At the start of every school year, I was the kid who loved organizing her materials. I had to pick out the right color notebook for each subject and make sure it had a matching folder.
This always paid off in dividends when I needed to search my locker and backpack to quickly find the right materials for my next class. (With seven-minute passing periods, you had to be quick.)
>When your employees are looking for a resource they need on the job, they need to be able to find it as quickly as my color-coordinated folders. Your employees don’t have all day to go on a wild goose chase for resources.
That’s where knowledge management systems come in.
Working for ScreenSteps — a knowledge base and training software for managing company information — I’ve seen how organizing your company knowledge is critical to every company’s success.
So, here’s your introduction to knowledge management systems. This will provide the basic information includes a quick knowledge management system definition, what you use it for, and what tools are available.
What is a knowledge management system?
A knowledge management system is an IT system that helps businesses organize their company knowledge. Also referred to as knowledge management software, it has software that helps collect, create, store, and share content all within a single platform.
The cloud-based software functions as a database in supporting content, search, guidance, and insights. Since it is cloud-based, it makes it more accessible for your teams.
With a knowledge management system, your company’s information and resources is collected in one location. The purpose of a knowledge management system is to help align your team.
What information do you store in a knowledge management system?
Most likely, your company has a variety of different documents that hold important information about your company. These documents can help with training, employee support, or many other assignments in your organization.
Some of the content that you can store in your knowledge management system include:
- Policies
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Job aids
- Reference guides
- Training guides
- Call flows
- Call center scripts
Knowledge management software tools
Knowledge management software is often the general term for a tool that helps manage your company’s knowledge. There are a lot of software tools that fit under the umbrella of a knowledge management system.
Which tool, depends on your company’s goal with knowledge management as well as what industry your business is in. Some of these tools include
- Knowledge base software
- Content management software
- Document management system
- Document library
- Call flow software
- Learning Management Systems
- CRM
- Intranet
- Wiki
Build a one-stop shop for all of your company knowledge
It takes a lot of planning and work to build a one-stop shop for all your company’s knowledge — but it is worth it.
With a ScreenSteps knowledge base, your end-users have access to all the information they need at their fingertips. Most importantly, your end-users can find the article they need in as few as two clicks. It doesn’t take clicking on folders to search for that one document they need.
Want a knowledge base that your employees can rely on?
Check out this list of the best knowledge base software services on the market. These brands will help you organize and share your company’s resources.
