Knowledge Management Challenges Companies Face and How to Overcome Them

Scaling knowledge management is a common challenge for large companies. In fact, most rely on some form of manual information search to support knowledge worker activities. A common challenge in scaling KM is that technology often fails to deliver against its promise. Many companies have struggled to scale manual processes and legacy systems. Knowledge management is no exception. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Knowledge management systems need to be able to grow with the company.
2. Over time, information gets buried or lost.
3. It isn’t easy to keep documentation accurate and current.
4. Different departments often have different standards.
5. Documentation clean-up* becomes expensive and time-consuming to fix.

Tl;dr:

• Use automation and artificial intelligence to scale knowledge management.
• Be aware of the challenges companies face when scaling knowledge management.
• Put processes in place to prevent documentation clean-up from becoming expensive and time-consuming.

Knowledge Management Systems Need to Grow with the Company

1. As a company grows, it will acquire more and more knowledge. This knowledge needs to be managed in a way that is efficient and effective.
2. As a company grows, it will need to manage more and more knowledge workers. These workers will need access to the knowledge management system in order to do their jobs effectively.
3. As a company grows, it will need to deal with more and more change. The knowledge management system will need to be able to adapt to these changes in order to remain effective.

Information Gets Buried or Lost Over Time

1. Employees change over time, and new employees may not be aware of where to find certain information.
2. Companies change their organizational structures over time, which can also lead to information getting buried or lost.
3. Companies may simply forget to update their knowledge management systems, leading to outdated information.

Documentation is Hard to Keep Current

1. People are constantly changing roles and responsibilities within a company, so keeping track of who is responsible for what can be challenging.
2. The documentation can quickly become obsolete as new technologies and processes are implemented.
3. People are often reluctant to update documentation because they don’t want to take the time to do it properly, or they’re afraid of making mistakes.

Different Departments Have Different Standards

1. Different departments might have different goals. For example, the marketing department might be focused on increasing brand awareness, while the HR department might be focused on reducing turnover. As a result, they might have different standards for what counts as success.
2. Different departments might have different levels of resources. For example, the IT department might have a larger budget than the customer service department, so they might be able to invest in more sophisticated knowledge management systems.
3. Different departments might have different levels of expertise. For example, the sales department might be more familiar with the company’s products than the customer service department, so they might have higher standards for what counts as product knowledge.

Documentation Clean-up: An Expensive and Time-Consuming Process

1. The company may not have a good handle on its knowledge management and thus may be unable to quickly and easily find the root cause of the problem.
2. The company may need to bring in outside experts to help diagnose and solve the problem, which can be costly.
3. Once the problem is fixed, the company may need to put processes in place to prevent it from happening again, which can also be time-consuming and expensive.

How to Scale Knowledge Management Effectively with Technology

Companies can achieve scale by layering in technology. Automation and artificial intelligence can support management and search. It can help workers stay informed while performing tasks by providing access to information that would otherwise be unavailable, automating repetitive tasks, and making recommendations based on past behavior and insights. This leads to increased efficiency and productivity and reduced costs.

Automated knowledge assistance inside Notion

Conclusion

Knowledge management can be challenging for companies, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right technology, namely AI and automation, companies can scale knowledge management effectively and efficiently.

• Documentation Clean-up: Documentation clean-up is the process of identifying and removing outdated or inaccurate documentation. This can include reviewing documentation for accuracy, updating documentation to reflect changes in procedures or processes, and deleting obsolete or unnecessary documentation.

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