Maximizing productivity with knowledge management tools and solutions

Who’s already in the loop, and who still needs the latest updates? It can be tough to keep your whole team on the same page—especially in a remote or hybrid workplace.

Knowledge management solutions make it simpler to organize, communicate and update critical information for all employees, even when they’re distributed around the world. Explore how various knowledge management tools can support employee collaboration, boost productivity and maintain transparency in your business.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management tools help companies gather, store, organize and disseminate information among teams.

An effective knowledge management system (KMS) makes critical information easily accessible to anyone who needs it. A business can use its KMS to efficiently distribute knowledge—such as operating procedures, product demos, HR policies, training programs and webinars—to relevant employees.

Why businesses need knowledge management systems

Your business’s most crucial information should be well-documented and readily available to all stakeholders. Knowledge management tools can help.

A good KMS makes it easier to transfer knowledge among employees, helping them understand their roles and responsibilities during onboarding, promotions and other transitions. A company can use a KMS to communicate its business goals, values and vision to employees. And with the right knowledge management solution, business leaders can streamline employee training, establish standardized processes and scale effective workflows.

By keeping employees informed and aligned, a knowledge management system strengthens working relationships, supports collaboration, improves transparency and boosts morale in the workplace—a win-win for everyone involved.

Types of knowledge management solutions

So your company needs a knowledge management system, but you’re not sure where to start. You can take your pick of platforms for knowledge sharing:

• Content management systems like WordPress
• Document management software like Dropbox and Google Drive
• Intelligent productivity platforms like Slack
• Internal wiki software like Confluence
• Project management tools like Trello

Choosing a knowledge management system

The right knowledge management solution for your company depends on the type of information you’re working with:

• Explicit knowledge: Information that’s well-documented and easy to transfer, such as knowledge found in onboarding paperwork, video tutorials or process documentation
• Implicit knowledge: Information that’s embedded into a routine or process, such as the steps involved in a specific workflow or task
• Tacit knowledge: Knowledge that’s best acquired through hands-on experience, such as people management strategies and skills

Document managers and content management systems are ideal for sharing explicit knowledge. On the other hand, project management and collaboration tools are better for implicit and tacit knowledge.

How to build an effective knowledge management system

Your organization’s knowledge management strategy should outline its approaches to gathering, storing and distributing information. Establishing a good KMS for your business involves:

• Identifying where to source necessary information
• Capturing knowledge in the form of documents, videos and images where possible
• Organizing, storing and maintaining documents to make them easy to find
• Finding ways to distribute knowledge across the organization
• Determining how employees will obtain and use certain information
• Putting security measures in place

Benefits and challenges of knowledge management

Adopting a KMS can lead to the following benefits:

• More efficient operations: With the right knowledge management tools, employees can spend less time chasing answers and more time tackling the important aspects of their job
• Enhanced productivity: When employees know how and where to find the information they need, they can complete tasks faster and with fewer errors
• Accountability: Good knowledge-sharing strategies can help teammates understand their responsibilities and deadlines and where to turn if they need help

But knowledge management solutions only work as long as employees participate. Your company should foster a culture of sharing, so employees are willing to freely exchange ideas, resources and strategies. And because storing critical knowledge in any software comes with some security risk, you’ll need a KMS with strong security features to keep sensitive information safe from unauthorized users.

Integrating knowledge management into daily operations

To get the most out of your company’s knowledge management system, it must be an integral part of the workplace.

Start by encouraging a culture of collaboration and sharing; avoid giving employees a reason to keep their best ideas to themselves. Reward individuals who share valuable knowledge with other teams and stakeholders. Lead by example by practicing transparency in your decision-making strategies. Transparency matters, according to a Slack-commissioned study, which found that 80% of employees want to know how decisions are made.

Knowledge management in practice

To improve information flow and knowledge sharing within your organization, keep the following tips in mind:

• Create a culture of open and transparent communication
• Establish simple processes and frameworks for knowledge transfer
• Involve other team members in your knowledge-sharing processes, and seek their feedback
• Focus on the most crucial and relevant types of information
• Invest in the right tools

The future of knowledge management with Slack

Slack’s business messaging platform goes beyond your basic team chat. With the right tools and know-how, you can use Slack for knowledge management across your organization.

Innovative knowledge management with AI

As a digital collaboration platform, Slack already serves as a searchable, accessible knowledge storehouse. With Slack AI, team members can harness artificial intelligence to find the information they need even faster in Slack.

Use AI-generated summaries of conversations in Slack channels and threads to stay up to speed. With Slack’s powerful AI search feature, you can ask questions related to specific Slack messages and get clear answers.

Building a knowledge management system with Slack

Slack helps remote and hybrid teams stay connected, organized and informed. Users can share knowledge and collaborate within Slack’s digital platform. Plus, Slack’s search features make information-finding quick and easy for anyone in a workspace.

Slack also integrates with a host of tools and third-party software, including productivity apps, document managers and content management systems. With Slack, you already have the building blocks for an effective knowledge management solution.

Knowledge management made easy with Slack

Slack makes it simple to capture, share and retrieve information in a user-friendly, centralized digital platform. And with the release of Slack AI, users can leverage the power of artificial intelligence to find and understand information even faster. If you’re laying the foundation for your company’s knowledge management system, get a head start with Slack.