What are the main challenges of knowledge management in companies?

The philosopher Francis Bacon was right when he said that”Knowledge is power”. So, the companies that manage to surpass the knowledge management challenges they take a step ahead of their competitors towards success in the market.

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Since primitive times, new discoveries have contributed to the development and organization of our society. From fire, through writing, the creation of paper to the institution of democracy, knowledge brought order to many processes in our society.

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Good knowledge management practices in companies allow organizations to create a database and information that help to guide work in the present and guide decision-making for the future.

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Of course, the expansion of technology also contributed to organizing and making valuable diagnoses to improve internal and market performance.

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Do you want to understand more about the concept and challenges of knowledge management? Continue reading the article and learn more about the topic.

What is knowledge management?

Knowledge management is a business management process whose objective is to create, manage, use, and share learning within an organization.

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Every company starts with an objective and its evolution in the market has important milestones, turning points, mistakes, successes, etc.

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All of this becomes knowledge based on the analysis of data that provides information that, in turn, contributes to consolidating processes and also to preventing the same errors from being repeated.

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With knowledge management, all materials are brought together in such a way that they are available to everyone and can be easily researched. The information collected to create the knowledge management base may include:

• Documentation;
• Processes;
• Good practices;
• Technologies;
• Advice;
• Continuous improvement;
• Experiences;
• Trainings;
• Information;
• Onboarding;
• People, among others.

What are the challenges of knowledge management in companies?

Both small and large companies face the same challenges when it comes to creating an organized and truly useful knowledge management system.

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Seeking solutions to these challenges helps improve the quality of customer service and provide a more satisfying experience.

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See what are the main points that must be overcome to create an optimized knowledge management system:

1. Systems with outdated technology

Is finding information in the system a complicated task, or does updating something take longer than it should? Consequently, hardly anyone uses the system to search for data and processes.

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This issue is related to outdated technology used to organize knowledge management. Older systems have a decentralized structure, which means not knowing if the information is stored on a network disk drive, in the cloud, or in one of the databases.

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So, the knowledge management challenge at this point is find the right tools to create a centralized and interconnected structure for storing information.

2. Employee engagement

Another of the challenges of knowledge management is in relation to employee engagement.

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The first step in this process is to generate knowledge. So, if a project ends and no report is made to document errors, successes, and results achieved, learning is lost.

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Therefore, team leaders must give clear guidelines to their employees and check that they are being complied with. Coupled with a modern system that is easy to access and update, this challenge can be overcome, strengthening company culture.

3. Accessibility of information

Overcoming the knowledge management challenge No. 1 and modernizing the system structure, it is important to be aware of accessibility of information inside it.

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The organization of information is a fundamental stage that can be divided between departments so that everyone creates their folders and subfolders within a well-designed tool to host company data.

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The accessibility of the system also includes security features such as encryption and access control to ensure protection and allow only authorized users to enter the system.

Benefits of knowledge management

Overcoming knowledge management challenges brings important results, such as reducing the time spent searching for information in 35% and increased productivity between 20% and 25%, according to a report produced by McKinsey Global Institute.

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In addition to these, creating a culture of shared learning also has other benefits, such as:

• speed in decision-making;
• improvement in the way knowledge is provided and accessed;
• encouraging collaboration in the creation of new business strategies;
• ease of communication between company sectors;
• more capacity to analyze data and extract qualified information;
• protect system information with advanced security technology;
• optimize refresher and onboarding training in the company.

3 good knowledge management practices in companies

Now that you know the challenges and what you can achieve with this job, we have put together some good practical tips for knowledge management in companies.

1. Encourage knowledge exchange

To have a rich knowledge management base, encourage a culture of knowledge exchange. Create encouraging messages and publicize system updates so that the entire team is up to date with the company's news and achievements.

2. Support the creation of work models

Reports, spreadsheets, and presentations can follow standard models, facilitating the organization of knowledge. Standardization helps not to forget important details, while each sector has the freedom to include data specific to its area.

3. Disclose the existence of the tool

The knowledge management system is a rich resource of the company, so leaders must always remember its existence and Encourage the team to use to do the research. It's even worth creating an internal newsletter with the highlights of the month, for example.

More knowledge more alignment in the company

Overcoming knowledge management challenges and creating a culture of sharing helps to ensure the alignment of processes, which facilitates the training of new employees, especially when it is necessary to outsource an area.

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A Cloud Humans can be your partner in this work, connecting your company with professionals empowered by automation and managing content in partnership to guarantee humanized, fast and assertive service or your money back.

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‍Talk to our experts who are available to present our solution and show how much it can help them achieve their business objectives.