Social media platforms from Facebook to Snapchat are an integral part of everyday life for many people and businesses. They let everyone communicate with each other. It’s a principle that leads to successful knowledge management at companies because it motivates employees to preserve and share knowledge. It’s a fact businesses can use to their advantage by uncovering and making useful the knowledge that lies hidden throughout the company.
Social media gives everyone the ability to discover knowledge and contacts as they exchange information and collaborate, making it an ideal complement to knowledge management. It’s no longer unusual in any way to post one’s thoughts and knowledge, participate in discussions, ask questions, and leave comments. If you want to know something, you’ll frequently find the answer on social media. There are practically no limits to what can be discovered. As such, employees also have a desire to connect with one another and share in the knowledge of others. The main focus is sharing experience and expertise within the company.
Understanding knowledge management as a social medium
All too frequently, employees have a difficult time finding knowledge in internal wikis or traditional document management solutions, so they prefer not to use these knowledge management options. The benefits are simply not there, or they are difficult to recognize. Knowledge management the social media way offers a strong motivation to use the knowledge management system, since knowledge is easy to share and easy to find. By providing knowledge, one can make a name for oneself on the company’s social network.
Creating an open corporate culture
Social media are open to nearly anything. That motivates people to share freely when they are there. To ensure people are open to knowledge management and motivated to use it, they need freedom, time, and software that’s easy to use. When these elements are available, employees are glad to share what they know and strengthen the pool of knowledge, which often leads to a company’s success. Companies should take measures to assure quality by cleansing, validating, and keywording the collected knowledge. The following benefits are obtained from the knowledge management assets that result:
- Existing knowledge becomes visible, and an organizational memory is established
- Everyday knowledge becomes easier to document
- Employees become confident that they can find the information they need
- Objectives are easier to achieve due to the available knowledge
In addition, using knowledge becomes more efficient for departments such as support. The social media managers in the organization are also able to access the validated knowledge and post statements that are up-to-date and in alignment with the company’s values. The sales staff can obtain information on recent developments in preparation for a customer appointment without having to click through web portals or conduct lengthy telephone conversations. It’s easy to see how knowledge is one of the most important resources a company possesses. Collecting it and making it available is one of the keys to making any business successful. A combination of social media and knowledge management allows knowledge to be efficiently gathered and managed. That motivates employees to share knowledge, and once the quality check has been performed, they can easily find it in the system.
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