If your business is about problem solving, chances are you’ve solved the bulk of those problems before. A good knowledge base will help you stop reinventing answers.
I think most people find creating a new knowledge base, or bringing multiple sources together in a single database, so overwhelming that they decide to stick with their less efficient system. This guide will make this sometimes thankless job a bit easier by showing you how to get started, keep the content clear and concise, and keep the ball rolling. It also explains the benefits of monitoring and analyzing how users interact with your knowledge base.
Before you start
Choose Your Weapon.
I’m assuming you have a knowledge base product installed, but aren’t using it effectively. It could be a wiki, a third-party knowledge management system, or even a collection of well-organised and maintained Word documents. Some of my ideas may work fine with your existing system, while others may need to be adapted to suit your knowledge base and/or circumstances.
Who’s Your Audience?
Who is the documentation for-- your team, or the people you support? The language you use may be different depending on who needs to understand it.
If you are writing for your end-users, spend some time with them. Find out how they already do things, what they could do more effectively, and what they don’t know how to do. Interview them, observe them, and don’t take negative feedback personally.
Understand
When you take on the communicator role, you need to understand what you’re
In those days, there was no escalation chain. It was just a handful of support staff and the engineers.
Now engineers are notorious for communicating in jargon and acronyms. They document with diagrams and long sentences. That’s okay for the design and development teams who understand it, but it was like a foreign language to me.
Over the years, I‘ve learned a lot about networks and systems. I’ve also decoded reams of engineer-speak to create documents that both my support colleagues and our users could understand. I’ve always found that documenting procedures helps me remember them. And having an easy step-by-step reference to follow can really take the heat out of a stressful situation - no matter what industry you’re in.
Why we need it
In my experience, the knowledge base is sometimes overlooked and often the last thing to have resources allocated to it. Instead, there may be multiple Word documents with overlapping details and obsolete information, or staff members with critical information locked in their own minds.
I measure the latter with a “truck factor”-- how much trouble your organization would be in if that person was hit by a truck (or went on vacation). It’s a fairly common metric, and is used a lot in industries that provide operational support.
A good knowledge base helps improve relationships. If it’s written well it can bridge communication gaps not only between departments, but also between the business and its clients. It reduces the time new staff spend in training, improves incident management, and helps you uncover automation opportunities via online self-help.
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