4 Advantages of Deploying a Knowledge Management System

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Knowledge is power, and like just about everything in this world it must be managed. Step in the knowledge management system, which continues to be deployed by various organizations across the globe. But what exactly is it a knowledge management system? Well, it’s basically what the title suggests: A method of knowledge integration and sharing. By leveraging a system like this you can assess living information from a strategic and executive viewpoint and convert it into valuable knowledge. Improving the robustness of information is a huge initiative for companies, where a competitive advantage can be the difference between success and failure. Adding context to data is vital for survival, because it allows businesses to make better decisions and find quick answers to pertinent questions. Intrigued to learn more about how you’d be set to benefit from a knowledge management system? Read on and you’ll learn just that.

1. Project Management

Businesses progress by capitalizing on a continuous development philosophy. Very rarely to businesses get things right first time around, so there is always a lot to be learned from each project. Managing your project effectively involves cost estimation, problem solving, and risk management. These collective focuses indicate areas of improvement, signaling where things went wrong and suitable adjustments. A knowledge management system can help you realize the benefits of project management. It can facilitate the learning process by capturing knowledge which can be utilized by project managers. It facilitates information sharing, particularly information which is relevant among team members. This has multiple applications when users are in different geographic locations, a practice which has been implemented by NASA. NASA uses knowledge management to reduce the time taken to extract data, which elevates performance considerably. It also boosts the efficiency of the report creation process.

2. Customer Service

Every business values customer satisfaction as a top priority. Ultimately, it is a company’s relationship with customers that drives its success. To execute great customer service employees must be trained accordingly. It is essential they are customer facing, especially if you’re to establish a loyal fan base who respects your ambitions. Staff of all volitions must channel effective customer service, but especially those who are in direct contact with consumers. Employees at help desks, or who are generally responsible for customer service, can utilize knowledge management to their advantage. Systems can be used to detect problems based on customer feedback, while offering a successful solution to a given challenge. Knowledge management systems can create a profile of users based on the questions and feedback they submit. Questions can consequently be routed to their target destination, where they can be tackled effectively. This was once the job of help desk personnel, but this mundane task can now be tackled with a knowledge management system. Help desk functionality can be bolstered using automated systems too, which are commonly observed in businesses across the globe. Systems can detect the direction of questions and give answers based on succinct judgment.

3. Business Intelligence

Being a productive business is about so much more than your internal operations. What’s vital for success is a company’s ability to address the actions of their competitors. This should be addressed during the onboarding process, to ensure staff practices are aligned with company interests from early on. Collecting external information helps businesses make decisions relative to the success of other companies. They can therefore engage in practices which are conducive to high performance. Business intelligence can be derived from multiple sources, from the marketplace in general to customers themselves. Traditionally it was the responsibility of humans to extract and distribute business intelligence. Today’s advanced technology has changed the scope considerably. This has elevated the realm of possibility, where knowledge management systems allow business analysts to distribute timely information. This can be used for producing meaningful reports, at a much faster rate too. Each system extracts just the data that’s contextually necessary, thus helping businesses cut through the digital static. You can extract information based on relationship information and keywords, which are added as tags to existing data.

4. Decision Support

Timely and relevant information can be used to make smart decisions. Businesses are driven by their decision making, which can be pivotal with regards to organizational performance. Making the right decision at the right time is determined by the quality of information available. Fortunately, a knowledge management system can supply that information. This can be easily digested for company benefit. Timely and relevant information is key, which can be extracted in its proper context. Relationship data can enhance company choices, and knowledge management systems play a crucial role in this. They provide an intelligent search, using technologies which give clarity to patterns and trends. Information in its raw form is difficult to digest, but when given context can be leveraged for great success.

Final Thought

A knowledge management system is a technological investment which optimizes other business processes. Technology isn’t a solution on its own, and should never determine business outcomes. Using a knowledge management system allows companies to integrate technology across multiple functions, unlocking its true capacity and potential. This enables businesses to reach a very specific set of outcomes.
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Jason is the Lead Author & Editor of TrainingStation Blog. Jason established the Training Station blog to create a source for news and discussion about some of the issues, challenges, news, and ideas relating to training, learning and development.