Knowledge management focuses in putting the correct set of knowledge to the right crowd at exactly the right time. It may not sound so complicated at first, but it involves corporate strategy, an understanding of the different forms of knowledge, the process of planning organizational events, and making sure that the members support the company’s initiative. There are times when knowledge management also implies creating a new set of information, but most of the time, it focuses only on sharing, storage, and improving the existing knowledge.
According to Gartner, knowledge management software is essential to most businesses today. It is one of the most popular tools that people use to manage and exchange information internally or externally.
It performs as a knowledge base tool that is very easy and simple to use, and it is personalized. You can choose to use it for internal use, for Information Technology, and as customer-facing applications. This is different from traditional knowledge management, and it gives people more power to share information about them via the internet. It is also well known that aside from having the correct KM software, you also need to follow the best knowledge management practices to achieve success in this field.
Knowledge Management Software Defined
Different brands of KM software offer dissimilar services. knowledge management software is part of the enterprise’s information management system that focuses on the way information is created, retrieved, and stored. It is commonly used to perform all of the tasks involved in information management. As mentioned in the previous sections, information is crucial to all kinds of businesses, therefore there is a need to store all of their data in an organized fashion.
There are various types of KM software that offer different services. One is the CRM software that stores all of the information about the customers to be readily accessed by employees. On the other hand, other KM software brands focus on creating a better work environment by resolving problems through proper communication among the company’s employees.
Knowledge Management Best Practices
Well-made and implemented knowledge management practices can lead to higher productivity, better numbers, better customer satisfaction, and less costs. However, a poorly-made knowledge management practice can make customers angry, leading to them quitting your services. It may frustrate people, and even cause the organization to go downhill. To be successful, knowledge management systems need to be well-designed so it can lead to an organization’s success. Here are some of the best practices that are proven to work.
Managing Different Organizational Structures
Organizational structures tackle the way that a company is organized as well as the way that people coexists with one another. In general, there are two kinds of organizational structures; formal and informal.
The formal structure is the certified structure that an organization follows. It is normally displayed on the organizational chart, which shows the hierarchy of the company members. In relation to knowledge management, the formal structure should not be strictly enforced that it suppresses the informal structures. It is the manager’s responsibility to know how to make both structures coexist.
The informal or unofficial organizational structure is made through informal connections usually as a result of working within one company. This structure usually represents the way people interact with each other. A good knowledge manager needs to support and identify these networks to further understand the people in the company. The informal organizational structure is valuable to knowledge management as it holds information on how you can implement changes, bridge gaps, and many more.
Creating an Organizational Culture Change
An organizational culture talks about how things are executed within an organization including beliefs, values, and outlook, which makes up the outline that helps you understand events. Sharing of information is very much related to knowledge management and is dependent on the organizational culture. Employees need to feel safe enough to be able to participate in knowledge sharing. Thus, trust is a very important issue.
The management needs to create a company culture that promotes knowledge sharing to be seen as something that is beneficial for the people as well as the company. To do this, the knowledge manager should let everyone know about the influence of an organizational culture to future events. The company must also consciously create an organizational culture change to nudge the employees to the direction where they need to go. This involves giving out incentives or having managers act as mediators to the different cultures that exist within the organization.
Knowledge Retention
Getting information within the organization that will be useful later on is part of knowledge retention. To link knowledge retention to knowledge management, the company must know the resources that are vulnerable and need to be retained. After the identification process, the company must then implement a specific set of plans to keep those resources within the company. Identifying these resources can only be made successful through knowledge sharing and understanding the organizational culture.
Aside from getting to know the informal and formal organizational structure and creating an organizational culture change, there are other techniques that can be used for knowledge retention. These techniques include the following:
- Creating a rewards program that encourages people to share their key knowledge.
- Using project groups and multi-functional project teams.
- After-incident reviews.
- Story telling activities.
- Apprenticeship programs and job assistance.
- Exit Interviews and Initial Interviews.
- Rotation of tasks.
- Company manuals and procedures.
- Knowledge from retirees.
How Knowledge Management Software Works
Knowledge management software was designed for specific types of functions to fulfill different sets of tasks. In general, there are three functions that are most important to businesses where information is involved.
- Data and Information Organizing –Data and Information are created by bulk every day. This is why KM software exists to organize important data and prevent storage space issues for businesses.
- Staff Communication and Collaboration—as it is important to create a good working environment, communication between employees should be efficient. KM software improves staff communication and more with its personalized settings.
- Offers customer support solutions –KM software that offers this type of service is able to monitor or track customers’ conversations in different types of social media platforms.
- Give support solutions to customers—KM software helps you improve your customer service by being able to track your customer’s reviews in all kinds of social media websites.
Why Knowledge Management Software is Needed
There are numerous benefits that you can get from knowledge management software. Aside from making your life easier, it can also give your company a boost, which leads to greater things. Here are some of the most important reasons why KM software is definitely worth it.
- Helps create a highly productive organization.
- Consolidates accessible information, knowledge, and experience.
- Think of more improved products and services.
- Comes up of ways on how to improve products and services easier.
- Enables your staff to collaborate and share ideas.
- Helps your company grow to a smarter one that produces high quality products and services to customers.
- Improves the company’s capability to adapt to different circumstances and get through unexpected changes.
- Improves the transfer of information in finished projects.
- Helps the business come up with fresher and original ideas for products and services.
- Prevents duplication among products.
- Encourages creative and motivated thinkers.
Tips on How to Choose the Best KM Software for Your Business
There are many brands and types of KM software available in the market today. To make sure you choose the correct KM software for your type of business, here are some tips.
Strive for Change
Different departments within a company are often in need for a change on how employees can share information to improve collaboration. There is always a need to change how you implement things in a company. Whether it is outdated or ineffective, this needs to be reported to the people who can reinforce the change.
Identify the Root Cause of the Problem
To encourage change within a company, the problems need to be identified so that the management can work on them. Identifying the problem is a long process where the management needs to perform a series of research to get to the root cause. Once the problem is identified, it’s easy to make a set of goals and strategies that lead to a very effective solution.
Get to Know Your Workforce
To choose the best kind of KM software you need for your business, you have to understand your workforce. You have to make sure that the software you choose fits the kind of individuals who work for the company. You also need to make sure that it solves all the problems that are reported by your employees. If you want to improve your business today, you definitely need to check out CrowdReviews.com for the reviews of different knowledge management software available today.
Trevor Price
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