The business landscape is rapidly changing in many industries across the globe. In order to remain competitive and relevant, companies need to focus on emerging concepts in digital transformation and customer experience.
To be successful at this, you need to develop a comprehensive strategy that is in line with the changing demands of the market. A good strategy combined with data-informed efforts will help you stay ahead of the curve and adjust your operations to meet the evolving needs of your customers.
One such approach to consider for your business or company is to make your internal knowledge even more accessible than it currently is.
In this article, we will discuss some strategies for making your internal knowledge base easily accessible, up-to-date, and organized. By implementing these strategies, you can ensure that your internal knowledge base is as useful and user-friendly as possible.
What is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base is a collection of information or data that is organized and used to increase understanding and provide support for decision-making. It is often made up of a database, a search engine, and an interface that is often contained in knowledge management software. There are two widely recognized types of knowledge base software – Internal and external knowledge base software.
What’s the Difference Between Internal & External Knowledge Base?
An Internal knowledge base software is used for storing and managing information that is specific to an organization or business. It is typically used for understanding how an organization works and for providing employees with resources to help them perform their job better, thereby increasing productivity and efficiency.
External knowledge base software is used for providing customer service and support, by allowing customers to find answers to their questions quickly and easily. It provides customers with resources to help them find solutions to their problems.
Why it is Important to Make Your Internal Knowledge Base Accessible
Making your internal knowledge base easily accessible is key to increasing productivity within your company whether you run a bootstrapped company, an eCommerce business, a large multinational, or a conglomerate. It ensures that your employees have the resources they need to solve problems and find answers to their questions quickly. It also ensures that all employees have access to the same information, no matter their location or time zone, thereby improving their collective employee experience.
This centralized bank of information makes it easier to search for and find information quickly, thereby reducing the amount of time spent trying to figure out how to do something.
Before you can create the best strategies for an internal knowledge base, it is important to know some of the best practices that guide the management of information in any kind of knowledge base.
This will help you compare your existing knowledge base software to determine if it’ll be useful to your employees.
Knowledge Base Best Practices to Consider in 2023
Design a Knowledge Base Infrastructure
Create a framework for structuring and organizing your knowledge base. Don’t just pile information into different clusters in your framework. Consider how users will access and interact with the knowledge base when designing the infrastructure. Use this data to properly structure your framework so that new hires can find their way around without needing assistance.
Create an Approved List of Topics
Identify topics and create a list of approved content that should be included in your knowledge base. For example, you can create content that addresses FAQs, onboarding instructions, job functions, company policies, or instructions for the integration of a CRM tool with your company.
Appoint a Knowledge Base Editor
Appoint a knowledgeable individual within your company or organization to be responsible for maintaining and updating the knowledge base. This person can have administrative controls that either grant or restrict access to data within the knowledge base. If you run a large company, appoint multiple editors to help you keep up with information updates.
Prioritize a Search Feature
Make sure your knowledge base is easily searchable by users so that they can quickly find the information they need without going through too many pages of content. Include a search button that is very easy to locate on any page of your knowledge base.
Collect and Monitor User Feedback
To better understand the needs of your employees and customers, it’s important to collect feedback on your knowledge base. Take surveys among your employees to determine and identify gaps in the knowledge base and make improvements.
Train Knowledge Base Users
Ensure users are aware of the knowledge base and know how to use it, by providing training and support.
Now that you understand some of the best practices for maintaining a knowledge base, here are some strategies to help you make it accessible.
Strategies for Making Internal Knowledge Base Accessible
Create a dedicated search engine
A search engine is important because it helps people quickly and easily find information Using a specialized search engine can make all the difference in accessibility. It will allow users to quickly and easily find the information they need in a more efficient manner.
For instance, a search engine can be used in a retail company to find useful information, such as product descriptions, customer service procedures, product pricing, return policies, and other business processes. Support teams can then quickly access and answer customer questions relating to any of these processes.
Tag and categorize content adequately
Tagging and categorizing content within your internal knowledge base can help make it easier to find and access the right information quickly. Shorter times spent on finding information equal faster response times to customer queries or complaints and overall efficiency.
A pet company that has previously tagged information about pet nutrition, training, health, or grooming can easily respond to an emergency call for help. They can also store FAQs and how-to articles related to pet care, and provide customer support staff with valuable insights about customer needs and preferences.
Provide user-friendly navigation
Good navigation allows users to quickly find the information they need, thus increasing the usability of a website. Poor navigation can lead to frustration for users and can even cause them to abandon the knowledge base in search of alternative solutions. This can potentially slow down productivity at your business.
Your internal knowledge base should be intuitive and user-friendly. Be sure to provide users with a clear and intuitive navigation structure, so they can quickly find the information they need, saving them time and effort.
Leverage automation
Automation lets you get things done faster and better. It’s a great way to improve your productivity and boost your return on investment, whether you’re a freelance business or a large company. Automating processes such as notifications, alerts, and recommendations can help ensure that relevant information is shared with the right people at the right time.
For example, new hires can be directed to relevant information about their department, work processes, or the company whenever they log in to their internal knowledge base.
Implement a feedback system
Feedback on any level provides valuable insight into areas that need improvement, allowing people to stay on track and reach their goals. Customer feedback can improve your content marketing efforts, business decisions, and even your marketing strategies. So also, can a feedback system can help employees provide quality feedback on the content within the internal knowledge base, allowing for faster updates and improvements.
Conclusion
An internal knowledge base is an essential component of any successful organization. Having an organized and easily accessible internal knowledge base enables employees to quickly and efficiently access the information they need to complete their work, whether they work remotely or in-house.
This, in turn, increases productivity and reduces time wasted on searching for resources. We’ve highlighted a variety of strategies organizations can use to make their internal knowledge base easily accessible. These include making sure the knowledge base is up-to-date and organized, creating a user-friendly interface, and providing education and training to employees on how to use the knowledge base.
In conclusion, having an internal knowledge base is an important part of your business success. By utilizing the strategies mentioned above, you can ensure that your internal knowledge base is always up-to-date and easily accessible, enabling your employees to quickly and efficiently access the information they need to complete their work.
