Top 10 Knowledge Management Best Practices

Organizational knowledge is a valuable asset that can give companies a competitive edge internally and externally. One way to gain this advantage is through knowledge management.

A recent IDC Knowledge Management Strategies Survey showed that knowledge management systems offer numerous benefits:

• 39 percent of companies reported improved business execution.
• 35 percent saw improved employee performance.
• 31 percent reported financial improvements.

Yet, IDC's research also revealed that in large companies (500+ employees) that have implemented knowledge management, only 45 percent of employees use it.

In this article, we will explore the top 10 knowledge management best practices for implementing a successful knowledge management system. 

TL;DR: Knowledge management best practices

• The knowledge management process involves creating, sharing, and using expertise to support organizational goals.
• Key benefits include increased efficiency, improved decision-making, enhanced innovation, better customer service, and improved access to product resources.
• Knowledge management best practices include analyzing company culture, choosing the right knowledge management system, creating high-quality knowledge content, leveraging technology, building a community of knowledge champions, fostering a knowledge-sharing culture, using social and collaborative tools, incentivizing knowledge-sharing, measuring the impact, and promoting continuous learning.
• Scribe simplifies knowledge capture and helps build a better knowledge base by turning digital processes into visual guides.

The knowledge management process

The knowledge management process involves the creation, sharing, and effective use of expertise to support the goals and objectives of the organization. It's also the process of finding, analyzing and implementing strategies, systems and practices to create, represent, distribute, and enable the adoption of relevant information, insights and experiences. 

Effective knowledge management benefits 

As your company expands, having a dependable knowledge database will become crucial for running your business, serving your customers and increasing profits.

Some of the benefits of knowledge management include:

1. Increase efficiency & productivity: Streamlined processes result in quicker task completion.
2. Improve decision-making: Access to shared knowledge enhances team decision-making and reduces trial-and-error time, allowing for more informed choices.
3. Enhance innovation: Breaking down knowledge silos promotes collaboration and creative problem-solving, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
4. Improve customer support: Accessible knowledge empowers support agents to provide high-quality customer service, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty through informed interactions.
5. Better access to product resources: Help employees and customers learn about your product, saving time and reducing frustration at any point of experience with your brand.

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Top 10 knowledge management best practices

Knowledge management best practices can help you stay on top of how you store, distribute and manage information in your organization. 

Here are some best practices for effective knowledge management:

1. Analyze your company culture and align your KM strategy

Define the purpose of your knowledge management efforts to ensure they align with your organizational goals, then focus your efforts on the most critical areas.

Doing this early on helps you develop a strategy and approach that works for your organization. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• Conduct a thorough gap analysis to identify any gaps between your current state and your desired future state for knowledge management.
• Identify and understand how knowledge flows within your organization and identify any cultural barriers to sharing.
• Tailor your knowledge management strategy to your specific needs and objectives.

2. Implement the right knowledge management system

The next step is to develop processes for collecting, storing and sharing the knowledge. A central knowledge repository, such as a knowledge base or corporate wiki, creates a single source of truth for building and sharing knowledge.

Many tools and technologies, such as knowledge management software, knowledge bases, and knowledge sharing tools like Scribe, support knowledge management.

• Choose technologies and systems that are user-friendly and integrate with your existing technology.
• Consider the scalability and future needs of your organization.
• Ensure that your knowledge base is easily searchable using relevant keywords.

3. Create high-quality knowledge content

‎Once your knowledge management system is in place, you're ready to create knowledge base articles. Prioritize clear, concise and accurate information presented in various formats (text, step-by-step guides, video, infographics) to cater to different learning styles and preferences.

• Use visuals and multimedia to enhance engagement, improve understanding, and encourage knowledge retention.
• Implement a robust content creation process that includes expert review and quality control.
• Encourage subject matter experts to contribute and regularly update content to reflect current best practices.
• Organize content logically and categorize it by topic.
• Ensure content is regularly reviewed and updated to reflect current best practices.
• Regularly update your knowledge base with new information and best practices.

Use AI-powered tools like Scribe to automate your knowledge creation processes. Scribe captures your screen as you work and auto-generates a step-by-step guide, complete with annotated screenshots and text — in seconds.

Create knowledge articles in seconds with Scribe ➜

4. Leverage technology to automate processes

Automating repetitive tasks frees up employee time for more strategic activities.

Explore and implement technology solutions that automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows and improve knowledge capture and sharing:

• Use tools like Scribe for automated content creation and knowledge capture.
• Invest in automation tools for workflow management and data analysis.
• Integrate AI and machine learning to personalize knowledge delivery and improve search results.
• Implement advanced search features to suggest relevant knowledge articles and personalize the user experience.

5. Build a strong community of knowledge champions

Identify and engage key individuals within your organization who are passionate about sharing knowledge — your knowledge management champions.

Empower your team to champion knowledge-sharing initiatives and promote the value of KM throughout the organization.

6. Create a knowledge-sharing culture

Creating a culture that promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing can help you increase user adoption.

Here are some helpful tips for making it as easy as possible for employees to manage and share knowledge:

• Encourage experienced and knowledgeable staff to share tacit knowledge with others in the organization.
• Provide training programs and support to show employees how to share knowledge and be better team members.
• Recognize and reward employees who contribute to the knowledge base.
• Encourage informal knowledge sharing through mentoring programs, communities of practice, online forums, or other communication channels.
• Provide opportunities for employees to learn from each other through mentoring programs and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

7. Use social and collaborative tools

There is a growing trend towards using social media and other online tools to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among employees.

This McKinsey report shows that by using social technologies, companies can raise the productivity of knowledge workers by 20 to 25 percent.

Here are some helpful tips for creating cross-functional collaboration opportunities:

• Encourage employees to form communities of practice (CoPs) around specific areas of expertise and shared interests.
• Use social media and other collaborative tools to facilitate sharing knowledge.
• Encourage collaboration and teamwork to solve problems and develop new ideas.
• Create online forums and groups for discussing knowledge and troubleshooting problems.

8. Encourage and incentivize knowledge-sharing activities

Adopting a rewards system to appreciate high performance encourages more active participation and collaborative efforts. This innovation is also best for keeping the spirits high and showing your team you appreciate them.

• Incorporate knowledge management into performance reviews.
• Hold employees accountable for sharing their knowledge and contributing to the knowledge base.
• Recognize and reward employees who excel in knowledge management activities.

9. Measure and track the impact of your KM strategy

Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your knowledge management efforts and make changes as needed.

• Use metrics to track the usage of your knowledge base, the number of knowledge articles contributed, page analytics, and the overall impact on employee productivity and performance.
• Conduct regular knowledge audits and address knowledge gaps.
• Update or add pages and review content quality.
• Regularly review your results and make adjustments to your strategy as needed.

10. Promote continuous learning

Create a continuous learning environment by embracing a growth mindset and adapting your KM strategy.

This may involve revising your processes, updating your tools and technologies, or adjusting your approach.

• Gather feedback from stakeholders regularly and use it to improve your KM approach.
• Conduct periodic reviews and assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of your KM strategy and identify optimization opportunities.
• Use data-driven insights to inform future strategic decisions.
• Encourage employees to participate in training and development programs to stay up-to-date on the latest knowledge and skills.

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Internal vs. external knowledge management

Strategies for knowledge management can be categorized into two distinct approaches: internal knowledge management and external knowledge management.

Internal knowledge management:

• Focuses on capturing, storing, sharing, and using organizational knowledge.
• Aims to improve employee understanding, collaboration, and decision-making.
• Ultimately leads to increased efficiency and productivity.

Internal knowledge management can include things like:

• Creating an internal wiki to share best practices and procedures.
• Implementing an online community of practice for experts to share knowledge and collaborate.
• Developing a comprehensive onboarding program for new employees.
• Conducting regular employee training programs to update employees' skills and knowledge.
• Encouraging employees to document their processes to create SOPs and how-to guides.

External knowledge management:

• Focuses on the knowledge exchange between an organization and its external stakeholders — customers, partners, suppliers, and the general public.
• Helps organizations gather valuable insights.
• Improves customer experience.
• Builds stronger relationships with external entities.

Use cases for external knowledge management include:

• Creating a customer knowledge base to answer frequently asked questions and provide self-service support.
• Hosting online forums where customers can interact with each other and the company.
• Conducting market research to gather customer insights and understand their needs.
• Participating in social media conversations and responding to customer feedback.
• Developing a blog to share industry insights and thought leadership content.

Internal and external knowledge management are not mutually exclusive — they should be integrated to create a holistic strategic approach that maximizes your knowledge assets and drives success.

Scribe: the best knowledge sharing tool

Scribe is a free AI-powered process documentation tool that simplifies and automates knowledge capturing so you can build a better knowledge base — faster.

Turn digital processes into visual guides to educate employees and customers. Like this one that shows you how to share a Zoom meeting:

‎Use Scribe to create, share or store:

• Customer onboarding and training sessions.
• New employee onboarding reference guides or training materials.
• Standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Self-help articles/guides.
• Knowledge base articles.

... and so much more.

Automatically capture your screen as you work with Scribe, then turn it into step-by-step tutorials or create internal or client-facing process documents in minutes.

Scribe user Scott Friesen of Simpletivity shares how he uses Scribe to create step-by-step guides in seconds:

‎Use Pages to combine multiple Scribes and add text, descriptions, hyperlinks, videos, and more! You can even ask the AI to write long form content for you.

Easily share with teammates or clients with a link, embed, or export to PDF, HTML or Markdown. Scribe integrates with thousands of popular tools you and your customers already use, such as knowledge bases, wikis, LMS platforms, and more.

Scribe also offers universal updates — so any changes to your documentation will be updated wherever it's stored.

FAQs

What are the 4 key processes of knowledge management?

The four key processes of knowledge management are:

1. Knowledge acquisition: Gathering knowledge from various sources, such as employees, customers, and external resources.
2. Knowledge storage: Storing acquired knowledge in a structured and accessible manner.
3. Knowledge distribution: Sharing and disseminating knowledge throughout the organization.
4. Knowledge use: Applying knowledge effectively to improve decision-making, problem-solving, and organizational performance.

What are the 8 pillars of knowledge management strategy?

The eight pillars of knowledge management strategy are:

1. Motivate:

• Foster a culture of knowledge sharing and employee contribution.
• Recognize and reward individuals who actively share knowledge.
• Prioritize knowledge management and communicate its importance to all employees.

2. Network:

• Create a network of knowledge workers for easy information sharing.
• Use social media and collaboration tools for effective communication.
• Encourage informal knowledge sharing through mentoring programs and communities of practice.

3. Supply:

• Capture and store explicit and tacit knowledge.
• Utilize various knowledge capture techniques, including document management systems, wikis, and social media platforms.
• Encourage employees to document their knowledge and share their experiences.

4. Analyze:

• Identify patterns and trends in captured knowledge.
• Use data analytics tools to gain insights into knowledge usage.
• Improve knowledge management initiatives with analysis insights.

5. Codify:

• Transform tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge.
• Develop best practices and guidelines for documenting knowledge.
• Use templates and checklists to guide knowledge capture efforts.

6. Disseminate:

• Make knowledge easily accessible to all employees who need it.
• Use a variety of channels, such as online portals, email alerts, and social media updates.
• Personalize knowledge delivery based on individual needs and preferences.

7. Implement:

• Integrate knowledge management into everyday work processes.
• Use knowledge assets to solve problems, make decisions and improve performance.
• Provide training and support to help employees effectively use knowledge resources.

8. Augment:

• Continuously improve and update the knowledge base.
• Use user feedback to identify areas for improvement.
• Encourage innovation and the creation of new knowledge.

Wrapping up: knowledge management best practices

Introducing knowledge management into your organizational processes can change a lot for good. By following these knowledge management best practices, you can effectively manage knowledge and improve productivity, innovation and decision-making. If you're ready to streamline your knowledge creation, sign up for Scribe today!