Essential Strategies For Capturing & Retaining Company Knowledge
Good strategies to retain knowledge in a company are essential for continuing success. In this blog post, we will explore three tried-and-true methods that businesses can use to ensure their knowledge is not only captured but also retained.
Keeping up with ever-changing trends and technologies while simultaneously protecting your intellectual property can be an overwhelming task for any business owner or leader. With the right strategies in place, however, it is possible to ensure that key pieces of knowledge are not only captured but also retained throughout the organization. In this blog post, we will explore three proven methods for preserving your company’s intellectual property and ensuring its long-term success.
Outline
1. Establishing robust storage systems
2. Implementing a comprehensive training program
3. Encouraging collaboration between departments
4. Having the right systems to store data in
Establishing Robust Storage Systems
Having an effective system in place to store all necessary documents, reports, and other data is essential for any business looking to protect its intellectual property rights. Invest time into researching which type of storage system would best suit your company’s needs and ensure that all team members are trained on how to use this system properly. Consider also investing in secure cloud storage as a backup option to help protect against data loss due to unexpected system failures or malicious attacks.
Implementing A Comprehensive Training Program
Offering comprehensive training programs for employees is another key component of knowledge retention. Not only does it allow you to share information with new hires easily, but it also helps to ensure existing employees stay up to date with the latest trends and technologies in your industry. When creating a training program, make sure that it is tailored specifically towards the type of knowledge your business requires — technical skills or customer service etiquette — so that your intellectual property can remain secure.
Encouraging Collaboration Between Departments
Encouraging collaboration between departments is another important step in retaining knowledge within your organization. By creating an environment that fosters open dialogue and cross-departmental cooperation, employees can easily share their expertise and generate innovative ideas that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. Additionally, having team members from all areas of the company participate in decisions related to intellectual property will help ensure that everyone’s input is considered when making critical decisions about what should be protected.
Having the right systems to store data in
Here at Computing Australia, our knowledge management needs are extensive. Suppose you consider that we have complex needs. In that case, we have our knowledge and are the custodians of client knowledge, so we needed to evolve a solution to help us stitch all this knowledge together in a usable way.
- We make extensive use of SharePoint to store knowledge base articles and guides.
- IT Glue is another important tool for retaining client information in a secure, easy to find way.
- We have our own ticketing portal which maintains a detailed record of all support transactions so that we can look back and learn from previous experience.
- Computing Australia is also developing a knowledge management solution that we call The Oracle KM (Knowledge Management)
The Oracle KM
We realised some time back that it is all well and good having copious amounts of documentation, but how do you get people to use it? People were still struggling to find what they needed and wasted a lot of time searching different systems for what they need. We found it easier to “ask a friend” than to spend time hunting. With this in mind, we developed The Oracle KM, which is a knowledge signposting system that helps people find what they want.
It is based on the understanding that people like to pose natural language queries such as “How do I set up a new user for client X”. Since that knowledge article exists in SharePoint, we devised a simple system that allows a user to ask the question and be pointed in the right direction. If you like, it is like asking a friend but is ubiquitous and readily available without bothering other people at work.
It still needs staff to invest in the documentation but it makes the process intuitive, and we like to look at it as “helping the future me” when this question comes around again. It is an investment in themselves and their colleagues.
Learn more about THe Oracle KM here: https://computingaustralia.com.au/the-oracle/
Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced world, businesses need to protect their intellectual property by implementing robust storage systems, offering comprehensive training programs, and encouraging collaboration between departments. By leveraging these techniques, organizations can ensure that their knowledge and expertise is captured and retained to long-term success.
For more information on how you can protect your company’s intellectual property, contact our team of experts today. We are here to help you make the most out of your business’s valuable assets!
Contact Chris on 0438 855 884 or email sales@computingaustralia.group
by The Computing Australia Group