What Is Knowledge Management and Why Is It Important for Your Company

What Is Knowledge Management and Why Is It Important for Your Company Source â€" Pexels.comKnowledge is essential to the functioning of any organization. Without the right information in the right hands, a company may flounder. In fact, failing to share knowledge efficiently costs Fortune 500 companies an estimated $31.5 billion per year.Not only that, but a recent survey found thatover 70 percent of respondentsfelt ideal knowledge sharing would lead to at least a 20 percent increase in productivity within their teams.evalKnowledge creation refers to discovering and capturing new knowledge, which may involve observation of highly experienced people, documentation of established procedures, research, and experimentation.Some of the knowledge created comes from explicit knowledge, while the rest of the knowledge that’s captured comes from tacit knowledge, or knowledge residing in people’s minds through their experiences and skills.evalAs defined by Ikujiro Nonaka there are four types of knowledge creating processes that include”socializationStrong knowledge management can lead to greater situational awareness, which means employees know the facts and details they need to make good decisions for a particular situation.Open communicationevalKnowledge management fosters an environment of open communication, which can help youremployees be more efficient, while also signaling that everyone is a valuable part of the team.Encourage collaborationSharing information can also encourage collaboration between employees. Since more people have access to necessary details and information, it is easier to work together to come up with ideas and solutions.Develop a culture of sharingA strong knowledge management program can also encourage a culture of sharing, wherein employees are less inclined to hoard information and more likely to recognize information as communal property. Such a culture is also likely to foster a stronger team atmosphere.Store knowledge for the futureYour current team may all know a policy or procedure, but that doesn ’t mean future employees will understand it. Strong knowledge management will allow you to store important information to use again in the future.evalAvoid needing to recreate knowledgePerhaps the main benefit of storing knowledge for the future is preventing the need to recreate knowledge. If you do something successfully once but do not document how, you may need to recreate your methods from scratch the next time you want to perform the same task. This can cost your company valuable time and money. If you’ve simply recorded the information, though, it will be ready to use again whenever you need it.Enabling a Successful Knowledge Management ProgramImplementing knowledge management may seem like a simple process: just implement some tools to collect and share. However, there are number of factors that could impact the success or failure of your program, so it’s important to take these things into account.CultureWhile knowledge management canshape company culture, research su ggests that culture can also shape the implementation of knowledge management within an organization. Not only does culture shape how employees interact and share information, it can also influence who shares and who hoards information. This could ultimately play a role in the success or failure of a knowledge management program. Some cultures might create more resistance, while other cultures might embrace a new knowledge management system.Leadership and contributionsImplementing knowledge management requires a strong leader to direct the process. As with any major organizational change, someone needs to lead the change, plan the rollout, and guide employees through the process.In addition to needing a strong leader to implement the change, astrong leader will also need to empower employeesso that they can easily share the information that the organization wishes to better manage.StrategyA lot of strategy is involved in implementing a successful knowledge management system.Before i mplementing your knowledge management program, it is helpful to plan out your strategy. Start by creating clear objectives for what you want your knowledge management program to accomplish. Once you have these objectives in place, you can work backwards to define strategies that will help you meet your goals.Additionally, the main goal of effective knowledge management is to help a company meet its strategic goals, so it is essential to consider what information is actually relevant to your goals.While it can be tempting to record as much information as possible, some information is not relevant, and the process of recording it and cataloging it can waste valuable time and create unnecessary clutter that employees must sift through to find the content they need.Finally, you’ll need to find metrics to use to determine whether your knowledge management techniques have been successful.Standard operating processes (SOPs)SOPs need to be in place to collect and share information within your company. Having clear, established processes will enable consistent, efficient documentation and distribution of key information. TechnologyAny knowledge management program requires the right technology to support it.This doesn’t mean that your company needs to spend thousands of dollars to design its own custom database or e-learning system. In fact, low-tech techniques like mentoring programs and written documents could be just as helpful for meeting your objectives.However, using technology to your advantage can often make the knowledge management process more efficient. Your business may choose to use existing technology or develop new technology to help you better meet your organization’s goals.Whenever your company implements technology, security becomes an important consideration, so this is something you must take into account if you are using technology as part of your knowledge management program. Especially since some information shared between employees might in volve industry secrets or proprietary knowledge, you’ll want to make sure security procedures are in place to protect the information you’re sharing.Essential Technologies and Strategies for Successful Knowledge ManagementCreating, organizing, spreading, and managing knowledge across your organization requires proper tools and strategies.Here are just a few that will help in the process:Knowledge basesA knowledge base acts as a central repository of information that allows for easy and effective knowledge sharing.Members within your organization can search for best practices, standard operating procedures, and other useful information.Additionally, knowledge bases aid in the knowledge creation process as they can show an organization where it has knowledge gaps.Databases management systemsDatabases can be a convenient way to give employees across your company access to the information they need. However, to be effective, databases must be carefully designed to be quick and easy to use.Documents management systemsDocuments management systems deal primarily with explicit knowledge and aid in the publishing, storage, indexing, and retrieval of documents that are both printed or distributed digitally. Lessons learned management systemsThe process of doing a post-mortemallows teams and their members to learn before, during, and after a project and helps with converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be accessed later on.Mentoring programsWhile the concept of knowledge management was fueled by the Information Age, old-school methods of knowledge distribution, like mentoring programs, still have their place. This technique relies on pairing an expert with a trainee.The expert aims to share knowledge attained through personal experience by demonstrating for the trainee, monitoring the trainee’s progress, and providing guidance and feedback to the trainee.Social networkingSince targeted, work-related social networking allows employees to share i nformation, discuss developments, and ask questions, it can be a powerful knowledge management tool. Specially designed programs, like Slack, are particularly useful for allowing workers to learn and share.WRAPPING UPImproving your company’s knowledge management can save valuable time and resources, so implementing a strong knowledge management program can be one of the best business decisions you’ve ever made.But ensuring that the initiative is successful requires a shift in company culture along with strong leadership and contributors. Furthermore, it’s necessary to have the right tools and strategies in place to ensure that knowledge is continuously created, shared, and used effectively within your organization.