knowledge management system is a platform that gathers business information to help streamline operations such as:
- Recruitment
- Training, and
- Communication
Additionally, knowledge management can foster better:
- Transparency
- Accountability, and
- Collaboration
Each of which helps improve employee satisfaction and retention.
What are the Goals of Knowledge Management?
Knowledge management serves several key goals in an enterprise. The goals of a knowledge management system are to:
What are the Benefits of Knowledge Management?
The main benefit of knowledge management is efficient business operations. A knowledge management system makes a business more agile because it:
What are the Challenges of Knowledge Management?
Like every business process, knowledge management can present challenges to an organization. Here are four of the top challenges organizations face when it comes to knowledge management:
What are the Types of Knowledge in an Organization?
Three main types of organizational knowledge drive your knowledge management process:
1. Explicit knowledge
Documented information like policies, product specifications, service functionality, and other business-generated content.
2. Implicit or embedded knowledge
Information about business processes such as:
- Recruitment or merit systems
- Routines
- Manuals, and
- Organizational culture
3. Tacit knowledge
This is practical know-how about business operations gained through experience. This includes subject matter expertise held by certain employees.
Practically speaking, these types of knowledge come from:
Knowledge Management Use Cases
A knowledge management framework finds value in the following business processes:
Onboarding
New team members can quickly search and find what they need on a centralized knowledge management system. This significantly reduces training time and increases competence levels.
Customer support
Customer service teams can find quick references and answers for inquiries.
Internal communications
Teams can seek out knowledge directly from the system and save emails and chats for priority queries.
Inventory updates
All departments get notified of product changes like prices, upgrades, or shortages.
What is the Knowledge Management Process?
To manage knowledge in your organization, first you must understand how knowledge arises in business and how to make it work for you.
The ideal knowledge management process has six steps:
1. Knowledge discovery
Figure out your organization's implicit, explicit and tacit sources of knowledge.
2. Knowledge auditing
Check that all your information is relevant, up-to-date, and error-free.
3. Knowledge structuring
Organize your information into a searchable, accessible knowledge management database.
4. Knowledge sharing
Grant your team secure access to your knowledge management system. Encourage them to contribute and share their knowledge on the platform and create an incentive program to promote the sharing process.
5. Knowledge application
Reward team members who use the knowledge to improve their performance.
6. Knowledge creation
Keep gathering and updating your knowledge management system according to the outlined steps.
What are Knowledge Management Tools?
Anything that captures business information and generates insights is a knowledge management tool. That qualifies your basic spreadsheets as one. However, knowledge management tools can be highly specialized to match your industry. The most common tools include:
Conclusion
Your knowledge management process depends on your company's size and structure. Smaller companies can build a goldmine of business data and scale up over time. Larger companies can put in place a system for digital transformation and business forecasting. Implement a knowledge management strategy to improve your business outcomes today!
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Sasi Dharan, Marketing Manager, Profit.co,
In his current role, he leads the Digital Marketing Team. He has a decade of experience in Project management, Operation Excellence Consulting, and Digital Marketing.
He is passionate about creating new approaches to brand awareness, and demand generation. He is passionate about learning new technologies, and strategies in marketing and deploying them in his organization. He is also an avid traveler and a biker who has traveled almost 7000miles in a year.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/sasiceo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SasiDha56015764
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