Collaboration Tools for Knowledge Management
KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
On today’s blog: Collaboration tools
for Knowledge Management
Introduction- Knowledge management
In
order to develop the topic "Collaboration tools for Knowledge
Management", it is crucial to first have a clear understanding of what Knowledge
Management actually means. This term is wildly used nowadays and it can be
defined as:
"a discipline
that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating,
retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These assets
may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously
un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers." (Duhon in 1998)
In
other words, KM is about getting the
right knowledge to
the right person at the right time in order to create value and leverage.
History of KM
This
concept started being widely used right after the internet arose. It was back
then when the way in which information was shared changed completely. Not
surprisingly, people started creating innovative tools and techniques for the
efficient flow of information. Targeting especially large, complex and
international organizations. (Koenig, 2018)
Nowadays, Knowledge
Management plays an extremely important role in the way companies are managed.
The concept can sound very simple but in practice it is extremely complex since
it has many dimensions such as:
·
Knowledge management strategy, which has as an
objective to create manage and share relevant knowledge
·
Organizational Culture, since it influences
interactions among people and the context in which knowledge is created and
shared
·
Organizational Processes to make the
implementation of KM possible
·
Management & Leadership
·
Technology since it is crucial for the flow of
information to implement the right
systems, tools and technologies
Knowledge Management Tools
As
mentioned before, specialized tools and technology are crucial for an effective
knowledge management. Especially since nowadays the amount of data and
information is so massive, it would be definitely impossible for a person to
collect, process, analyze, sort, create knowledge and distribute it to the
right person at the right time without the help of any tool or technology.
KM
tools are systems created for organizations to facilitate the share of
information both internally and externally. In order to choose the most
appropriate one, we need to have a deep understanding of all the dimensions of
KM mentioned before and all the needs
of the company. Once this analysis in
done in depth, we can proceed to choose a tool that is going to contribute to
the flow of information and success of the organization.
There
are thousands of different systems and software created to help companies with
KM. All these different KM tools are key to help businesses to make better
decisions, improving its customer service and delivering results that are
reflected in better ROI. These are examples of how:
·
Customer
relationship systems: they help marketing, sales, and customer
service teams to have a better and more organized access to customer information.
For example: CRM gives the company info
about the first interaction they had with a client, the content the client has
been checking the most in the company’s website, the interactions the customer
has had with your sales team during the buying cycle and also patterns of
clients such as buying habits.
Having access to all this information and
analyzing it can be extremely revolutionary for a company since it can give
customer relations another focus.
·
Learning management systems or also called
employee knowledge empowerment: help organizations to manage employees training
and education process that aim to improve their performance. With the help of
LMS technologies, online training modules and job-related educational resources
can be shared.
·
Knowledge bases: this type of systems are
searchable directories of content about different aspects of the company. For
example: about your products and how they are used, answers to commonly asked
questions, and so on. Moreover, information storage can be extremely useful to
manage financial aspects of the company. (ZENDESK, n.d.)
Every
software has its advantages and disadvantages. The following tools listed
below, are examples of the best KM tools that are great on different areas of expertise:
ZENDESK: has been ranked as number one by many different companies. It aims to improve the customer service of businesses. Zendesk helps its users build help centers, online communities, FAQs, and customer portals. Moreover, it also structures and organizes the information in the database according to the organization’s preferences. However, one of the characteristics that places this tool at the top of the list is that it provides the company with in-depth insights and analysis regarding the efficiency of the customer support services and customer self-service efforts.
BLOOMFIRE is a platform that enables businesses to centralize knowledge and information in an extremely safe and “easy to search and read” way. This gives teams easy access to information they can use to improve their performance and to amplify their insights. As we can see in the image below, Bloomfire collects information and shows it to users in a very intuitive format.
BITRIX 24 is a tool specialized in social collaboration, communication and management. It offers over 35 different options to change and customize the way your team work and collaborate. Among its features we can find: company drive, task and project management, chat and video, social network, document management, calendars, mail server, HR tools, and more. For example, “My Drive” is where employees can upload or create new files, grant permissions to access and sync to coworkers, and search for documents.
PROPROFS KNOWKEDGEBASE provides smart tools and platforms for online training and assessment. It allows the company to create and efficiently share wikis, online FAQ, user guides, and documentation to both employees and customers. By improving and creating an efficient access to knowledge, this tool improves customer support and also the performance of the different teams.
SERVICE NOW is very special tool that provides company easy‑to‑use and efficient knowledge management solutions. It offers an out‑of‑the‑box knowledge experience for customers and employees that helps them find solutions that to improve satisfaction and reduce costs.
To all the readers: I hope this post gives you a better understanding of
KM and an idea of different alternatives and tools you can implement to help
your organization.
References
Capterra. (s.f.). Capterra. Obtenido de Knowledge
Management Software Tools:
https://www.capterra.com/sem-compare/knowledge-management-software?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9fntBRCGARIsAGjFq5GReAjHzFLTw79CsUBqfLQ0jvABlLm7MmxYGUaBmhznfIgqmv-7-ysaAjbWEALw_wcB
Gilbert, N. (2019). Finances Online.
Retrieved from 20 Best Knowledge Management Software for 2019:
https://financesonline.com/knowledge-management/#zendesk
Koenig, M. E. (2018, Jan 15). KM World.
Retrieved from What is KM? Knowledge Management Explained:
http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is/What-is-KM-Knowledge-Management-Explained-122649.aspx
Tools, K. M. (2018). Knowledge Management Tools .
Retrieved from http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/
ZENDESK. (n.d.). ZENDESK. Retrieved from The
benefits of knowledge management tools:
https://www.zendesk.com/guide/features/knowledge-base-software/knowledge-management-tools/
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