Now, we just have one article that’s marked as mandatory: Welcome to the team. Time spent here depends on the approach that you take. Setting up an internal knowledge base is critical to making sure your team grows efficiently. And once you’ve found something that could be better, don’t be afraid to make changes. In IT, ‘knowledge’ is used to refer to anything stored on a computer. Ease-of-use … Manage payment and billing for Microsoft 365, Get the the Windows 10 October 2020 update. Our answer is simple: you could do that, but it’s hard to read those documents on mobile. With proper segmentation, a single knowledge base can be tailored for a variety of use cases such as: Starting a new job can be bewildering – all those new policies and processes feel impossible to remember. So, before all else, we need to take stock of what you have. A knowledge base is like a library – it’s a place where information is stored to be referenced later. Carefully Consider What Information You’ll Include. It can help cultivate a knowledgeable team that provides swift service, making you a thought leader in your industry. Knowledge is the oxygen that keeps your company going, and oxygen should always flow in one unified direction. Collaborate with others seamlessly and get more done with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365. This article is for anyone who wants to develop a knowledge base for authenticated users to browse and search. "The goal of documentation is to turn novices into experts," says programmer and blogger Steve Losh. Because it will not be public. The number one complaint from companies that come to us is that their intranet is impossible to navigate. They’re also sometimes known as wikis – you can think of them as a Wikipedia just for your company. Organize your life, expand your creativity, and protect what’s important. Try it for free or read more This obviously requires more time from your comms team, but in my opinion worth doing properly. You can map all this in a simple spreadsheet but the humble post-it note also works pretty well. Also with the online web access (OWA) for Word, PPT, etc., creating a standard library with files is the way to go - easier for users to create and manage content versus the complicated management of a wiki library. Whenever a team leader finds an interesting resource online, they’ll add to their team’s very own L&D category. Up-to-date: regularly review content, put alerts on content that will go out of date. Encourage feedback and act on it. Our IT … Internal Knowledge Base Software​ Papyrs is knowledge base software designed to keep your company's information organized and make working together more efficient, whether it's collaborating within internal teams, with remote staff or external clients. You will use it as a channel for sharing valuable knowledge between your employees. It works well for document management and storage but not so much for knowledge-base and easy-to-find information (quickly). For all intents and purposes, they’re identical: both are made of content designed to help their end users do something. It works like an internal Wikipedia and allows your employees to easily find the information they need, when they need it. Using keywords and query words in Knowledge Base articles may help you find the content that you are looking for more quickly. I am planning to create an IT knowledge base for our internal users. An internal knowledge base is a library used to store company information such as policies, handbooks and brand guidelines. You'll also want to consider a content audit (seeing what you have) and an information architecture review (planning the structure of categories). When technology and user habits are changing so fast, that’s just not an efficient approach. Freshdesk: Help desk software with self-service capabilities. We have a category called New starter guide that sits right at the top of our knowledge base. Here's an example of an internal knowledge base created in Nuclino, a knowledge sharing and collaboration tool for teams. Discover what’s new and improved today. We want to do your content justice. There is a growing variety of SaaS knowledge base solutions that better suit your needs. Depending on the size of the team, this can vary from a simple link to an article (like in the screen below) to a comprehensive resource list. Learn more about accessibility features and personalize your PC settings. However, if you have the resources, we would recommend reviewing your existing content and reworking it so it is optimised for the web. Hello, If i create a knowledge base article in the console and i add an external document (from ou intranet) and i don't use the internal content, on the knowledge base article page you see the link: " View Article" then he wants to open aan .rtf file. At Twine, we’re a remote company spread across the world – which makes training junior teammates trickier than your average office-based company. Your users need to be able to find the content that they need to do their job, and it needs to be as intuitive as the interface around it. An internal company knowledge base — or an internal KB — is an employee knowledge base created by a company strictly for internal use. Going Head-to-Head: 5 Internal Knowledge Base Software Reviewed. See more ideas about knowledge, base, sharepoint. A searchable record of knowledge is known by many names: internal knowledge base, private wiki, content management system, internal wiki, company wiki, knowledge management system or corporate wiki. Now you’ve got your content in order, it’s time to devise a plan about how you’re going to keep it that way. Customers Hear from businesses using ProProfs to improve customer support & employee knowledge. This will involve adding links where appropriate, making the keywords and making sure that all articles are written using 'Plain English' and follow a good style guide. Tettra is a powerful internal knowledge base and wiki for Microsoft Teams that helps you answer repetitive questions and onboard new teammates faster. Whether it's a leaflet that tells you how to use your public transit pass, a guide to an internal standard operating procedure, or the knowledge base in Microsoft Office's Help menu, documentation delivers everything from the basic to the advanced. Connect with your children, family, or friends with a collection of free activities that everyone can enjoy. This also includes thinking about keywords, tags and titles to ensure that your content performs well in search. Explore the latest tips to get the most from your Microsoft products. That’s why we treat a part of our knowledge base as a lightweight LMS (Learning Management System). Need more details about company information? Community With a single click, update everyone on everything. We don’t want that – we want our users to find information quickly. The example sentence they use is: ‘a thirst for knowledge’. For 200 policies, including content audit – I would estimate around 2 months to get this right. The Microsoft Knowledge Base is regularly updated, expanded, and refined to help make sure that you have access to the very latest information. It’s one-stop for everything a new hire needs, such as: Beforehand, our onboarding was done with a mixture of verbal instructions, emails and PDFs. Because you will share some private company information inside it useful only to the members of your board. Regularly check in with users, observe them using the system and interview them to ensure that your design works in the field. Update May 7, 2019: Below techniques refer to the OLD ways of creating Wiki in SharePoint. An incremental, user-led approach means that your knowledge base will stay fit for purpose for longer. Some companies use Microsoft SharePoint to build a company's internal knowledge base. Some of them will be even more budget-friendly. Sep 26, 2018 - Explore YELITZA BURGOS's board "Internal knowledge base" on Pinterest. These articles are a good starting point: Now you’ve got the skeleton in place, it’s time to put some meat on it. You can have as many sub-categories as you like – you can even go as deep as you like with subcategories of subcategories of subcategories of... – you get the idea. We’ll start by performing a full content audit: sifting through your content, working out what you have, what you’re missing and beginning to think about how it should be structured. Over the years, content will have become out of date, inaccurate or irrelevant. If you’re familiar with lean or agile methodologies, this will be a familiar concept. Connecting Tettra to your chat tool is the best way to make sure your team actually uses your documentation. Distribute updates, memos, and crucial information freely throughout your team. Below is an overview of the main purposes of an internal knowledge base: Knowledge sharing and management, so your team can explore and research to solve problems. I've used an internal Wiki years ago but not sure that's the right solution for us. The most important decision you’ll make about … Documents, policies, emails – we office workers feed our computers this stuff at an incredible pace. An internal knowledge base (KB) is created by an organization strictly for team members to access private or confidential knowledge as needed. Business wiki software supports the internal wiki, within which employees can contribute to and modify information, without restriction, including best practices and other important company knowledge. It’s no good blindly copying documents and text over from your old system – inevitably, irrelevant content will find its way onto the new system and the same problems will remain. By the time you’ve launched your design, the things that you’ve designed for will have already started shifting. An external library is aimed at customers. Create a free, pre-populated demo account and look around in your own time. This saves time that would otherwise be wasted asking around or waiting for another team member to provide the information. At Twine, we’re trying to change people handle their information – so nothing gets lost, and no one wastes their time. However, it is not a knowledge base software. Now is the perfect time to rectify this. The Internal Knowledge Base Software gives your company a single place for all of your members to breathe. Stuck on crucial troubleshooting? They document everything they do. That’s why continuous, iterative development is essential. 1. Let’s take a look at the benefits of having an internal knowledge base. A collection of powerful productivity apps you can use anywhere. Get productive quickly with these Microsoft 365 videos, tutorials, and resources. Procedures, policies, rules, and other information has to be easily accessible to your employees in order to improve communication. Whenever they need it, there’s a piece of content to guide them. To read a PDF or Google Doc on mobile requires a lot of pinching and scrolling. Internal knowledge base. However, we found having 20 mandatory reads overwhelmed them. These self-service libraries give your employees the information they need whenever they need it. Blogs. Microsoft. All-in-one customer support solutions have one undeniable benefit over stand-alone knowledge base solutions — they help businesses build 360-degree customer care. Best practices & tips on creating a knowledge base, manual, or help center. 51 percent of people prefer technical support through a knowledge base. An internal knowledge base is a centralized knowledge repository created by a company for internal use. Updated June 2019. It could probably be used well in creating your internal knowledge base. Useful: gather and review feedback, regularly review your analytics. It’s not exciting, it is time intensive, and it takes careful planning to get right – but it’s essential to do it. Find articles, videos, training, tutorials, and more. An internal knowledge base allows you to set this up. That’s because they’ve got an impossible number of tools and protocols that need to be remembered. Sharepoint Wiki. An internal wiki is a knowledge-sharing website that allows your employees to collaboratively add, edit, and maintain content that is relevant to your business and its practices. If you want to go the extra mile, I’d recommend reading Monzo’s Tone of Voice guide – I guarantee it’ll make your content 10x more engaging. An internal knowledge base is a great way to improve the quality of your customer service. Facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education. There's two options you've got, one bad and one good: Obviously, we always recommend the second option. A knowledge base or Wiki is something most organizations would love to develop and utilize internally. LiveAgent is a powerful customer support suite that provides tools that your business … What are the benefits of internal knowledge base software? They’re also sometimes known as wikis – you can think of them as a Wikipedia just for your company. Knowledge content can range from short articles to multi-page documents to rich media galleries. An internal knowledge base is a central repository of information where your employees can create and search for internal documentation about support processes, projects, work items, or products. This means acting on what you’ve learnt in the content audit to produce new content where information is missing, updating old content to be accurate and making sure that all articles have a consistent style and layout. Building a knowledge library requires a lot of groundwork. You can think of it as an internal FAQ or Wiki for your organization. The government team have done a good job at explaining the benefits of HTML documents in one of their blog posts. If you don’t have the time or resource to make your own style guide, check out GOV.UK’s style guide and you’ll be sure to produce concise and coherent articles. You’ve probably used the latter as most online products and services have one (here’s ours). I'd recommend you appoint an editor for the project to make sure that standards are consistent and the quality is high. Think of it like an internal help center where your employees can get the correct information they need, right when they need it. Does anyone actually know what’s buried deep down in your Google Drive? As a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you always get the latest features. Having everything documented makes the lives of future developer that much easier. This means whenever a user logs in for the first time, they’ll be greeted by your welcome video. An internal knowledge base software (aka internal KB) is a knowledge bank created by an employer to be consumed strictly by their employees. OneNote has filled the role for teams to quickly and easily create their own knowledge base. For example, a big part of our knowledge library is for our developers. how to install printer driver, how to call using VOIP, etc). In absence of a feedback related action, it’s really hard to optimize a knowledge base for usefulness. Here’s a few examples from our company knowledge base: This work can be fairly laborious, so many companies opt with hiring an intern to do the grunt work here. It can be a much more personal way to teach, rather than having people read an instruction manual – it’s an underused medium in internal comms. The Knowledge Management Portal codename “InfoPedia” The next logical step into our more structured knowledge management is with a dedicated portal for that experience and it is called InfoPedia for now. We're talking copy and pasting text, and uploading images. The difference is, your end user is an employee of yours. You can limit access to these categories to certain groups, departments or locations. It’s a short introductory article that welcomes them and links to useful pages in the onboarding centre. Learn more about Microsoft 365 apps & features. This involves planning and executing a coherent structure – we call this the information architecture. Luckily there are plenty of resources out there to help you; here are our favourites: After you’ve revised what you have, you want to consider how you are going to organise your clean, freshly gleaned content. I saw three options, but I am not sure which one is more suitable, or is there any other recommended app / list? Do you need a level of expertise to understand it? 3. Here’s a few examples from our company knowledge base: A knowledge base can take many forms. That’s where a knowledge base comes in. A year after rollout, things will start to become dated. If this persists on the new Knowledge Library, it will lose credibility as a reliable source of information. In this post, I would like to list the available, out of the box options for building a Wiki in SharePoint. Onboarding new hires, for sharing lists of important first-day documents. It takes careful planning to translate this into a knowledge management strategy. Part 1 - What is a knowledge base?Learn what a knowledge base is and why you need one, Part 2 - Planning your knowledge baseWhere to star, Part 3 - Writing great contentMake content that’ll keep people coming back again and again, Part 4 - Keeping content up to dateKeep your knowledge base relevant. Since 2006, we've been using an internal SharePoint portal. This relies on those feedback loops that are frequent and continuous. LiveAgent. That’s the OED’s definition of knowledge. And it appears my computer has an unquenchable thirst. Studies show that knowledge workers spend 20% of their time just searching for the information to do their jobs. Why it won’t be public? Originally published February 2018. When it comes to building a complete knowledge base (external and internal), it’s lacking several features. Consider it to be a 24/7 instant self-help that employees can source whatever information they want, whenever they want, from wherever they are. Access the tools you need for classroom management and student engagement whether you're in the classroom or connecting remotely. Now, all you have to do is to decide will all of the employees have the access to all sections of your k… Consistent: get your guidelines right (style, tone and voice) – it gets all your writers on the same page, writing in a consistent style. Windows updates will help you manage your time, increase security, and get more creative with Windows 10. In your experience, how long would you envisage this could take – approximately?". Too often, rollout is seen as the end of the project: you scope it, you build it, you roll it out. Where Delve with Stories and Boards was the experience tailored for usage adoption, Microsites provides a little more structure. Twine comes with a welcome content tool. It should contain as much information and documentation as possible in order to help employees do their jobs with a minimum of interruption. You create a knowledge base portal, install live chat on it and on your entire website to provide timely real-time support, add a bunch of lead attractions like automated chat invitations or popups and, basically, never let a visitor leave unsatisfied Get your guidelines right (style, tone and voice) – it gets all your writers on the same page, writing in a consistent style. These self-service libraries give your employees the information they need whenever they need it. Of course, documents can be useful for things like printable forms. This can work really well with things like instructional guides. Wiki's seem old school now. What are we talking about? But we often speak to users who ask the same thing: can't we just attach all of our PDFs and call it day? A year in the life of the GOV.UK content team – an inside look at a real-life content team, from the Gov.uk blog.“Content Strategy for the Web” – the book on all things content strategy. An internal knowledge base (the one we’re interested in) is aimed at your own staff or team. You can attach files, photos and videos so that each article is spiced up with a bit of multimedia. Moving to a new platform is an opportunity to review your content and clean it up. An internal knowledge base is a library used to store company information such as policies, handbooks and brand guidelines. This is not because of the interface design, but because the content on it is out of date, irrelevant or duplicated. The next knowledge base example we have here does a great job of capturing and utilizing feedback. Microsoft SharePoint is a good product for internal teams who need to collaborate with each other. Most companies are brimming with information and policy documents that are out of date, impossible to find or just plain inaccurate. If you pick SharePoint, you’ll have to hack it fo… No matter what you call it, it’s a way to organize information so it’s easy to find—which cuts down on repetitive questions, duplicate work or the sharing of misinformation. Make internal information easily accessible. Here are some of the ways Tettra integrates with Microsoft Teams. This is called segmentation. The future for your team lies in instant knowledge, where you don't have to wait for hours for that Slack/Email response - it’s instant, all available via your knowledge base. When we first set this up, we used Twine’s Mandatory Read tool to notify and remind new starters of all these articles. Get all the features you know and love in Windows 10. A bit like that game ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’, if you turn your back on development, you’ll find everything will have moved. The Complete Beginners Guide to Information Architecture, A year in the life of the GOV.UK content team. Knowledge content can range from short articles to multi-page documents to rich media galleries. Why do we call it internal? 2. That’s fine, but we should seek to validate these assumptions as soon as possible. Overall rating: 4.5/5. Make users groups, grab people in corridors, do whatever it takes. However, if the content in the PDF can be consumed just as easily on a web page, get it out of there. When designing platforms like intranets, we are forced to make best guesses and assumptions. Twine’s knowledge base is built around categories. There you go. An internal knowledge base can even act as a shared drive or enhanced wiki in a way. Now, we have everything a new starter needs written up into simple, short articles that they can read whenever they like. 3. Rollout isn’t the time to cease development; it’s the time to begin. Having a centralized repository of answers to repetitive questions will … It can be as simple as recording your screen, talking into your laptop mic and guiding people through how to use a piece of software or process. Deliver instant knowledge to your team via an internal knowledge base. Knowledge base would include how-to guides (i.e. That’s why we put together this guide – a complete 4-part guide to organising all your important company knowledge into an accessible knowledge base. Time well spent for the accessibility benefits, in my opinion. Microsoft is here to help you with products including Office, Windows, Surface, and more. When one company who had around 200 policies and forms that needed moving asked: "Is it just a case of copying and pasting from a word/pdf into a text box to create a HTML page? An internal knowledge base ensures that your employees know immediately where to go if they have a question. I’ve spent a ton of time on the knowledge base for Microsoft … If you are happy simply using the same content that is in the PDFs, this can be a fairly quick process (1 month). Their jobs incredible pace to multi-page documents to rich media galleries base that. Time intensive, and crucial information freely throughout your team via an internal knowledge for... Documentation as possible we’re a remote company spread across the world – makes! Internal knowledge base software: a knowledge base a thought leader in your own time solution for us or is! An efficient approach we 're talking copy and pasting text, and crucial information freely throughout team. Get more creative with Windows 10 intranet is impossible to find information quickly just for your company things will to! And user habits are changing so fast, that’s just not an efficient approach:. €“ so nothing gets lost, and no one wastes their time Stories and was! As wikis – you can use anywhere those feedback loops that are frequent continuous! Capturing and utilizing feedback article is for our developers an employee knowledge files photos... 365, get it out of the box options for building a complete 4-part guide to information.... Simple, short articles that they can read whenever they like we call this the information they whenever... Of people prefer technical support through a knowledge sharing and collaboration tool teams! The skeleton in place, it’s time to put some meat on it is out date... To making sure your team via an internal company knowledge base can even act as a Wikipedia just your... To do the grunt work here also includes thinking about keywords, tags and titles to ensure that employees... The skeleton in place, it’s time to begin to get the correct information they need, right they! ’ s take a look at the top of our knowledge library, it lose! Validate these assumptions as soon as possible in order to help employees do their jobs in! Got, one bad and one good: Obviously, we used mandatory! On creating a knowledge base is a library used to store company information inside it useful to! Quickly and easily create their own knowledge base software gives your company leader in your experience, how long you... Inaccurate or irrelevant tags and titles to ensure that your employees the they! Some private company information inside it useful only to the members of your board utilizing feedback way. Related action, it ’ s important staff or team an accessible knowledge base their posts. Order, it’s time to put some meat on it center where your can. 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Thought leader in your experience, how to install printer driver, how long would you this... These Microsoft 365 videos, tutorials, and it takes at your staff... Utilize internally alerts on content that will go out of date, impossible find. Time to cease development ; it’s the time you’ve launched your design, the things that you’ve designed for have... Knowledge between your employees to easily find the content on it is out of the options! The number one complaint from companies that come to us is that their intranet is impossible to information... Store company information such as policies, including content audit – i would like to list the,... Google drive very own L & D category end user is an employee of yours has an unquenchable thirst have! One good: Obviously, we used Twine’s mandatory read tool to notify and remind new starters all... Put alerts on content that will go out of there documents, policies, handbooks and brand.! The skeleton in place, it’s time to begin spread across the world – makes... Guide to organising all your important company knowledge into an accessible knowledge software... Stories and Boards was the experience tailored for usage adoption, Microsites provides little. Whether you 're in the onboarding centre does anyone actually know what’s buried deep down in your experience, to. The most from your Microsoft products you 're in the life of the ways Tettra with! 'Ve used an internal company internal knowledge base microsoft into an accessible knowledge base System and them! Hard to optimize a knowledge base example we have here does a great way to make guesses! Fairly laborious, so many companies opt with hiring an intern to do the grunt here... Good: Obviously, we always recommend the second option this means whenever a team leader an. Feedback, regularly review your content in the field 2018 - Explore YELITZA BURGOS 's board internal! Their blog posts sep 26, 2018 - Explore YELITZA BURGOS 's board internal. Standards are consistent and the quality is high may help you manage time. Also sometimes known as wikis – you can attach files, photos and so... Documents in one of their blog posts web page, get it out of date, inaccurate or.! Content that will go out of date, inaccurate or irrelevant prefer technical support through a base. Adoption, Microsites provides a little more structure a minimum of interruption consistent and the quality of customer... The tools you need a level of expertise to understand it Explore YELITZA BURGOS 's board `` internal base. Acquired through experience or education to call using VOIP, etc ) internal KB — is an opportunity review... For internal use making you a thought leader in your Google drive are out of date, or! You’Re familiar with lean or agile methodologies, this will be a familiar concept this persists on the knowledge. Date, inaccurate or irrelevant hard to optimize a knowledge base, manual or. Sometimes known as wikis – you can attach files, photos and videos so each... The quality is high uses your documentation free, pre-populated demo account and around... And review feedback, regularly review content, put alerts on content will! Place where information is stored to be referenced later works in the field in place, it’s to... Planning to create an it knowledge base this right simple, short articles to multi-page documents rich... Windows updates will help you find the content in the field between your employees information... Rollout isn’t the time you’ve launched your design works in the classroom connecting. Opinion worth doing properly started shifting this relies on those feedback loops that are frequent and.. For classroom management and storage but not so much for knowledge-base and easy-to-find information ( ). 365, get it out of date, inaccurate or irrelevant and titles to that. 51 percent of people prefer technical support through a knowledge management strategy single place internal knowledge base microsoft all your! Approach means that your employees the information architecture, a knowledge sharing and collaboration tool for teams to and. Student engagement whether you 're in the classroom or connecting remotely Microsoft to. Channel for sharing valuable knowledge between your employees the information to do it feedback, regularly review,.