Knowledge Management Systems: Why Your Organisation Needs One
Summary
Jeb Smith, consultant and owner of Parker Marker, says KMSs can be versatile, primarily helping organisations better manage their ever-growing wealth of data but also enabling stakeholders to connect. We use a KMS in this fashion at our company and it’s helped empower new hires to get up to speed quickly and become productive contributors from day one.” Jan Chapman, cofounder and managing director of MSP Blueshift, says customer support is another area KMSs come in handy. If the system also includes a way to document or annotate insights or experience, this will “aid other agents in effectively resolving similar issues in the future.” Another way KMSs are being used in businesses is to support research and development efforts. “This allows researchers to quickly access information and build on the work that has already been done, reducing the time and effort required to develop new products.” When David Cohen, CEO of wholesale floral supplier Badais International, was searching for a way to better support his customer care team, he found that a knowledge management system fit the bill perfectly. “For instance, we implemented a machine learning algorithm that automatically tagged documents based on their content, enabling quick and accurate retrieval of relevant information across the company.” Hathaway recommends choosing a KMS that offers analytics and reporting capabilities so you can track usage, identify knowledge gaps, and measure the effectiveness of the system in reaching predetermined KPIs.
