Knowledge is power, and knowledge shared is even more powerful. The benefits of a knowledge management system for employees are long-established. However, sharing organizational knowledge provides real value to customers as well. That’s where digital knowledge management comes in. It involves using digital tools and platforms to manage and share knowledge with internal and external audiences effectively. In essence, knowledge management capabilities ensure that the correct information gets to the right person at the right time, whether an employee or customer.
Today’s post explores all you need to know about digital knowledge management. We answer all your questions, including the following:
- What is digital knowledge management?
- What is organizational knowledge?
- What are the benefits?
- How to get started?
- What are the potential challenges in digital knowledge management?
What Is Digital Knowledge Management?
Digital knowledge management describes all activities relating to collecting, gathering, managing, and sharing organizational knowledge. It ensures data is not lost over time and is accessible and searchable when needed.
Since the advent of digital transformation, more data has been collected than ever. It might be competitive research, hard data, lessons learned, or the collective experience of your people. However, if employees and customers can’t find what they need quickly, then all that data is wasted.
Digital knowledge management provides a framework for efficiently organizing know-how and information sharing. Why is it a big deal? It results in improved decision-making, increased efficiencies, and empowered customers and employees. Ultimately, it’s the key to unlocking super-charged business performance.
Purpose Of Digital Knowledge Management
The purpose of a centralized knowledge management system is two-fold, impacting employees and customers.
Internal Use
Digital knowledge management improves business operations by ensuring relevant knowledge is readily available and shared. Information about procedures, products, best practices, and company policies is easily accessible on a searchable platform.
Customer-Facing Use
Organizations can create digital knowledge bases, FAQs, and self-service portals to provide customers with accurate, timely information. In the digital age, customers are used to researching brands online before making buying decisions. A comprehensive customer knowledge base improves brand visibility and drives customer satisfaction.
What Is Organizational Knowledge?
We’ve talked a lot about organizational knowledge, but what does it mean? Well, there are two types of organizational knowledge: internal-facing and customer-facing content. Let’s take a deep dive into both.
Internal Knowledge
Your internal knowledge is your most valuable asset. This category encompasses all your business know-how and expertise. Here are a few examples:
- Company mission, values, and goals
- Business processes and standard operating procedures
- Employee directories
- Training and professional development materials
- Product knowledge and specifications
- Company policies and guidelines
However, it also covers what’s called tacit knowledge. This expertise comes through experience and lessons learned on the job. If you’ve ever had a veteran employee depart only to leave a massive void in the team, you’ll know how critical tacit knowledge is.
Customer Data And Knowledge
Customer needs are different when it comes to company knowledge. Here are some examples of customer-facing knowledge crucial to existing and potential customers alike.
- Location of your business, contact phone numbers and emails
- Products and services you offer
- Information on demos and support services
- Transactional information, including pricing and payment options
- Delivery and returns policies
- Company mission and values
- Industry awards and certifications
- Customer reviews and testimonials
- FAQs
The bottom line is that customer-facing knowledge is driven by customers’ needs rather than the organization. It plays a crucial role in ensuring a top-notch customer experience that drives sales and repeat business. And it’s not just for larger corporates. Even small local businesses stand to benefit.
What Are The Advantages Of Digital Knowledge Management Platforms?
Digital knowledge management delivers many benefits, from increased productivity to improved customer and employee satisfaction. Here are the headlines you need to know:
Operational Efficiency
Streamlined and standardized processes speed up business operations. And faster decision-making and easier access to data support more innovation. Your company is better placed to respond to emerging trends and seize new business opportunities.
Furthermore, employees can quickly find what they need instead of searching for that needle in a haystack. This frees up time to spend on more outcome-focused tasks. And fewer mistakes are made as employees learn from the collective experience of others.
Collaboration
We all know that two heads are better than one. Digital knowledge management platforms encourage collaboration among team members. It leads to better problem-solving and evidence-based decision-making.
Employee Satisfaction And Retention
Digital knowledge management also has much to offer in the ongoing battle to retain the brightest and best talent. Did you know that employees waste two hours daily searching for work-related information? It’s a constant source of frustration.
Knowledge management software could be a game-changer. Use it to offer comprehensive training, streamlined onboarding, and easy access to the company knowledge base. Your knowledge-sharing efforts will be rewarded with higher employee satisfaction and improved retention.
Employee Growth And Development
Knowledge management helps grow and develop your business’s most important asset: its people.
A knowledge-sharing culture encourages continuous learning and development, and employees become more adaptable and open to acquiring new skills.
Knowledge empowers them to learn new skills, make informed decisions, and perform their roles more effectively.
Brand Reputation
Digital customers will love the self-service knowledge base. It ensures they have 24/7 access to your brand and can resolve issues or find relevant information at a time and place that suits them.
With a customer knowledge base, your brand’s visibility is alive and well even when the physical doors are closed.
Digital Knowledge Management Practices: How To Get Started?
Creating a knowledge system from scratch can feel overwhelming. However, we’ve broken the task up into manageable steps. Follow these seven steps to kickstart your digital knowledge management journey.
7 Steps For Creating A Centralized Knowledge Management System
1. Identify Your Goals And Objectives
The first step is to define your aims and objectives. Do you want to improve the customer experience, boost employee training, or streamline business processes? Clarity around objectives helps you hone in on what’s essential.
2. Assess Your Current Knowledge Base
Before you can move ahead, you first need to know where you are at. Audit your existing knowledge-sharing practices to identify any gaps. Then, evaluate your knowledge tools and repositories and look for areas of improvement.
3. Develop A Strategy
Like every business initiative, a plan is essential to guide your knowledge management efforts. Set a budget and identify the objectives. Next, set SMART targets and KPIs so you can monitor progress.
Knowledge Management Strategy In 8 Simple Steps offers more detailed advice on developing a strategy.
4. Choose The Right Digital Platforms
Don’t just select the most popular platform without first ensuring that it aligns with your goals. You want digital platforms that can deliver information and perform tasks that you require. Look for features like search engines, collaboration tools, integrations, and user-friendly interfaces.
5. Capture And Organize Knowledge
Collect know-how from a wide variety of knowledge holders and sources. Create a centralized knowledge base as the go-to resource for categorizing, storing, and accessing data. To enhance discoverability for search engines, tag data based on topics, departments, or projects, and do whatever makes sense for your business.
6. Share Knowledge
Promote a knowledge-sharing culture and encourage workers to contribute.
Look to deliver knowledge in digital form across different channels appropriate to your audience.
For customers, this could be voice assistants, live chat, FAQs, eBooks, explainer videos, and social media.
Different channels may be relevant for employees. Intranets, SOPs, how-to videos, webinars, and wikis are just a few information-sharing ideas to consider.
7. Review And Revise
Digital knowledge management isn’t a one-off. It’s an ongoing exercise.
Use the KPIs you set to review and assess the effectiveness of your knowledge management practices regularly. And fine-tune your systems to ensure they continue to deliver.
What Are The Potential Challenges In Digital Knowledge Management?
Digital knowledge management is complex, and there are challenges ahead. In the true spirit of knowledge-sharing, we share some of the challenges others have encountered so you can be prepared.
Outdated Technology
When it comes to digital technology, some legacy systems are just no longer up to the task. Modern digital knowledge management platforms offer the robust search capabilities and engaging user interface your workers need.
Lack Of Integration
Multiple knowledge bases lead to wasted time and effort. You need a centralized digital information platform that integrates with all the systems you already use, such as CRM tools.
Outdated Content
Knowledge must be kept up to date. Inaccurate or outdated content will only undermine confidence in the knowledge base. Set up processes to ensure your platform is current and relevant.
Employee Motivation
Getting knowledge holders and experts to share their know-how can be challenging. The solution is to make it as easy as possible and highlight the benefits of knowledge sharing to business strategies and outcomes.
Staying Ahead Of Digital Technologies
The pace of change is fast and furious. Emerging trends to keep on top of include artificial intelligence and machine learning. When it comes to analyzing customer behavior and large data sets, these new technologies have incredible potential.
Digital Knowledge Management: Key Concepts And Takeaways
Digital knowledge management is more critical than ever in the age of digital transformation. It ensures you have an effective system for handling, organizing, and sharing data.
A centralized knowledge management system is a game-changer for businesses of all shapes and sizes. It’s the key to unlocking all your internal expertise to share with current and potential customers and employees, ensuring a positive experience across the board. The benefits are extensive, from employee retention and engagement to customer satisfaction and brand awareness.
If knowledge management isn’t yet on your radar, now’s the time to make it a top organizational goal. Getting going is easier than you might think. Use the seven-step process we outlined to get off to a flying start.
About MyHub
We are a leading provider of cloud-hosted intranet solutions.
Our platforms are the powerhouse behind the digital transformation in companies worldwide. They allow employees to connect, communicate, and collaborate from any location. Many businesses use our software to create integrated knowledge management systems and deliver a consistent brand experience.
Why not explore the possibilities with a free demo or no-obligation free trial?
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