Knowledge and Document Management

Businesses have a huge source of great ideas that can help them improve, innovate, and grow, and yet so many companies never think of using this amazing asset. What is this highly valuable asset? Its own people. Says Morgan Fraud, the author of The Thinking Corporation, “Given that we are all capable of contributing new ideas, the question becomes how do you successfully generate, capture, process and implement ideas?”

Private Knowledge Wiki

There are numerous platforms available to host knowledge and documents. Depending on the outcome of the initial assessment, Oraclis will select an appropriate system with the client. One of these systems is a private wiki. A private wiki can be used to document numerous forms of institutional knowledge. It is a repository for all to-do’s, instructions, tips, work instructions, policies and institutional knowledge that exist in organisations. With a private wiki you will:

• Have documents at your fingertips
• Work with the latest update
• Save time
• Collaborate
• Get everyone to share their little box of tricks

The demo can be found here

Oraclis – we help companies manage their knowledge, data and documentation.

People

Sponsor: Any project with the goal of change require a sponsor. This is not a task that can be delegated to a junior staff member as that would signal that the project is of lesser importance. Knowledge management should be a key strategic element of the business and deserve a sponsor representing that importance.

Team Leaders: Knowledge management cannot be produced separated from the business – it should be created with direct input from everyone involved in the business. To reduce disruption and produce a system that can be maintained, team leaders (or superusers) can be allocated to represent core processes.

Teams: For a system to have maximum value and to ensure buy-in from everyone, it is important to get input from everyone. Every person will have something to add and a process to extract knowledge from everyone is optimal.

Process

The basic project plan is:

• Inventory of all current systems and procedures
• Create a best-practice framework to determine the scope
• Conduct a gap analysis to identify additional components
• Workshops and writing
• Test processes and do quality control
• Training and coaching
• Continued change management and improvement

Technology

Selecting the appropriate technologies will ensure a knowledge system that is easy to update and maintain. The basic process is:

• Needs analysis based on selected knowledge framework
• Software selection
• Inspect network infrastructure and ensure it can support all systems
• Set up permissions and security
• Training and proper maintenance policies

Change Management

The most common problem with knowledge management systems is that they are not properly maintained and soon becomes redundant. It is therefore important to build proper maintenance and change management systems. Some components of this system is:

• Scheduled maintenance and review
• Superuser input into all changes to systems
• Quality control