Introduction

KM is a multidisciplinary field of study that covers a lot of ground. This should not be surprising as applying knowledge to work is integral to most business activities. However, the field of KM does suffer from the “Three Blind Men and an Elephant” syndrome. There are more than three distinct perspectives on KM, and each leads to a different extrapolation and a different definition (Dalkir, 2011).

Definition of KM

Knowledge management is the process by which an enterprise gathers, organizes, shares, and analyzes its knowledge in a way that is easily accessible to employees.

The following are four key knowledge management processes:

• Knowledge gathering. This includes entering data and scanning, pulling information from various sources, and searching for other information to include.

• Knowledge storage and organization. This step in the process includes cataloging and indexing content in a knowledge management system to find it and placing links within this content to provide further related information for users to digest.

• Knowledge distribution. This provides a way for users to access the information, including FAQs, training videos, white papers, and manuals.

• Knowledge use. Once information is distributed to users, they need to put it into action.

The aim of Knowledge Management

Knowledge management aims to put the right information in front of someone at the right time.

This is done by:

• capturing and organizing knowledge in a knowledge management system to address specific business tasks and projects;

• sharing knowledge with others who can benefit from it;

• improving processes and technology to provide easy access to knowledge; and

• promoting the generation of new knowledge for continual learning.

Knowledge management enables businesses to break down siloes by putting information in a place easily accessible to all employees. It provides a place for people to put the knowledge they have acquired over time, preventing a business from losing that information when individuals leave the company.

Examples of knowledge management systems

Online Community Forums

An online community forum is a website where visitors with a shared interest or area of expertise can ask and answer one another’s questions and share feedback or recommendations. In some cases, brands will create an online forum for their customers or fans to network and provide peer-to-peer support. Good examples of branded community forums include Underlined, Penguin Random House’s platform for writers and book lovers, and Community Center, Airbnb’s forum for verified hosts to share knowledge, get inspired, and network. Online community forums can help businesses keep customers engaged and happy, generate content from their biggest advocates, conduct market research, and innovate on their products based on user feedback.

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

As the name suggests, learning management systems are wholly focused on housing, distributing, and tracking engagement with learning and training materials. An LMS is designed to allow employees to access learning materials from anywhere, on-demand. Functionality may include interactive quizzes, engagement analytics, customizable learning paths, and course creation and management tools. Examples of LMS software solutions include Lessonly and Moodle. Benefits of an LMS include allowing organizations to efficiently upskill employees, onboard new hires faster, hold employees accountable for staying up-to-date with training, and increase job satisfaction.

Customer Service Knowledge Bases

Customer service knowledge bases consolidate customer-facing information and FAQs and makes them easy to access. These knowledge bases can be either internal or external. In other words, they can be employee-only systems that allow service representatives to quickly search for and find information to assist customers, or they can be customer-facing websites that empower customers to help themselves by finding answers to common questions. Customer service knowledge bases provide a wide range of benefits, including increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, reducing the average time to resolve customer issues, and enabling customer-facing associates to work more efficiently.

Research and Insights Libraries

Research and insights libraries are cloud-based platforms that house market research and consumer insights materials. These might include research reports, slide decks, industry news, customer interview recordings, and secondary vendor research. Some companies will create one research library for finalized content to share with stakeholders and another library to make raw video recordings and other materials easier for research teams to parse through. Research libraries can help increase the impact of customer insights across the organization by making it easy for stakeholders to access research materials and apply relevant findings to their decision-making. These platforms can also help reduce redundant research by allowing all teams to see what already exists, increase communication around and engagement with insights, and provide one place to search across all research sources.