Knowledge management is a specific process connected with a company’s organization. It implies systemic finding, gaining, processing, structuring, and further using the business’s entire information (knowledge).
The knowledge management system is meant to preserve this knowledge so that working teams of the project can use it. Most companies use the strategy of KM to make the working process easier by providing access to different spheres of information that may be necessary during the working process.
Purpose of knowledge management
As mentioned above, a system of knowledge management is widely used by businesses to provide the necessary information to all the team members. It is also helpful while different processes are connected with work with knowledge. Knowledge management makes the procedure of sharing information, processing, and preserving it easier and faster as it subordinates to particular algorithms and tactics of dealing with it.
Taking the knowledge gained from different sources may structure it in a single huge database where all the parts are connected and can be easily found.
Benefits of using knowledge management
From the main functionalities of KM, we may observe the benefits for the business:
- Effective access to information. A rather obvious point as the structured knowledge system gives the ability of its orderly usage, which is vital, especially for huge companies.
- Fast decision-making. This point comes from the previous, as logic dictates, that effective access allows obtaining the information necessary at any time so that the working discussions can conclude quicker.
- Optimized training. A very useful side, when we are talking about the training of new members of the working team, as they are already provided with the source, where they can take everything they need.
Types of knowledge management
The KM can be divided into 3 main sub-categories:
- Explicit knowledge. This type mostly covers themes that are easy to document. For example, that can be instructions, raw data, or even some graphic parts (f. e., diagrams).
- Implicit knowledge. This type is connected with specification, as it takes explicit knowledge and puts it in a particular ‘surrounding.’ If the first type is the information itself, this type explains what is about to happen when you use it and how to use it properly.
- Tacit knowledge. This knowledge cannot be taken in a common scientific way, as it is mostly connected with occasions and people’s peculiarities. This information can only be gained from life experience or someone’s reports.
Knowledge management process
The system of KM performs in 3 main stages:
- Creating and gaining the information. The obvious stage implies the existence and appearance of the knowledge we are about to work with.
- Organizing information. The stage is connected with all the sides of knowledge’s processing (structuring, verifying, cooperating).
- Sharing the information. The last stage is responsible for information exchange between the team members, access to it, and even training the new staff members.
To perform all these steps, the knowledge management tools are used.