Best Knowledge Management Software

Knowledge management tools are used by companies that wish to make the most of their employees’ varying levels of skill and experience. The software provides a common gathering place for teammates and remote coworkers to benefit from processes and workflows that have been documented, such as onboarding documents, frequently asked questions, and more.

These tools are especially helpful when onboarding new employees and as well as when saying goodbye to veteran employees. No one likes repetition, and knowledge management tools keep the old to inform the new. They help keep large teams on the same page, decreasing the chances of misinformation and easily avoidable errors.

Key Benefits of Knowledge Management Software

• Easily organize large volumes of various data types
• Access advanced insight, knowledge, and experience over time regardless of role
• Encourage collaboration through accessibility of information
• Give or strengthen structure of standard processes
• Increase communication among disparate departments
• Retain company knowledge after specific intelligence has moved on
• Provide a self-service knowledge base for users of a product or service

Knowledge management software has both internal and external use cases. Some companies use knowledge management software as an internal database for employees to reference. Other businesses will use knowledge management software as an external reference for customers.

Retain Information — Knowledge management solutions are often used to onboard new employees. Administrators and HR coordinators can keep training presentations, printable document files, dress code and conduct handbooks, and more in folders that are accessible by members of the company. This decreases the frequency with which employees reach out to ask questions such as which holidays they receive off and just how casual are casual Fridays.

In the same vein, long-term employees who retire or move on to their next opportunity don’t take all of their knowledge with them. The questions they’ve answered and the files they’ve uploaded remain accessible within the tool until an administrator deems them outdated or unnecessary. This is especially helpful for companies with unique processes that rely on informed employees to help troubleshoot and solve problems. With a knowledge management tool, the expertise remains with the organization.

Efficiency — Organized, documented knowledge means less time spent asking and answering questions and more time working on the tasks or projects at hand. With so much company information available digitally, employees spend less time having coworkers walk them through explanations manually. With open forums and FAQ pages, those in need have an abundance of eyes on their questions. More people having access to a question means a faster response time, as well as more voices to weigh in on a solution.

Users can upload documents and files to the knowledge management solution straight from their file storage or digital asset management accounts. Integration with these types of software products increases efficiency because users don’t have to perform the processes manually.

Users can also tag coworkers within comments on files or generate a link to send others straight to a document they need to see. This saves the time spent searching through information, allowing users to find and bookmark files quickly, keeping them for future reference.

Customer Service — An FAQ is named such because customers typically have the same questions about a company or product. A knowledge management system can serve as an easy customer service tool where customers can look up frequently asked questions or how-tos on a company’s website. This method of customer service can prove to be much cheaper than a help desk and can drive down call traffic.

Task Management — Knowledge management tools help users figure out how to reach goals, and some do so with specific task management features. Although task management software is a category all its own, it is also a functionality that lies within multiple other types of software. Many knowledge management tools have features that can provide transparency into project or task completion. Tagging features within documents allows users to pass files or documents on to those whose attention they require.

Businesses from across the spectrum utilize knowledge management software to organize their internal practices and external knowledge bases.

Onboarding Employees — Knowledge management software is also helpful in the process of onboarding and training new employees. Instead of taking hours out of the day to respond to every new thought and question that arises, new employees can look to knowledge management software for answers. They can search within the tool to see if the information they seek has been documented before. This encourages an environment where employees seek answers first and ask questions later.

Veteran Employees — Knowledge management software helps companies retain information that valued employees, managers, and other company members have developed and recorded over time. This is useful for businesses that don’t want to lose or misplace knowledge when an employee inevitably moves on to another company or to a role within the same company. Information can be archived so even old, outdated information can be stored for future reference.

Customers — Customers with questions about a product or service will often turn to a company’s website for a knowledge base on their offering. This knowledge base can be built by the company themselves or with additional insight from other customers. Customer insight is crucial since they share the same perspective and can provide other customers with advice with that perspective in mind.