5 knowledge management tools you need to know

Learning from past experience is one of the secrets to constant growth and evolution.

For companies, we can say that the importance of knowledge managementopens in a new tab (in Portuguese) is even greater. The many kinds of knowledge and learning of each employee are fundamental for future decisions and for carrying out the most diverse day-to-day activities and tasks.

But how do you move that knowledge from one employee to the whole team? Today, this is possible thanks to knowledge management tools, some of them free.

Do you use any of these knowledge management tools in your company?

What are knowledge management tools?

Knowledge management tools are means of collecting and sharing employees’ intellectual assets, or know-how, in order to increase companies’ productivityopens in a new tab and innovationopens in a new tab.

Basically, they are technology tools that store employees’ various kinds of “knowledge” so the organization can use it.

In other words, instead of these personal experiences being stored only in each person’s mind or on their computer, they are now available, shared, in a single database.

All this is possible through the various knowledge management tools you can use in your business.

Why do they matter?

The main goal of knowledge management tools is to turn tacit knowledge (personal, not automated) into explicit knowledge (shared and documented).

So these technologies can identify, create, present and distribute knowledge across the whole company, fostering communication in the company.

With that, the stored information coming from the most varied sectors of an organization can be evaluated and structured to provide essential data for building strategies and supporting decision-making.

The results of knowledge management are:

• more agile management
• more effective decision-making
• competitive advantage
• easier to anticipate difficulties and make it possible to avoid them
• the ability to detect opportunities and seize them

How these tools work

At first, the idea of managing knowledge seems a bit confusing, even like something from a science fiction movie, but in fact, with technology developing so fast and digital transformation, there are many software options able to perform this function in a practical, fast and accessible way.

These knowledge management tools work by encoding the information entered into them and classifying it.

That way, these systems can help employees predict the consequences of a given event in the company based on the previous experiences they have cataloged.

When a decision has to be made, knowledge management software will help access all of the company’s “knowledge” so the most suitable solutions can be found.

To do that, these tools help answer a few questions.

Questions answered by knowledge management tools:

• Has the company been through this in the past?
• How did professionals who went through similar situations solve the problem?
• Which actions had positive results? And negative ones?
• What should be done, based on our experience and the results obtained?

5 knowledge management tools

There are many types of software that can help you put knowledge management into practice in your business. Some options are broader and others act on more specific functions.

Basically, you can choose between:

• cloud-based collaborative softwareopens in a new tab (in Portuguese), which helps share information but is not specific to knowledge management. Examples are Trello, Microsoft Teams and even file-sharing drives such as Google Drive and OneDrive.
• software built specifically for knowledge management

You can combine a few software options or choose the one that best fits your company’s goals.

Here are 5 tools that can help you with the knowledge management process:

1- Bitrix24

A free online collaboration platform. It integrates the company’s sectors through features such as a social intranet, video chat, project management and cloud document management. Bitrix24opens in a new tab has more than 2 million user companies around the world.

2- AnswerHub

Unlike the other tools, AnswerHub works on a question-and-answer format.

It also helps create projects and provides the knowledge base to store and share in the company. It is a tool used by large companies such as LinkedIn, GE and eBay.

3- Confluence

With a sophisticated search tool, the software lets you work and collaborate on projects without having to switch tools. It also provides access to a knowledge base for publishing and accessing information.

It is used by NASA, Spotify and Lufthansa.

4- Timeline

It lets you insert images, videos, links and audio to record and systematize knowledge, and it can even be used to build a project timeline.

It is easy to use: you just fill in information in a Google Docs spreadsheet.

5- SoundCite

Sharing experiences and knowledge in a more appealing way is always a good option. SoundCiteopens in a new tab offers the function of inserting an audio file, where you can record the information you want, throughout your text.

You do not need to open another page or tab to listen to the audio.

Besides supporting business decision-making, knowledge management also makes it easier to strengthen company culture, strategic management by results and the alignment of teams around objectives and goals.

Want to deepen your knowledge and understand other knowledge management initiatives? Also read our article explaining what a corporate university is and how it works.