Why Should You Consider Owning A Team Knowledge Base For Remote Working Culture?

Modern collaboration no longer takes place in an office from nine to five. Before 2020, about 70% percent of people worked from home at least once a week and by June 2020, more than 40% of employees in the States were working from home full-time.

No matter where your employees are working, they must have access to the information required to do their jobs efficiently. In remote work, you can no longer depend on being able to walk down the corridor and ask a coworker a question, which is why it is important to make all information conveniently accessible with knowledge management software. Choosing the right one for your organization can be tricky, so make sure you explore everything the market is offering.

There are numerous benefits to owning a team knowledge base for remote working culture, but for the purposes of this post, we’re going to focus on 5 of the most important ones.

Access To Knowledge Anytime Anywhere

In companies that adopt a flexible work model, which allows staff members to work where and when they are most productive, a cloud-based knowledge base allows everyone to access company knowledge the moment they need it from any location in the world.

A knowledge base is important when team members need to access time-sensitive information. For instance, when a remote customer service representative is helping a customer and needs to resolve the issue quickly.

Improved Productivity

The result of being able to access important company information from wherever they are and on whatever device they are using results in increased operational efficiency, reduced costs, reduced duplication of effort, and an outstanding employee experience which, in turn, positively affects the customer experience.

Research has found that employees spend about 20% of their working hours looking for information in unorganized repositories, cluttered inboxes, and by asking their colleagues.

A knowledge base provides a single, centralized location for all of the information and knowledge. No more going through hundreds of emails or scrolling through old Slack messages; a knowledge base will make sure you spend less time looking for information and allow you to focus on actually doing your job.

Improved Employee Engagement

Remote workers can feel especially isolated, which is why you should do everything you can to engage them. Employees who feel engaged tend to produce better quality work and are more likely to stay with the company in the long run.

One way to keep your remote workforce engaged is to make company knowledge easily accessible through a knowledge base. This demonstrates that your company values transparency which, in turn, builds trust. Remote employees will feel more invested in the company’s overall success when they feel like part of the system and can see what others are working on.

In addition, when employees trust their company, they are more likely to share their own knowledge. Modern knowledge bases have collaboration features, so employees can like or comment on posts and documents, follow contributors and topics, ask questions, etc.

Regardless of whether your team members are in the office, working remotely or in different countries, a knowledge base will allow them to easily share ideas, collaborate, and feel that their opinions are valued.

More Efficient Employee Training

When the employees operate and interact online from different locations in the world, employee training must also be done online. Holding separate online training sessions for each new employee via tools like TeamViewer or Skype can take lots of time.

Instead, the employee training process can be done through the company knowledge base. This part, as any other, can contain all the materials a new employee needs to learn.

Prevent Loss Of Valuable Knowledge

As workers leave the company due to job change, maternity leave, or retirement, you risk losing valuable knowledge these employees possess. This can have a long-term negative effect on the rest of the workforce who depended on that knowledge in order to do their jobs properly.

A knowledge base can help you prevent this by providing an easy way to capture knowledge. It also allows employees to document every protocol they develop, the content they create, and every project they complete, making transferring information and tasks very simple.

Final Thoughts

A successful transition to remote work requires the right tools and a knowledge base that is a great way to manage your remote teams and ensure your employees remain engaged and productive.

All you need to do is create an effective knowledge-sharing strategy and invest in a comprehensive knowledge management system. By doing this, you will be rewarded with better productivity, increased employee satisfaction, and improved customer experience.

By: Samanta Acuna
Samantha Acuna is a writer based in San Francisco, CA. Her work has been featured in The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and Yahoo Small Business.