The Definitive Guide to Knowledge Management
Discover the Knowledge Management definition, its benefits, tools, and a step-by-step guide to implementing a knowledge management system.
The Definitive Guide to Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management helps organizations turn information into a valuable asset. Instead of letting knowledge sit idle or become scattered, effective Knowledge Management is a practical approach to capturing, organizing, and using an organization's collective expertise.
It transforms your business's information flow into a structured resource that drives better decisions, faster problem-solving, and improved efficiency.
In this guide, we'll explore what Knowledge Management really means, why it's worth your time, and how to do it. You'll learn practical strategies for collecting, organizing, and sharing information effectively.
We’ll also look at how InvGate Service Management can support your knowledge efforts with tools designed to streamline the process and maximize the value of your knowledge.
Let’s begin.
What is Knowledge Management?
Knowledge Management is the practice of gathering, organizing, sharing, and maintaining an organization's information and expertise to ensure that critical knowledge is easily accessible.
In this context, “knowledge” refers not only to data and documents but also to the collective experience, insights, and skills within the organization.
The ITIL 4 body of Service Management offers a clear purpose statement for it: “To maintain and improve the effective, efficient, and convenient use of information and knowledge across the organization.”
Here, “knowledge,” or a “knowledge asset”, is defined as “An organization’s specific information resource that is important for that organization’s operations and value co-creation.” In other words, knowledge is not just information; it’s information applied in a particular context.
A key part of this process is the knowledge base, a central repository where information is stored and organized for easy access. It helps catalog content, keeps information up-to-date, and allows employees to find solutions, improving decision-making and operational efficiency quickly.
It’s important to note that the Knowledge Management meaning has expanded over time. It now includes initiatives such as fostering knowledge-sharing cultures, leveraging collaborative technologies, and embracing digital transformation and AI-driven insights. Organizations now rely on a broader approach that allows them to continually refine how they manage and use knowledge to stay competitive and innovative.
Why is Knowledge Management important?
Knowledge Management helps organizations to effectively create, share, use, and manage the knowledge and information they have. This is important because:- It prevents "reinventing the wheel": Without it, people might repeatedly solve the same problems or make the same mistakes because they aren't aware that someone else has already addressed them.
- It aids decision-making: Managing knowledge ensures that people have the information they need to make informed decisions. This can lead to better outcomes and reduced risks.
- It preserves institutional memory: Staff turnover can have a devastating impact on an organization's knowledge base. Effective Knowledge Management practices ensure that vital information is captured and retained so that when employees leave, their knowledge doesn't go with them.
- It fosters innovation: When knowledge is shared and built upon, it can spark new ideas and drive innovation.
5 benefits of Knowledge Management
- Increases operational efficiency: This ITIL practice ensures everyone can access the information they need to do their jobs effectively, reducing confusion, streamlining processes, and making the organization more efficient. For instance, if all team members have access to standardized procedures, they can complete tasks faster and with fewer errors.
- Minimizes lost productivity: When information is easily accessible, employees spend less time searching for what they need and more time doing productive work.
- Empowers employees: It also provides a solid foundation for cross-training and employee skill development. When employees have access to the knowledge they need, they can take on more challenging work.
- Reduces operational costs: ITIL Knowledge Management can significantly lower operational costs by improving efficiency and reducing duplicated efforts. This allows organizations to allocate resources more effectively, investing in areas that drive growth and innovation.
- Speeds up onboarding processes: New employees can be onboarded more quickly when they can access the necessary information. This reduces the disruption caused by staff changes and allows the organization to maintain momentum. For instance, if a new hire can easily access training materials and company policies, they can get up to speed faster and start contributing sooner.
Types of knowledge
There are three main types of knowledge, each requiring a different strategy to be managed effectively. Applying a one-size-fits-all approach can be confusing and ineffective. Let’s break down the kinds of knowledge and see how to tackle their specific challenges.1. Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is deeply personal and is gained through years of experience and practice. For example, an IT professional's ability to solve complex technical issues often relies on tacit knowledge that isn't easily written down.
Capturing tacit knowledge is difficult because it's hard to articulate or document. To address this, mentorship programs, job shadowing, and interviews with key staff can help transfer this knowledge to others. These methods allow experts to pass on their insights in a more natural, hands-on way.
2. Implicit knowledge
Implicit knowledge is not officially documented but is understood through experience and participation. It’s embedded in the way things are done, like unwritten best practices or organizational norms. For instance, a team might follow certain best practices that aren’t officially documented.
Using process mapping can help make implicit knowledge visible by outlining workflows and uncovering the hidden steps people follow. Collaborative discussions and workshops can also surface this knowledge, allowing teams to share and formalize it.
3. Explicit knowledge
Explicit knowledge is the easiest to manage because it’s already documented and structured, like SLAs, knowledge base articles, and technical manuals. The main issue with it is keeping it up-to-date and relevant as systems and processes evolve.
Regularly reviewing and updating documentation helps keep explicit knowledge accurate. Establishing centralized repositories, such as Knowledge Management Systems, ensures that information is well-organized and easy to access for everyone.
The Knowledge Management process
A Knowledge Management strategy sets the foundation for effectively managing and sharing knowledge across your organization. Here's a breakdown of how to build it.1. Establish a Knowledge Management team
Start by forming a dedicated team responsible for overseeing the entire Knowledge Management process. This group will lead the initiative, ensuring that knowledge is captured, organized, and accessible. Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of team members, from knowledge managers to contributors, ensuring everyone is aligned on the goals.2. Conduct a knowledge audit
Before you can improve how you manage knowledge, you need to understand where you currently stand. A knowledge audit assesses existing practices, identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. This step helps map out what knowledge is available, who uses it, and where it resides.3. Build a business case
It’s important to justify the need for a Knowledge Management strategy to stakeholders. This is where you build a business case that outlines the benefits of implementing a structured process — such as improved decision-making, faster onboarding, and better collaboration. The business case should also highlight potential ROI and how this practice aligns with organizational goals.4. Choose appropriate Knowledge Management tools
A successful strategy depends on using the right tools. Whether it’s a knowledge base, an intranet system, or a collaboration platform, you must select Knowledge Management tools that meet your organization's needs. When choosing, consider factors like ease of use, integration capabilities, and scalability.5. Develop an implementation roadmap
With the tools in place, it's time to create a detailed implementation roadmap. This plan should include a timeline, milestones, and clear communication channels to keep all stakeholders informed. It’s important to phase the rollout to ensure smooth adoption.6. Automate the Knowledge Management process
Once your strategy is in place, you’ll need to automate as many parts of the process as you can to ensure that you’re constantly feeding and updating the knowledge base. A great idea to put into practice is building clear workflows to handle specific Knowledge Management tasks, such as approving and publishing articles in your knowledge base. A workflow helps with the approval and publication process, making sure no important steps are missed, therefore, ensuring the quality and relevance of your knowledge base. It adds structure and promotes efficiency.![How to Build a Solid Knowledge Management Process [+ 2 FREE Workflow Templates]](https://blog.invgate.com/hubfs/knowledge-management-process.jpg)
Knowledge Management use cases
A good Knowledge Management process can be versatile and powerful, and it can bring value to various departments, not just IT or tech support. Here are some other use cases where a well-structured knowledge process can make a big difference.1. Knowledge Management for IT support
In IT support, Knowledge Management can help handle incidents and manage technical know-how. A complete knowledge base can reduce ticket resolution time by allowing IT teams to access troubleshooting guides and technical documentation quickly. For recurring issues, the KMS provides a repository of known errors and fixes, enabling efficient problem-solving.2. Knowledge Management for HR
Knowledge Management in Human resources can help when it comes to onboarding, training, and internal policy management. A knowledge base allows HR to store important documentation — like training materials, employee handbooks, and compliance guidelines — in a place where employees can easily access it. This improves employee experience and ensures consistency in how information is shared across the organization.3. Knowledge Management for compliance and legal teams
KM helps compliance and legal teams stay up-to-date with changing regulations and policies. A centralized repository allows them to access legal documents, compliance updates, and guidelines easily, ensuring they meet regulatory requirements. Additionally, it allows organizations to track and audit their compliance processes effectively.4. Knowledge Management for customer service
Customer service teams deal with frequent queries and issues, many of which are repetitive. A robust Knowledge Management system helps by providing a centralized knowledge base where agents can quickly find accurate information, reducing resolution time. It also ensures customers have access to self-service options, improving satisfaction and freeing up agents to focus on more complex problems.ITIL Knowledge Management best practices
As we mentioned initially, Knowledge Management is an integral practice within the ITIL framework, designed to ensure that information is available to the right people at the right time.Below are some best practices for ITIL-aligned Knowledge Management.:
- Create a centralized knowledge repository - Implement a well-organized knowledge base to store and manage all relevant information. This helps teams find and use knowledge quickly. Categorization and tagging are essential for making knowledge accessible.
- Foster a knowledge-sharing culture - Encourage collaboration and make knowledge sharing a regular part of the workflow. In ITIL, the goal is to make knowledge available across the organization, allowing teams to learn from each other.
- Align KM with business goals - Your Knowledge Management efforts should support overall organizational objectives. This means defining clear goals for what you want your knowledge base to achieve, whether it’s faster incident resolution, better onboarding, or improved decision-making.
- Provide ongoing training and resources - Equip your team with the right tools and training to contribute to and utilize the knowledge base effectively. This can include workshops and regular updates on how to use the system.
- Regularly review and update knowledge - Knowledge becomes outdated if not maintained. Set up periodic reviews and encourage feedback from users to keep the knowledge base relevant and accurate.
- Measure Knowledge Management effectiveness - Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the success of your practices. Metrics like user feedback and time saved in resolving incidents can show where improvements are needed.
Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) framework
While ITIL provides a structured approach to Knowledge Management within IT Service Management (ITSM) there are other Knowledge Management frameworks.
Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) is a complementary methodology that focuses on how knowledge is created, maintained, and shared during service operations. It is particularly relevant in environments where support teams interact with customers frequently, such as service desks and technical support centers.
"Knowledge should be a quick question and answer. Somebody asked the question; here is the answer. And it should be easy to consume. I understand when you get into these more technical things, there are a lot of steps. But it should still be easy to consume. People don’t pick up technical manuals and read them. I mean, I’m sure a lot of people do that. But, when they are on a call with a customer, they can’t go back to their training, they don’t have time to read a full piece."
Liz Bunger, KCS Program Manager at Motive
Instead of treating Knowledge Management as a separate task, KCS integrates knowledge creation directly into the workflow and makes it a core part of day-to-day activities.
So, in KCS, knowledge is created during the support process. When technicians resolve an issue, they document the solution immediately in the knowledge base. This means every interaction contributes to the ongoing improvement of organizational knowledge. For example, if a common issue with a software update arises, the technician solving it would create or update an article with the solution, making it available for future incidents. By the way, this is something you can easily do with InvGate Service Management’s AI-powered functionality to draft knowledge articles out of a closed ticket!
One of the core principles of KCS is reusing existing knowledge whenever possible. If a solution already exists in the knowledge base, it should be referenced and reused rather than “reinvented.” However, if the existing article is incomplete or unclear, the technician updates or improves it during the process.
Using InvGate Service Management for Knowledge Management
Here's how InvGate Service Management can support and improve your Knowledge Management efforts:- Knowledge base: Centralize and organize your information with InvGate’s knowledge base. This feature allows you to store and manage all your articles, guides, and documentation in one accessible location, making it easy for your team to find and utilize important knowledge.
- Self-service portal: Empower users with the self-service portal, where they can access knowledge articles, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides. This feature helps reduce the number of support tickets by allowing users to resolve common issues on their own, improving overall efficiency.
- Workflow automation: Automate your Knowledge Management processes with workflow automation. As mentioned, the tool’s workflow module incorporates a template for your knowledge article’s approval process. It will help you maintain high standards and consistency.
- AI and Knowledge Management: This AI-powered feature turns help desk ticket resolutions into knowledge articles. Once you solve a ticket, click the “Generate” button, and InvGate Service Management uses generative AI to draft a new article based on the ticket details and solution. The process takes less than 30 seconds and allows you to review and publish new knowledge content quickly.
- Virtual Agent for Microsoft Teams: Another function within the AI Hub is the Virtual Agent for MS Teams, which can provide instant responses and suggestions based on the knowledge base without users having to leave the chat. The conversational experience makes knowledge more accessible and actionable.
In conclusion
With the right Knowledge Management strategy, teams can share insights, streamline their workflows, and make better decisions — all while ensuring the organization stays adaptable.
To wrap up, here are a few key points to remember:
- Knowledge Management increases operational efficiency by making information easily accessible.
- Different types of knowledge — tacit, implicit, and explicit — require tailored strategies for capture and sharing.
- A Knowledge Management process involves identifying, capturing, organizing, and sharing knowledge, as well as regularly reviewing and updating it.
Knowledge Management is much more than just a system for storing information — it's about creating a culture where knowledge flows freely and adapts to your organization's needs. Building a sustainable process that aligns with your organization's evolving goals will set the stage for long-term success.
Lastly, staying flexible ensures that your strategy can grow and shift with the changes in your business and industry: Knowledge Management thrives when it remains adaptable and collaborative.
Frequently Asked Questions
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