Stin Mattu | Product Marketing Manager | KCSv6 Certified Trainer | Self Confessed Knowledge Geek
The return to work after the holiday season is always an interesting period. Catching up with conversations about what we got up to with family and friends, debates about the standout shows or movies that entertained us and for some, discussing the changes we would like to make (and hopefully stick to) around our health.
While I fire up the blender, pack it up with fruits and the latest discovered superfoods for my super healthy smoothie, here’s some food for thought about the elements that make our work as lean and productive as possible.
Most of us will hit the ground running in the coming weeks, gearing up for the next initiative that has been given the green light for the next financial year. While doing this, take the opportunity to think about the health of your current processes and tools, what could you do to improve their efficiency too.
This is something that we should be doing regularly to get the best out of every aspect of support that we provide for staff to able to deliver outstanding results, think of it as essential maintenance.
In the realm of knowledge, ensuring content is kept true and well-structured so users can find the right answer at the right time, makes a world of difference. One way of achieving this is through adopting KCS, making relevant information available quicker and evolving articles through regular usage. Empowering users to be part of the content creation and improvement process builds a culture of collective ownership while still having safeguards in place to control quality and accuracy. If you would like to learn more about KCS, take a look at how we can help you build training and adoption programs here.
Another way to get the best out of your existing knowledge, is by utilizing the decades of KM experience we have at Upland to set up a Knowledge Health Check program to keep the knowledge management machine well oiled.
Our experts have designed a program that will help you assess not only articles but also accessibility and all the geeky back-end stuff knowledge managers love to get stuck into but just don’t have time to work on.
If you’ve read my previous blog ‘Who Needs Knowledge?’, you’ll know how important enterprise knowledge can be to the success of an organization. If implementing a KM strategy elevates the opportunities for success, maintenance is the next step to ensure that you continue to get the best results. Just like a successful exercise plan, looking to address the key areas first always helps set a strong foundation to continue making progress.
Once our Senior Knowledge Consultants have completed the initial assessment, they will work with you to create a bespoke plan of action to address the pain points you may be experiencing, breaking them down in to stages to complete over the year. Like personal trainers at the gym, they will help you find the areas that require attention along with the plan to get your knowledge in shape, the difference is they won’t ask you to do 100 sit ups or hold the plank position for minutes at a time.
Just as you would in the gym, completing the first stage with regular check ins with our experts and seeing the results will give you the motivation to reach your goals.
When you start seeing results, unlike diets and body transformations, sometimes the improvements you have made to your KM program aren’t highly visible to those who are not utilising knowledge as part of their work, especially at an executive level. To overcome this next challenge, the Knowledge Health Check also includes dedicated sessions at key stages where we work with you to present your progress to key stakeholders.
Showing that the investments made in your KM strategy are helping users become more productive is the best way to elevate knowledge management as a key initiative for continuous improvement across organizations. If health is wealth, then a healthy knowledgebase gives you a wealth of knowledge allowing you to spend time on the things that will grow your organization.
Before I drink this florescent green mixture in my blender, I just want to finish by letting you know, at Upland, we want to be a part of your successful KM program and as the old saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. To get your knowledge in shape for the year ahead, contact us and let us be your dream team partners for success in 2022 and beyond.