You've been using Microsoft SharePoint for your company's knowledge management system.

I hate scary stories. If my friends want to watch a horror film, I’m out. No questions asked. These types of movies make me tense up, the stress causes me to curl into a tight ball, and then there is the inevitable screaming. (Please, keep this secret safe.)

Your company has decided to outsource some of your call center operations to a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). Good for you!

You recently finished training a new hire class. As the good trainer that you are, you decide to check in on the new employees. To prepare, you pull up your ScreenSteps analytics.

Do you ever look at one of your work assignments and think, “How in the world am I going to accomplish this?”

How do you keep track of information that you absolutely cannot forget? Maybe you have sticky notes on your computer. Maybe you keep piles of papers next to your computer so you don’t need to go digging through files. Or, maybe you show the rest of us up by organizing documents you need in neat folders on your desktop. Me, I’m a little bit of all of those things when it comes to managing my life. But when it comes to policies and procedures at work, none of those strategies are up to the challenge of helping me keep track of the must-know information. The thing is companies need a system to organize their documents and resources. That’s where a knowledge base comes in. The purpose of a knowledge base is to get all that information in one location. At ScreenSteps, we specialize in an internal knowledge base that helps employees easily find help guides, troubleshooting guides, or company policies, and simplify the onboarding process. But there are many different types of knowledge bases out there that serve different purposes. Consider this your quick course on Knowledge Base 101. In this blog post, I’ll get you started with the must-know basics of a knowledge base, including what it is, what it's used for, what content it stores, and what features are included. Then we’ll examine who needs a knowledge base so that you can determine if your company could benefit from having one. What is a knowledge base? A knowledge base is a one-stop shop for all of your company’s help guides and resources. It’s your digital library where your employees can find all the information they need to complete any task at your company.

Growth is a good thing. And your company is growing. This is an exciting time to be a leader at your organization. But the transition can be stressful, especially as you prepare to hire and train new call center agents.

Do you have a plan for your end-users to let you know when something is missing or if something needs to be changed in ScreenSteps?

It’s just another workday as a call center manager when an email titled, “April Call Center Agents Mistakes Report,” arrives in your inbox from your boss. (I’m not nervous, you're nervous.) You open the email to the following message:

You’re the pioneer of ScreenSteps for your company. You’re the Lewis and Clark set out on a new frontier. AKA: You are the Knowledge Champion.