One of the main goals of knowledge management systems is simply to make it easier for businesses and other organizations to share information and to make sure organizational knowledge is freely available to those who need it. But once a good knowledge system is in place, it’s only natural to begin thinking about the next step: How can knowledge management be used to improve the business and make it more competitive in the marketplace? This can be a challenging issue to tackle, but there are a few approaches that some companies have found useful.

Employee Productivity and Happiness

First, there is the simple fact that a good knowledge management system makes workers more productive. When an employee doesn’t have to search through mountains of data to find the information he or she needs, this frees up time for other things. In general, the more readily accessible the knowledge is, the more productive the worker will be.

But there are related benefits to go along with this. Employees with effective and easy-to-use knowledge management systems are liable to be happier in their jobs. Let’s face it: Poor knowledge management can cause great frustration among workers who are just trying to complete their daily work. But when they know the company has set up an appropriate knowledge infrastructure, that frustration goes away and they are liable to have more company loyalty.

In this light, it may be useful to point out that even if the time freed up by effective knowledge management doesn’t lead to greater productivity (i.e., because the workers use that time for nonproductive activities), it’s still a good idea to have one in place so that employees have greater job satisfaction.

Fewer Cut Corners

Though we like to think that all members of a company always put in their best work, the simple truth is that this is not always the case. People are wont to cut corners where they think they can get away with it. It’s just human nature. And when a company has no knowledge management system or an inefficient one, it makes it more likely that people within the company will not put in their best work. Rather than digging through the data to find what they need, they are liable to elide that element of their work and move on to something else.

Better customer service

For customers dealing with employees either on the sales front or in post-sale customer service, one of the most frustrating things is dealing with a representative of a company who is apparently not very knowledgeable about the company’s offerings, workings, and policies. When information is freely available to all workers, it projects the appearance that all employees are well trained and up to date on company matters.

Meanwhile, some companies find it useful to give customers access to some aspects of their knowledge management system. Such systems have to be well managed, of course, as a poor presentation can hurt a company’s image, but when done well, this can greatly improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.