Creating effective enterprise knowledge flows at KMWorld 2022

As companies begin to grow, maintaining effective knowledge flows becomes increasingly complex; knowledge management, the solution for remedying unproductive knowledge flows, can provide tools and avenues that change the way knowledge is transferred, stored, and accessed.

In the session, “Transforming Knowledge Flows” at KMWorld 2022, Bethany Brown, knowledge management specialist for Resonance Global, illustrated how databases can become critical for housing knowledge. Brown clarified, though, that a database must be maintained and managed to best serve knowledge flows for an enterprise, while simultaneously targeting the wants and needs of employees.

“Knowledge tools are only a piece of the puzzle,” said Brown. “One lesson I learned in being hyper-focused on databases is that I lost touch with the human aspect in pushing out engaging information. As your technology becomes more sophisticated, engaging on the human level becomes more important.”

Brown continued, stating, “databases and libraries are only a fraction of what people need to learn. It requires a lot of focus in giving people what they need, when they need.”

While it’s certainly critical to engage on the human level to promote streamlined knowledge flows, Brown said that maintaining the database of knowledge is nearly as significant.

Embracing consistency in entries/updates into the database aids in aligning staff objectives with key responsibilities. To stay on top of that, facilitating update workshops, designating an owner to keep track of the databases, and embedding it into existing processes all work toward database maintenance.

Training is also necessary for optimizing knowledge flows, according to Brown. Accessible, on-demand training for new staff and training sessions during staff orientation lessen the impact of on-boarding as it relates to knowledge flows.

Through refreshers, Brown explained, employees can be regularly updated on knowledge tools and databases, improving knowledge flow. Reaching out to teams to conduct an overview and answer questions during regularly scheduled meetings is a way to implement refresher strategies.

“Blasts,” or ways to get staff motivated and excited, can consist of email inputs from databases, stories for newsletters from entries, and communicating to appropriate audiences, Brown stated.

KMWorld returned in-person to the J.W. Marriott in Washington D.C. on November 7-10, with pre-conference workshops held on November 7.

KMWorld 2022 is a part of a unique program of five co-located conferences, which also includes Enterprise Search & Discovery, Office 365 Symposium, Taxonomy Boot Camp, and Text Analytics Forum.