Over the years, businesses of all sizes realize the value of knowledge and information. Not surprisingly, a knowledge management system is a norm for large companies and small enterprises. A KMS is a tool that helps an organization capture, organize, and analyze pertinent information. It facilitates improved collaboration, better decision-making, and time management among employees. Moreover, it empowers the team to deliver a more efficient customer experience. Typically, a KMS includes company documents, product development data, product feature breakdowns, presentation decks, case studies, and best practices. Building it seems like a humongous task, but you can build it within a budget. Let us explain how.

Define the KMS goals

Implementing a knowledge management system gets easy if you identify your unique needs and goals in the first place. Customer-facing companies require it to help support teams to solve problems, up-sell products, and enhance customer experiences. Likewise, remote teams can leverage a KMS to enable efficient and user-friendly workflows. Your employees feel empowered with information, making them better and more productive in their roles.

Choose an apt knowledge management platform

Choosing the relevant knowledge management platform is another critical factor when it comes to implementing a KMS on a budget. Evaluate the user base and pick a platform they can use comfortably. After all, the last thing you want to do is spend a fortune to train employees for accessing information from the system. Providing them with a platform with intuitive features for search, editing, and content creation helps with easy buy-in and long-term savings.

Outsource development

Outsourcing development services to create and implement your knowledge management system is the best way to stick to your budget. You can check reputed Staff Augmentation Companies with relevant expertise and experience to hire resources for the project. The model is far cheaper than onboarding an in-house team, as you may not even require them after the deployment stage. You need not retain outsourced employees for the long run but can bring them back for upgrades or maintenance in the system.

Facilitate integration

Ease of integration is another factor that makes a KMS budget-friendly. You will not want a system that requires a change in the other elements of your business ecosystem. Look for one that can capture knowledge and expertise and create a robust repository for future use. Additionally, it should integrate seamlessly with the tools and apps your teams already use. Seamless integration ensures productivity and quality outcomes without spending a fortune.

Continue to improve and update

Continuous improvement makes your KMS relevant and valuable, so do not take a set-and-forget approach after it is up and running. Your needs evolve down the line as your processes change, product lines grow, teams add up in size, and economic and other external factors alter. The information increases, and you need a bigger and better KMS to handle and manage it. Stay regular with updates in the system to ensure relevance and value.

A KMS is the most valuable investment for a business as it empowers your team, so you should not skimp on it. But you can actually spend less to get more out of the system with these simple measures.

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People say that knowledge is power, but that adage is far more than an easy axiom. It’s also a bedrock truth. Perhaps no one knows that better than business leaders and decision-makers, those who deal every day with the management of knowledge.

The simple reality is that knowledge is the grist that keeps the wheels of your business turning. Lack of knowledge can lead to devastating errors, misjudgments, and mismanagement. Conversely, the theft of sensitive information can destroy your company’s reputation and threaten its very survival.

What this means, ultimately, is that knowledge management is about far more than developing sound operating practices, promoting efficiency and productivity, or galvanizing growth and profitability. Rather, the effective control of information is also an aspect of risk reduction. Indeed, risk mitigation may well be the most important, if frequently overlooked, attribute of knowledge management.

Connecting Knowledge Management and Risk Mitigation

Ours truly is the age of information. The success of any modern enterprise, regardless of the industry, directly and inextricably links to the production and flow of knowledge. Thus, the principal form of currency in modern business isn’t money — it’s information.

Just as you would safeguard your financial assets as a function of your risk management processes, so too must you safeguard the creation and circulation of knowledge within your organization if you intend to effectively mitigate the risks to which your organization is exposed.

The Rise of 5G, the IoT, and Smart Tech

Now more than ever, much of the work people do is performed remotely, via smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices linked to the Internet of Things (IoT). These technologies give workers unprecedented power to create, access, and disseminate knowledge whenever they need it and wherever they may be.

This on-demand access to information not only helps to support efficient workflow, but it reduces the risk of work stoppages, delays, or operational errors. For example, IoT devices can be used by farmers to monitor growing conditions in real-time, shippers to track shipments worldwide, and warehouse and inventory managers to continuously assess and regulate product and supply stocks, transport, and storage. Ultimately, this reduces operational risks relating to common threats such as lower-than-expected crop yields, shipment delays, and inventory mismanagement.

Best of all, the extraordinary speed of information flow promises only to increase as technology advances and the 5G network expands worldwide. Indeed, the proliferation of 5G is expected to bridge the digital divide, connecting once inaccessible spaces to the world wide web while offering unprecedented speed and security.

This means that not only will knowledge flow faster, more freely, and more securely around the world, but also that business leaders worldwide will have more power than ever before to reduce their strategic, financial, regulatory, and operational risks. And such risk avoidance not only benefits the organization, but also employees, consumers, and local, national, and global economies in general.

Curtailing Information Flow

As critical as the dissemination of knowledge may be to productivity, efficiency, and strategy, there are, of course, a myriad of reasons why information access is a threat. Some data simply are not appropriate for public consumption, and the failure to protect such sensitive information can have profound consequences for your company.

Healthcare organizations that fail to secure patients’ medical information, for instance, may face costly lawsuits and severe damage to their reputation. Under extreme conditions, they may even be subject to compulsory shutdown by regulators.

For this reason, it is imperative that business leaders prioritize not only the production of knowledge but also the protection of it. Unfortunately, this is not always an easy proposition. For example, you likely already have a clear and rigorous policy for shredding documents containing sensitive information, such as financial or medical records.

However, information leaks can come from even the most seemingly innocuous sources. For instance, bad actors may be able to use something as simple as a birthday card to begin gathering the personally identifiable information (names, birth dates, relatives’ names, etc.) they need to hack company accounts.

This is why, when it comes to knowledge management, it’s probably not possible to be too proactive. In other words, sweat the small stuff. Install virtual private networks (VPN), firewalls, and other advanced security technologies and ensure they’re always updated. Engage in rigorous and ongoing information security training for all employees and partners and provide timely security alerts. Institute policies for destroying all potentially harmful information, no matter how seemingly innocuous.

This should also include, for example, securing all devices potentially containing work product, and ensuring that devices no longer in use are destroyed rather than simply wiped or scrubbed. Even common office equipment such as printers and scanners can retain sensitive information and, thus, should also be professionally destroyed.

The Takeaway

Knowledge management is about far more than using information to optimize operations and drive profitability. Knowledge management is also likely your best weapon against risk. With the appropriate technology, sound information production and dissemination practices, and rigorous data security, you can safeguard your company against the myriad risks that threaten it.

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Are we continuing to build for the future without really looking back?

Today a large number of product companies focus on ensuring their products are revolutionary and are game-changers - something that the larger universe desires. For these product companies there are a large number of investors who are backing their idea and pending financial viability there is a good consensus that the market would respond. However, how desirable is the product - that's the big question.

If you look at the above, there are three important criteria for every solution at the heart of innovation. Reference from The Sweet Spot for Innovation | Medium.

• A desirable solution, one that your customer really needs
• A feasible solution, building on the strengths of your current operational capabilities
• A viable (profitable solution), with a sustainable business model.

If we relate KM as a product to the above and run a survey, then most of our user's would call out 'desirability' as critical. So, is the COO of every company trying to mimic its competition and build advanced KM products aligned to this, is the larger question. The answer is most leaders do what is important for the business and hence are designing their KM products with a balance of the organizations' core operational strength, its mix of existing people, processes, and technology.

Further, as the organization grows, so does its nature of business change, and so do our practices & processes evolve to ensure we are contributing to community and society. Does KM remain the same, or does it evolve?  That might be something interesting to think about.

If you are looking at the below graphic, you could do some sense-making with the above design thinking, product-based mindset. Then we need to develop a model that imbibes 80% of our existing operational construct of the org + 20% builds new capabilities for the future.

Below is a simplistic technique where one can combine the existing people practices, current processes, and build for the future.

Automate where behaviours are known, not just repeatable practices & processes

1. Make downloaded material interlinked with the KM system so it expires every X week and the user must download again
2. Give insights to the user on areas where they utilized KM systems
3. Make KM the 1st entry point in the day

Backup in-line with the defined km policy

1. A KM audit to be done and in-line with KM policy and content for archival defined
2. Past project artifacts are archived before a resource is tagged to a new project  

Combine KM practices with existing people practices & org-wide processes

1. Make KM a mandatory section in leadership reviews so its habitual to the leaders
2. Managers get variable pay salary only for completing all pending reviews on KM portal

Divide how KM is accessible and introduce right steps for governance

1. Make all organizational announcements mandatory accessible through the KM portal
2. On entry user's provide justification and on exit must rate downloaded information 

Eliminate old practices and introduce new ways of thinking

1. Make all artifacts viewable only if linked to active users for managing content quality
2. Conduct certificates for exit employs to be granted against declared artifact checklist  

In-Summary

The ABCDE technique will ensure we can link the below five success factors and ensure KM as a Product is well acknowledged as below.

1. Exist in the “Natural Flow” of our Processes (Automate)
2. Increase Discovery to Real-time Information (Backup)
3. Improve Cross-Functional Decision-Making (Combine)
4. Enhance Enterprise Collaboration (Divide)
5. Show Value Through KM measures linked to key business objectives (Eliminate)

Knowledge Management: Key Questions and Answers

Do you understand the difference between information and knowledge? In a business context, information gathering happens at all levels of an organization. It can include everything from customer interactions to internal company meetings. On the other hand, knowledge is what every member of an organization understands and uses in their everyday activities. 75% of companies realize that knowledge management is crucial for their success. Let's look at knowledge management and its benefits to your workplace. 

What is Knowledge Management? 

So, what is knowledge management? IBM defines knowledge management as a way to identify, organize, store and share information. A knowledge management system is a platform that gathers business information to help streamline operations such as:

- Recruitment
- Training, and
- Communication

Additionally, knowledge management can foster better:

- Transparency
- Accountability, and
- Collaboration

Each of which helps improve employee satisfaction and retention.   

What are the Goals of Knowledge Management? 

Knowledge management serves several key goals in an enterprise. The goals of a knowledge management system are to: 

• Keep knowledge in an easily-accessible form
• Share knowledge with the right people at the right time
• Break down information silos 
• Maintain knowledge if valuable employees leave the company
• Create a culture of continuous learning 

What are the Benefits of Knowledge Management? 

The main benefit of knowledge management is efficient business operations. A knowledge management system makes a business more agile because it: 

• Improves the quality of business data
• Boosts collaboration within your team
• Identifies skill and competency gaps for training opportunities
• Enables faster decision-making at all levels 
• Increases data security for intellectual property 
• Creates standardized business processes 

What are the Challenges of Knowledge Management? 

Like every business process, knowledge management can present challenges to an organization. Here are four of the top challenges organizations face when it comes to knowledge management:

• Some employees may hoard their knowledge to maintain their positions in the company
• Knowledge sharing is not a priority for employees because of their existing workloads
• Knowledge management systems need proper configuration with the right permissions. The aim is to protect sensitive business information
• A knowledge management framework takes more time and human resources to update and maintain

What are the Types of Knowledge in an Organization? 

Three main types of organizational knowledge drive your knowledge management process: 

1. Explicit knowledge

Documented information like policies, product specifications, service functionality, and other business-generated content.

2. Implicit or embedded knowledge

Information about business processes such as:
- Recruitment or merit systems
- Routines
- Manuals, and 
- Organizational culture

3. Tacit knowledge

This is practical know-how about business operations gained through experience. This includes subject matter expertise held by certain employees.

Practically speaking, these types of knowledge come from: 

• Organizational documents like reports, business records, and market research 
• Structural information such as:
  • Company hierarchy charts
  • Handbooks
  • Presentation formats workflows
  • Best practices, and 
  • Business strategies
• Group data like mentorship programs, project teams, and training groups
• Individual knowledge like customer inquiries, notebooks, or even a team member’s memory

Knowledge Management Use Cases

A knowledge management framework finds value in the following business processes: 

Onboarding

New team members can quickly search and find what they need on a centralized knowledge management system. This significantly reduces training time and increases competence levels. 

Customer support

Customer service teams can find quick references and answers for inquiries. 

Internal communications

Teams can seek out knowledge directly from the system and save emails and chats for priority queries. 

Inventory updates

All departments get notified of product changes like prices, upgrades, or shortages. 

What is the Knowledge Management Process? 

To manage knowledge in your organization, first you must understand how knowledge arises in business and how to make it work for you. 

The ideal knowledge management process has six steps: 

1. Knowledge discovery

Figure out your organization's implicit, explicit and tacit sources of knowledge.  

2. Knowledge auditing

Check that all your information is relevant, up-to-date, and error-free. 

3. Knowledge structuring

Organize your information into a searchable, accessible knowledge management database. 

4. Knowledge sharing

Grant your team secure access to your knowledge management system. Encourage them to contribute and share their knowledge on the platform and create an incentive program to promote the sharing process. 

5. Knowledge application

Reward team members who use the knowledge to improve their performance. 

6. Knowledge creation

Keep gathering and updating your knowledge management system according to the outlined steps. 

What are Knowledge Management Tools? 

Anything that captures business information and generates insights is a knowledge management tool. That qualifies your basic spreadsheets as one. However, knowledge management tools can be highly specialized to match your industry. The most common tools include: 

• Content management systems (CMS) for online publishing
• Intranets for sharing business information securely within an organization 
• Data warehouses that use machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to aggregate and analyze data
• Feedback databases for project management communications 
• Document management systems for hosting all digital business documents 

Conclusion 

Your knowledge management process depends on your company's size and structure. Smaller companies can build a goldmine of business data and scale up over time. Larger companies can put in place a system for digital transformation and business forecasting. Implement a knowledge management strategy to improve your business outcomes today!

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How many followers do you have on social media? Today, the 'social construct' has made us reason that having many followers on social media is a good measure of knowledge. On the contrary do you relate to your firm's 'social software' as a means for sharing your experiences that is of interest to others such that in-time they can learn from your explicit knowledge, have you given it a thought within your organization?

I am sure many of us are Following our favorite bloggers on professional networks; a place where the leader makes it a point to be consistent to share their thoughts around contemporary topics of interest; share relevant examples to make it relatable. They are moving from being an artist in their realm to becoming a conversational leader. 

Over a period, you as a reader makes it a habit to crave for that daily breakfast post. Intentionally what your mind is teaching you is to practice subconsciously some of their Lessons Learnt; you are now engaged with their 'Content' they are sharing and feel 'Connected'. Did you know you are practicing the 3C's of Knowledge Management, although you're not in sight of your organization?

So, as leaders are we missing out on critical knowledge that can aid in advancing our organizational social capital. If you now connect you know that there is a need to move from just being someone who from being an 'Artist' to becoming a 'Conversational Leader' someone who collaborates and helps their followers to share their experiences in a safe zone and feel acknowledged that truly the network is growing as one tribe.

As defined by educator Carolyn Baldwin, conversational leadership is “the leader’s intentional use of conversation as a core process to cultivate the collective intelligence needed to create business and social value.” 

The next question as leaders are we serving our calling to truly move from predator and sharing our knowledge to enable our followers to truly see us as instructors coaching us to become trainers?

Source: Facebook 'Just for Fun' Fanclub . The bitter truth : You start practicing to truly 'network' rather than 'artwork' something that not only we begin to enjoy but over time others follow us for learning our techniques, our tips and in-time become trainers.

In-Summary: So as leaders let us enjoy wearing our K-Hats and truly ensure we leverage organizational & community resources to produce greater strategic value. We ACE-IT !

A - Start with being an Artist and live our culture contrary to sharing falsehoods
C - We 'Connect' with our teams and truly become a 'Conversational Leader'.
E - We make our teams feel 'Engaged' to encourage critical knowledge-flow.
I - We coach our followers as 'Instructors' and are open to KM 'People approaches'.
T - We as leaders invest in individuals becoming 'trainers' and in-turn our network of followers grows to learn from our art; and ensure "KM is being Followed".