Leadership is never easy. It often requires you to strike the delicate and difficult balance between coaching, mentoring, teaching, and commanding. But while it is impossible to be all things to all people, there are strategies that effective leaders can use to build a cohesive, harmonious, and high-functioning team.

Among the most promising of these approaches to leadership is the conversational leadership style. Conversational leadership has been shown
to facilitate a more open, successful, and supportive working environment.

But conversational leadership isn’t just for managers and executives. Teaching conversational leadership skills to employees at all levels can maximize the benefits of this approach, making for a happier and higher-performing team!

What is Conversational Leadership?

As the name suggests, a conversational leadership approach prioritizes rich and ongoing communication at all levels and across all job functions.

The conversational leader is approachable and receptive. They not only accept feedback, but they embrace and, indeed, require it, even when that feedback may not necessarily be what the leader wants or expects to hear.

There is, moreover, a significant element of relationship management in conversational leadership. An effective conversational leader remains ever curious, ever invested, not just in the work, but in the workers. The conversational leader pursues bottom-up communications, devoting time and effort to engaging with and learning about employees at all levels.

The stronger the relationship between the leader and their team, after all, the more likely workers at even the most junior levels will be to share hard truths or promising insights when they arise.

For example, in a workplace that emphasizes conversational leadership, an employee who notices that there has been an unusual uptick in the number of customer complaints regarding a specific product and issue, then the subordinate, who may be a lower-level customer service representative, for instance, should feel comfortable in alerting her superiors to a potential product issue. This kind of frequent and timely knowledge-sharing can help to ensure that problems can be recognized and resolved before they can escalate into a full-blown crisis.

Teaching Conversational Leadership

As beneficial as this approach to leadership may be when practiced at the management level, it may be even more effective when such an approach is diffused throughout the organization, with employees at all levels engaging with colleagues in the conversational style.

Conversational leadership, after all, is principally concerned with the production and sharing of knowledge. But when that knowledge is traveling in two directions only, between the leader and their employees, you miss out on invaluable opportunities both for developing productive relationships between team members and for driving communication and knowledge-sharing across the organization, both vertically and horizontally.

This diffusion of knowledge and, in particular, the prioritization of bottom-up communication is critical to breaking down potentially destructive “barriers to knowledge sharing.” Such barriers, for instance, can easily emerge when subordinate employees feel that they cannot or should not share their feedback with senior colleagues. When the lines of communication are open, transparent, and safe, as in the conversational style, then knowledge production and sharing will be optimized and that, in the end, will make for a far more effective workforce.

For instance, in a conversational workplace, employees are less likely to fear recrimination or retribution for sharing information that, for instance, falls short of projections or flouts stated expectations. This is also important to avoid group-think insofar as a conversational approach allows for, accommodates, and, indeed, even requires dissent and heterodoxy. This could involve, for example, the presentation of data and information that decision-makers and stakeholders might consider “negative” or of ideas that defy, resist, or interrogate the consensus.

Effects on Individual Performance

In addition to the positive impacts of conversational leadership on internal communication and knowledge-building, the approach also has been shown to galvanize individual performance. For instance, conversational leadership, above all, is about cultivating conscious awareness, awareness of oneself, one’s environment, and, especially, of one’s colleagues. This involves both active listening and alert mindfulness.

And when you and your team members are always listening, always engaged, then it’s very difficult to miss nascent problems or to let important opportunities slip by.

Conversational Leadership and Employee Development

The perks of teaching your employees to use conversational leadership aren’t just institutional, however. Teaching the approach can be an excellent strategy for employee development. This is particularly true for team members who may have difficulties with social interactions or who may even be experiencing social anxiety. As reticent employees learn and develop new social skills, they may also discover aptitudes for leadership that they never knew they possessed.

Similarly, employees who already possess a faculty for the conversational style may be encouraged to build their skillsets even further. For example, if you identify a natural-born conversational leader, you may encourage them to pursue additional training, advanced certification, or even an executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

That means that, through both teaching and role-modeling, you will be building teams of leaders, mentors, facilitators, and collaborators. And there are few better ways to cultivate a happy, harmonious, and united team than that!

The Takeaway

The conversational leadership style is highly effective in driving productive communication between leaders and their employees. This is particularly true when the bottom-up approach to communication is prioritized, enabling employees at all levels to offer their insights and share their concerns. However, even more important than the conversational approach between leaders and team members is the value of teaching the style to employees at all organizational levels. Through the teaching of the conversational leadership approach, you can not only support and enhance individual employee performance, but you can also facilitate stellar relationships between employees. At the same time, you will cultivate a workplace environment that optimizes the production and sharing of knowledge. And all this, in the end, makes for more effective, more cohesive, and more satisfied teams.

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Knowledge management tools can improve employees' capabilities, contribution, and efficiency provided they have access to the appropriate information at the right time. Your employees may develop and unleash new prospects within your organization when you have valuable internal data. Better performance also can be achieved with the use of knowledge-sharing technologies. 

With a knowledge-sharing solution in place, you'll be able to provide your employees with all essentials they need to achieve their professional goals while also maximizing their contribution to your bottom line.

A robust knowledge management system will simplify locating and reusing essential data and resources throughout your organization. A knowledge management platform helps you: 

- Develop better products and services

- Develop better strategies

- Increase profitability

-Repurpose existing skills and expertise

-Improve operational efficiency and staff productivity

- Identify market trends early and gain a competitive advantage

-Set a benchmark against your competitors 

- Maximize your collective intellectual capital.

Following are 5 ways in which the right km tools empower your customer service teams: 

As mentioned above, knowledge management tools help around several areas in the organization as a whole. Below are listed ways in which knowledge management tools help customer service teams exclusively. 

• Aids the customer service team with reasoning and understanding:

Knowledge sharing technologies provide your staff with access to and visibility into company-wide data, which in many cases gives context to the decisions they make. 

This is crucial at times because management decisions might make certain employees' jobs more complex. It makes sense to assist them in understanding why a decision was taken to minimize problems. 

Employees can understand how the organization runs and use that information to inform their decision-making in the future by looking at the bigger picture. 

This is crucial for comprehending how the business operates and why specific procedures perform the way they do. The customer care team is more effective when they have access to the proper information.

• Helps create and understand opportunities:

Your staff will be able to take control of their personal growth if they have the correct knowledge-sharing tools at their disposal. Your employees will be able to pick and choose what they wish to learn and pursue their own development goals utilizing your internal knowledge if you provide them access to vital information. 

This implies that they improve their understanding of the company's operations. They aren't acquiring material from an unaffiliated third party; therefore, they learn how to grasp the theory and apply it in your company.

Employees can increase their value and contribution to the organization by expanding their skill sets. Learning new abilities can sometimes lead to new opportunities and efficiencies.

Furthermore, your staff becomes more adaptable with a broader skillset, allowing you to relocate resources between business units as needed. Sometimes all it takes is a little more visibility to give employees more authority. A knowledge base can help you take advantage of this potential.

Helps fill the gap between Teams and Business Units:

Knowledge-sharing solutions aid in the dispersal of information across the typical knowledge gaps that most businesses face. Increased sharing can help decrease barriers to collaboration by allowing all employees access to critical information.

This will enable individuals to understand and empathize with the internal issues that others in the business experience. This is crucial for establishing a positive working relationship that maximizes production and efficiency. 

Information can be aggregated into a single centralized area using a knowledge base, allowing employees from around the company to access the same data. 

This helps to bridge the inherent gaps that exist across teams, allowing for even more collaboration chances. Teamwork, communication, and coordination become easier to achieve when everyone is working from the same information.

• Improves the decision-making process:

Every day, your employees make decisions. These are based on their personal experiences and knowledge. While this is usually sufficient, there is likely additional information in the industry that could assist them in making the best selections.

You can help your employees make the best decisions for the company and their coworkers by implementing the correct knowledge-sharing tools in the workplace. 

Employees can further defend their actions and ideas by using information from various knowledge-sharing systems, such as content repositories and knowledge bases. This allows them to go above and beyond their degree of ownership and open up new business prospects.

• Helps the team members understand their role: 

You may encourage your staff and help them appreciate their contributions by giving them a better understanding of what they do, how it affects and benefits the firm and its position in the systems that offer value to your consumers. 

This is especially crucial when things go tough; if your employees understand why and what their hard work contributes, they'll be even more inspired to work hard. 

A knowledge base software can help with this by providing insight into the company's overall operations. Employees will appreciate what is going on around them as documentation is written and preserved, and they will be able to change accordingly. This is significant because it allows them to see processes and infrastructures that would otherwise be hidden

With the proper information sharing technologies in place, you can boost your employees' productivity, empower them to grow and diversify at their own speed, and guarantee they have everything they need to learn what they want when they want it. This is critical for keeping your employees happy, allowing for professional development, and fostering continued growth.

Conclusion 

Knowledge management tools have shown their value throughout time. They provide a new way of doing things and a better experience for both customers and staff. Choosing the right knowledge management platform for your firm streamlines the process, saves time, and increases team efficiency.

At its core, the field of knowledge management is focused on connecting people with the knowledge they need to work successfully. A big part of that is improving productivity, which is a win for both businesses and employees. 

According to Forrester Research’s Employee Experience Maturity Assessment, “What matters most for employee engagement is being able to make daily progress in the work that they perceive matters most.” In other words, employees want to be productive and feel that they are having a tangible impact on their organization. And to be successful, they need access to tools and resources to help them make informed decisions, overcome blockers, and meet their goals. 

How Knowledge Management Impacts Productivity 

Modern knowledge management involves centralizing the collective intelligence of an organization and making this knowledge searchable so that all employees can benefit from it, no matter where they’re working.

Easy access to the knowledge that exists across the organization gives employees the resources they need to make meaningful daily progress. They are able to take institutional knowledge and learnings from their peers and apply it to their work, whether they are assisting customers, troubleshooting internal processes, making product decisions based on research, or anything in between. And greater access to knowledge translates to faster and more confident decision-making, fewer errors, and more successful outcomes overall.

Below are a few examples of ways that knowledge management can improve productivity:

• Minimizing disruptions in the flow of work. On average, it takes knowledge workers 25 minutes to get back on task after an interruption. When employees can find the information they need through a quick search, rather than stopping what they’re working on to search multiple repositories or track down a subject matter expert (SME), they experience fewer disruptions and get more done.
• Minimizing repetitive requests to subject matter experts. SMEs often have to field the same questions from different employees, causing unnecessary disruptions. When SMEs can document the answer to a question once and share it with all employees who need that information, they get more time back to concentrate on meaningful work.
• Getting answers to customer questions faster. For customer-facing employees, or employees who work with internal stakeholders, providing timely answers to customer questions is crucial. When employees can perform a keyword search and quickly surface an answer, they can help customers more efficiently and provide a more positive customer experience.

How Knowledge Managers Can Improve Knowledge Access and Productivity 

As a knowledge manager, you can play a key role in improving knowledge access, productivity, and the overall employee experience. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind as you build or refine your organization’s knowledge management strategy:

Start by making knowledge searchable.

There’s a reason why “Google” has become a verb: people are used to performing a quick online search to answer the questions that come up in their daily lives. Employees should be able to benefit from the same convenience in their work lives, which means that all company knowledge must be documented and made searchable within a centralized platform.

When evaluating knowledge management platforms, look for solutions that deep index all content—not just titles and tags. This will help employees find relevant content even when they don’t know the title or exact match keywords. It will also help employees discover information across different file types, including slide decks, videos, and audio recordings. 

When all company knowledge is searchable, employees spend less time digging through old email threads or navigating complicated mazes of shared folders and more time applying that knowledge to their work.

Account for the different ways people search.

While search should be at the core of your knowledge management strategy, it’s also important to consider the different ways people look for information. Think about the experience of online shopping: you might start by performing a keyword search but then narrow down your results using filters such as price point or color. Employees expect to be able to navigate your knowledge management platform in a similar way. They also expect their search results to match their intent, not just their exact keywords. For instance, if they are interested in content on “telecommuting,” they are likely interested in content that contains the term “remote work” as well.

Look for a knowledge management platform that supports synonym searching and the creation of customizable filters so that employees have multiple paths to get to the information they need. This will allow a wide range of platform users to work more productively without having to predict the exact keywords that different content creators used in their documentation.

Package knowledge in digestible formats.

Before employees read a lengthy article, watch a recorded training session, or parse through a detailed research report in a slide deck, they want to know the content contains the key information they are looking for. You can help them identify relevant content faster by providing some quick context clues with all contributions. 

Adding thumbnail images to all contributions provides a great visual shortcut for content consumers. The human brain can process images in just 13 milliseconds, meaning that seeing a thumbnail can help employees gauge what a piece of content is about faster than they could from just reading the document title. Thumbnails can also be used to visually group together related content (for example, all product updates could incorporate a thumbnail with the same color). 

Short descriptions or summaries at the top of a document can also help employees determine if it makes sense for them to keep reading. Because it can be time consuming for content contributors to add a summary to every piece of content they share, it’s worth looking for a knowledge management solution that can ingest text-based documents and automatically generate a description and summary.

Look at search trends to identify knowledge gaps.

Arming employees with a powerful search engine is just half of the equation for improving productivity: you also need to ensure that the information employees are searching for is documented and available to them when they need it. 

If your knowledge management platform provides built-in reporting, you can look at the most frequently used search terms to better understand what employees are looking for and whether there are existing resources that meet their needs. From there, you can build a list of new knowledge assets to create and collaborate with the appropriate subject matter experts to add them to the platform. 

Make Knowledge Accessible On Demand.

As the ways we work change and organizations increasingly shift towards remote, hybrid, or flexible work schedules, the role of the knowledge manager is becoming more important than ever. By establishing a knowledge management system that helps employees access knowledge on demand, no matter where and when they are working, you are setting them up to work more productively and make more meaningful daily progress. And that’s something that’s worth celebrating for both businesses and employees.

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There are many companies out there with employees who don’t see Human Resources as their friend, especially when they have to reach out to them for help. For example, an employee may reach out to HR for clarification on a policy and not get a response for days. Or, within the HR team itself, members may find themselves obtaining the same information repeatedly from employees because they don’t have a central system to refer to.

If these struggles sound familiar and you’re ready to mitigate the harmful effects on your team’s productivity, collaboration, and communication, knowledge management can help.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept, experts say that “HR knowledge management is the practice of centralizing all HR documents, policies, information, and knowledge, and making that vital information easy for anyone in the company to access and update from anywhere.”

HR departments can use knowledge management to keep everything HR-related in the same place and accessible, which, in turn, betters the workflow across the organization. 

Let’s explore seven reasons why HR teams need to utilize knowledge management.

Standardize HR Policies and Practices

First, knowledge management can help you regulate HR policies and practices. You can keep your HR team on the same page with how they conduct themselves and go about their specific job roles.

Also, you can keep all of your company’s HR policies in one place and make them accessible to all employees. That way, when they need to refresh themselves on a specific policy or find out if a particular policy exists, they can access accurate information about those things.

Better Communication Practices

Unfortunately, there are various reasons why employees don’t share knowledge. For instance, they simply don’t have the time to get the information out because they’re busy with their primary job responsibilities.

Or, there isn’t a designated platform for sharing knowledge, which results in employees spending way too much time searching for information they need, so they just scrap looking for it altogether.

However, with knowledge management, you can create an environment that encourages better communication practices. You can set a standard that information sharing is not only encouraged but required for the effective communication and collaboration of the team.

Better communication practices make it easier to share information and develop a strategy for sharing knowledge across your organization effectively.

Get Information Faster

Knowledge management allows you to find the information you need faster. For example, employees don’t have to wait for a response from HR to find out information. Instead, they can access the same data themselves and find the answers they’re looking for whenever they need to. 

Also, a quicker turnaround can be especially beneficial for fully remote or hybrid teams as we trend in that direction for all workplaces. These employees don’t have the luxury of stopping by HR to get a quick question answered. So, knowledge management becomes that much more critical to how well your team works together remotely.

Learn More About How Employees Use HR Information

With knowledge management, HR teams can learn how employees are accessing and using HR information. For example, you can find out what kind of information they’re seeking the most and how they get to that information. 

Also, studying how employees use HR information can give you insight into which functions and features employees aren’t using, but should be because it would make their jobs easier. Armed with information like this, you can highlight opportunities for further training. 

Highlight Opportunities for Further Training

When you see how employees navigate your knowledge management system, you can pinpoint where more support and training may be beneficial.

For example, let’s say you’re getting consistent requests for information readily available in your knowledge management solution. You can then create specific training for finding this information in the system and offer it to all employees.    

Simplify the Onboarding Process

These days, a packet of information about their job responsibilities and your company’s history just won’t do for the employee onboarding experience. Instead, HR can improve the onboarding process by moving it to a knowledge management system.

Adding and updating employee information is a lot easier. Employees have access to all of their HR documents and information should they need it. They can also complete any paperwork, pieces of training, or provide any other necessary documentation right in the platform, minimizing the time and money spent on the onboarding process. 

Improve Employee Well-being

This benefit probably doesn’t come to mind right away, but a knowledge management solution can improve employee well-being.

For instance, burnout is real, especially during the holidays. It’s so easy to get consumed with completing projects before the year’s end and keeping up with customer demand during this time. But, with knowledge management, you can identify employees who’ve yet to use their vacation and sick days and encourage them to do so to avoid burnout and better the chance of them having good morale when they return.

You can also find out more about the personal lives of your employees through knowledge management. You can use what you learn about their passions, interests, family background, and other information to improve their motivation and, ultimately, their productivity.

For example, if you find out an employee’s been having a tough time, you can decorate their office space with motivational quotes, beautiful artwork, office plants, and other decors that they would love to lift their spirit.

Conclusion

HR teams need to utilize knowledge management to encourage consistent communication and accurate knowledge sharing across the organization. Knowledge management can also help you define how your teams work together and streamline their efforts.

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A reactive approach to running a business is just not enough. Instead, you need to actively find new ways to provide value to customers. This is why a proactive approach must be adopted. One of the ways you can be more proactive is by combining your knowledge management system and CRM. 

Integrating knowledge management (KM) with CRM has become a necessity. It allows organizations to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. When it comes to managing customer relationships, every bit of information is important. The worst mistake that you can make is overlooking issues.

A robust KM and CRM integration will support your business in ways that you cannot even imagine. Besides, around 89% of customers expect businesses to provide the best experience. Read our guide to find out how integrating knowledge management and CRM can prove beneficial.

What is a Knowledge Management System?

Before we cover what a KM and CRM integration can do for you, you must understand the purpose of a knowledge management system. It is an IT system that stores and retrieves knowledge for improving collaboration, understanding, and alignment.

Not only can a KM system be used by teams within the organization, but it can also be used to center the knowledge base for customers.

What Is A CRM?

CRM stands for customer relationship management. It is a tool that helps businesses establish long-term relationships with customers. It assists with developing, acquiring, and retaining customers.

The software ensures smooth and efficient interaction with consumers to increase overall profit. It gathers customer data from various channels to provide detailed information about customers to make the right decisions.

A popular CRM that you might have come across is the Real Estate CRM. It is a powerful tool that can be integrated with your KM system to provide outstanding results.

How Can Knowledge Management and CRM Can Support Your Business In 2021?
1. Increases Productivity

One of the ways KM and CRM integration can support your business is by increasing productivity.

The integration will enable your employees to access company information and commonly asked answers directly from the KM system when responding to customer requests in CRM.

It would help eliminate research time and the need to conference with other employees, which would significantly increase productivity. Besides, switching between applications would only require customers to wait longer, which would frustrate them.

2. Reduces Redundant Tasks

Another way a KM and CRM integration can provide support to businesses is by reducing redundant tasks. The CRM system will update the information learned during every resolution, whereas solutions for repetitive issues can be converted into an article on the knowledge base.

As the world of business evolves, you must eliminate redundant tasks to stay ahead. Otherwise, your company would become redundant altogether. Keeping up with the latest innovations is the only way you can compete with major players.

3. Improves Customer Satisfaction

By integrating KM and CRM, you get to provide your customers with self-service capabilities which they can use when they visit your website. They can easily browse through the FAQs online and find a solution for the problem that they might be facing.

Moreover, if there is no answer or resolution for the issue, your customers would be instantly routed to a live agent who can take over things from there. New cases would be automatically generated by the system, which would alert agents. Thus, you will benefit from improved customer satisfaction.

4. Increases Effectiveness

Keep a complete track of the questions, emails, and calls with the help of the integration. It will ensure that you benefit from a clear measurement of Effectiveness. Find out how well your team is doing to ensure accountability and improve Effectiveness.

Besides, you also get to find out which issues are the most repetitive and active for making sure that you can resolve the issue for good. Only when you monitor each issue extensively will you be able to provide real value to customers.

As you respond to customer needs, you will be able to build knowledge where appropriate and track Effectiveness. This would allow you to monitor the productivity of customer-facing employees and motivate them to work harder.

How to Integrate Knowledge Management and CRM?

Integrating KM and CRM is not easy. However, it is possible by following the steps mentioned below.

1. Source the Information for the Integration

The first thing that you need to do to integrate the two systems is to know what knowledge to document. Find out which problems, questions, and issues customers face the most and how you can document their answers.

Make sure to involve the CRM team to determine which issues customers frequently face. There are different pieces to the puzzle. Hence, you must ensure that every piece is integrated to cover the entire customer experience.

2. Organize the Integration

The next step that you need to take is to organize the integration. Here is how you can do this.

• Chunk articles into topic categories.
• Determine the most frequently asked questions.
• Create a separate page for knowledge management on your website and integrate it with supplementary resources like live chat.
• Measure the Effectiveness of the integration by including a feedback mechanism.
• Use different types of media such as text, images, and videos since people learn differently.
• You should also consider leveraging Google Analytics for developing advanced customer education training.

3. Continuously Optimize the Integration

Finally, you have to continuously optimize the integration to keep customers satisfied. Analyze customer success and track metrics such as conversion rate and bounce rate to make necessary improvements. Make sure to evaluate customer feedback to keep track of every minute detail. Then, you can proceed with the changes to provide greater value to customers.          

Takeaway

KM and CRM provide extensive support to businesses. By integrating the two, you can take your business to the next level. Our guide aims to provide you with a foundation on the topic. Always remember that a proactive approach is the best way forward.

By implementing the integration, you can expect to increase productivity, reduce redundant tasks, and increase Effectiveness. Hence, it is about time that you started planning the integration.

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