Knowledge management strategy: implementation roadmap & key tools
February 20, 2024
Types of organizational knowledge
Any business in the course of its operation creates various materials and experiences that form its corporate knowledge. We can distinguish two major types of knowledge:
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Knowledge management strategies
Most techniques for knowledge management fall into two main strategies known as “push” and “pull”.
Push strategy via codification
The push strategy embraces a tech-centric approach to knowledge management called codification. It implies the active encoding of knowledge developed by employees through personal working experience into documents or other types of content. Stored in shared repositories like knowledge bases and intranet databases, they can be accessed and used by other employees.
Key enablers
- Uploading and retrieving information requires software solutions equipped with advanced content management features, including:
- Content editors
Collaborative authoring tools
Content taxonomy and tagging systems
Wikis and libraries
Bookmarking engines
AI assistants
Smart enterprise search
Pros
Easy access to learning materials, facilitating corporate training. High corporate training scalability thanks to the constant reuse of knowledge recovered from repositories, which cuts organizational costs.
Cons
Requires a more comprehensive technology ecosystem
Pull strategy via personalization
The pull strategy is a more social way of sharing knowledge, as it involves the interaction between requestors searching for answers and subject matter experts offering in-depth insights. This approach, usually referred to as personalization, encourages active discussions and knowledge transfer by building networks of people, with technology playing a lesser role in streamlining communication among different actors.
Key enablers
- Companies that rely on the pull strategy focus on building a solid collaborative environment by implementing tools and techniques such as:
- Brainstorming sessions
Videoconferences
Corporate training and courses
Communities of Practice
Workshops
After-action reviews
Expert directories
Pros
Promoting social interaction in the workplace and creating a shared corporate culture
Cons
Ongoing reliance on regular training initiatives
A knowledge management roadmap
The path to implementing an effective knowledge management strategy typically consists of the following steps:
1
Knowledge culture promotion
Incentivize knowledge sharing and networking among employees, promoting awareness about the different types of knowledge and available corporate KM tools.
2
Knowledge audit
Map your tacit and explicit knowledge assets, assess their use, and identify any knowledge gaps. This includes locating knowledge owners who can share their expertise.
3
Knowledge acquisition & codification
Collect explicit knowledge like files and documents from your corporate systems and upload them into databases and other repositories. As for tacit knowledge, you can elicit it via focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and interviews, and codify it into a suitable storage format through audio recording or other techniques.
4
Knowledge analysis & systematization
Assess the captured knowledge to spot patterns or trends and identify sensitive data to secure. Classify and tag this information with metadata for easier search, and reengineer it into a standardized format for future reuse.
5
Knowledge distribution & assessment
Rely on KM techniques to share knowledge, both in pull and push mode. Track metrics like knowledge base visits, help docs usage, and failed searches to assess the effectiveness of your knowledge management system and strategy.
KM-enabling software solutions
Сompanies can apply several types of software to organize, use, and share knowledge resources. Here are some relevant solutions to include into your knowledge management toolkit.
Content management systems
CMSs provide a variety of features to optimize the digital content lifecycle, including advanced editors for content design, collaborative authoring tools, and content repositories with search engines and filters.
Collaboration software
Also known as groupware, collaboration software acts as a unified hub to coordinate employees working on a common task. It helps users create wikis together, share information or documents, and communicate with colleagues and partners through video conferencing or messaging.
eLearning software
This category includes enterprise learning management systems, eLearning portals, mLearning apps, and other solutions that help companies streamline the delivery of customized training services and online educational resources to their staff.
Employee portals
Web portals enable your employees to communicate with each other through discussion boards or intranets and access HR services or personal and corporate information. The information can be stored in employee handbooks (policies and guidelines), staff directories (contacts, department, etc.), or product and service libraries (details on your corporate offering).
Top knowledge management tools on the market
Atlassian's KM and collaboration solution is one of the leading tools to centralize corporate information and coordinate work across teams.
Key strengths & capabilities
- Knowledge base with advanced search and content hierarchy
- Real-time wiki and documentation co-editing and notifications
- Multiple permission settings to protect sensitive content
- Seamless integration with Jira and other Atlassian products
Limitations
Complex template customization
Pricing
- Four plans with different feature sets, including a free version for hosting in Atlassian Cloud
- Pricing calculator available on the website
Guru is an AI-powered knowledge management platform combining enterprise search, wiki, and intranet functionality.
Key strengths & capabilities
- Cards feature to organize information into bite-sized pieces of knowledge
- Semantic search and AI-based Q&A to retrieve information
- AI-enhanced wiki drafting, editing, and translation processes
- Highly customizable intranet portal with an embedded chatbot
Limitations
Relatively complex Card search and navigation
Pricing
- Builder plan starting from $10 per user per month
- Custom enterprise plan price upon request
- 30-day free trial available
Notion is a freemium knowledge management and productivity web app boasting a large user base, excellent reviews, and advanced AI-powered features.
Key strengths & capabilities
- Drag-and-drop templates to build wikis, timelines, and roadmaps
- Synced Blocks to update the same content across multiple docs
- Integrated Notion AI assistant for automated Q&A
- Comprehensive task management and project tracking dashboards
Limitations
Steep learning curve according to new users
Pricing
- Four plans with different features, including a free version
- Price starting from $8 per user per month
Yext is a CMS and KM tool that serves as a centralized hub to collect corporate knowledge and provide answers to employees, partners, or customers seeking information.
Key strengths & capabilities
- Knowledge Graph organizing information from corporate systems
- Multi-channel Q&A via corporate websites, social media, etc.
- Smart search engine with natural language understanding capabilities
- Integration with 200+ third-party publishers for online listings
Limitations
Negative feedback on customer support service reported by multiple users
Pricing
- Four plans from $199 to $999 annually
- Demo available upon request
Our services for knowledge management
Itransition provides organizations of all sizes and industries with extensive services and software solutions to support their KM initiatives.
Consulting
Our consultants guide you through each step of your KM software development and adoption project, assisting with business analysis, tech stack selection, solution conceptualization, budgeting, roadmapping, and code quality assessment.
Development
Itransition develops custom KM applications from the ground up or sets up platform-based solutions built on top of open-source and off-the-shelf systems, taking care of front-end and back-end development, as well as integration with other solutions, and testing.
Maintenance & support
Our company offers post-release user training and support to facilitate KM software adoption across your organization, along with comprehensive maintenance services to address emerging issues and keep your solution running smoothly.
Modernization
We can revamp your legacy KM solution using various modernization options, including cloud migration, architecture renovation, code refactoring, and functional upgrades, to enhance its performance, usability, and maintainability.
Client spotlight
Confluence consulting & corporate training
As an Atlassian Gold Solution Partner, Itransition helped a UK software development company optimize its Confluence-based workflows. The project included gathering corporate knowledge via Confluence Questions and training employees on how to use Confluence as their knowledge base.
The benefits of adopting a KM strategy
In addition to easier access to corporate knowledge, a proper knowledge management strategy provides many other long-term benefits:
Enhanced staff performance
Speeding up employee onboarding via effective mentoring programs, facilitating staff upskilling with training initiatives and comprehensive company knowledge bases.
Breaking the silos
Gathering knowledge resources scattered across multiple corporate systems, teams, or departments and consolidating them into a centralized repository, reducing the risk of information silos.
Corporate knowledge retention
Making your organization more resilient in the event of employee turnover thanks to better knowledge sharing and the consequent ability to preserve your organizational memory.
Innovation catalyst
Generating an ongoing knowledge flow from repositories and experts to fellow employees, thus fostering innovation, creativity, and exchange of ideas while preventing stagnation.
Stronger relationships
Providing timely support and targeted training services to your network of customers and partners with the help of extended enterprise LMSs.
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Knowledge management challenges & guidelines
Adopting the right strategy and knowledge management tools isn't always enough to effectively use all the knowledge assets of an organization. Recent research has identified some barriers companies face while establishing their knowledge management practice.
Concerns
Recommendations
Evolving work models
Concerns
Digitization is fostering remote work models, with geographically distributed team members and an alternative workforce that can switch between projects or roles via collaboration tools and digital workplaces. This requires businesses to adopt new knowledge management practices more suitable for greater worker mobility, in place of traditional in-person methods.
Concerns
Recommendations
- The adoption of advanced eLearning tools, including AI-enhanced educational software and repositories, can mitigate remote work-induced issues. Investing in eLearning enables organizations to share corporate knowledge across borders and protect it from disruptions.
- Companies should consider extending access to knowledge-sharing platforms to their alternative workforce, such as outsourced and temporary workers, to speed up their onboarding and get the maximum value from their work.
Resistance to knowledge sharing
Concerns
Employees’ perception of information received from colleagues could be biased and not always accurate. This could be explained by operational inefficiencies in knowledge management processes, but also by professionals’ will to keep their expertise to themselves rather than sharing it with peers.
Concerns
Recommendations
- Deloitte’s study highlighted how respondents, especially in the younger age group, mostly perceive knowledge sharing as beneficial to their careers. This means that buy-in can be fostered with rewards and incentives, such as bonuses or promotions.
- Systematically integrating knowledge communities into your organizational structure and corporate workflows can help transform knowledge transfer into a routine of sorts.
Knowledge management in the age of digitalization
Organizational knowledge is an invaluable asset that can be difficult to frame due to its intangible nature and even more challenging to manage, especially within a distributed workforce. Furthermore, stakeholders often neglect their essential role in knowledge management strategy's success. However, this mindset should change given the growing importance of a solid KM strategy for competing in a digitalized global market with faster innovation cycles.
Implementing tools and techniques to distribute knowledge while promoting a corporate culture focused on knowledge sharing is the key to enhancing business performance and creating truly collaborative workplaces. To achieve these organizational goals, consider relying on Itransition’s expertise in KM-oriented software development and consulting.
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