Most people would probably agree with the somewhat banal statement that it is good to gather knowledge. At the same time, almost all of us had to do with something that was supposed to be a great tool for gathering experience but turned out to be an outdated time waster. How to go through building a knowledge base as efficiently as possible?
1. First the need, then the solution – determine what purpose will the knowledge base serve and what information is actually important. Create key areas of knowledge.
2. Identify the audience – clearly specify who is the target audience of particular areas of knowledge; the manner in which information is included should be adapted to the readers.
3. Categorize – prepare a list of categories and topics for every knowledge area, arrange them in a logical and simple way.
4. Not everything at once – determine what information is important and what is the most needed at the moment. Start from this, and then add specific areas of knowledge piece by piece.
5. Be realistic – If something changes every week, should it be in the knowledge base? Are you able to update documents so often? In order to maintain an up-to-date exchange of information, won’t it be better to add new documents to a group?
6. Find people with the greatest knowledge – think about who may have the most experience in a given area of expertise and what information should be obtained from them.
7. Find editors – it is worth remembering that people who have knowledge are not always the best at conveying it in writing. Look for people who could gather and organize the knowledge possessed by others. (By the way, this can be a great developmental activity for employees with little experience).
8. Make a template – determine what should be included in documents located in the knowledge base, and what newly written material should look like. Create one sample document. Make sure that all editors get clear guidelines from you.
9. Keep it clear – determine fonts and headers, prepare a tag system and tables of contents, which will allow you to quickly move through the database. This will help maintain consistency between different areas.
10. Keep it simple – make sure that what has been written will be clear for others, e.g. will a new employee understand the document without having to ask for more information?
11. Make it attractive – emplo gives you the chance to place images, videos, and attach photos to articles. Use these elements and readers will be willing to come back for more information.
12. Stick to the facts – in a knowledge base, the more concrete info and less proverbial “waffling”, the better. Sometimes one scheme or picture can say as much as two pages of text.
13. Set a path for publication – decide whether the texts that are to be added to the knowledge base should be checked and, if so, by whom.
14. Determine the life cycle – every article has its “expiry date”. Determine who will check the relevancy of a given knowledge area and perform appropriate amendments.
15. Finally, the most important: do not panic and never lose sight of the readers.