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7 Reasons Your Knowledge Base Will Increase Productivity

Category: Knowledge Base Software

Last updated on May 21, 2021

You’ve heard that knowledge is power. But by now, you know that knowledge alone isn’t enough – it’s the way you use the information that puts you ahead of competitors.

When used correctly, your knowledge base software can help you provide better services, train your staff, and become an authority in your industry.

Having an effective knowledge base influences the way you do business both internally and how you build customer relationships, as well.

When you take the time to put together key documents, presentations, and reports, you’re building a valuable source for both your employees and your customers.

7 Ways on How to Increase Productivity with Knowledge Base

Your knowledge base is a long-term investment that allows for smooth workflows, clear processes inside the company, and increased productivity.

7 Reasons

It’s important to develop a dynamic business where employees don’t have to waste precious working hours looking for information in dusty drawers. And where your customers can find their answers fast, without your intervention.

And if you needed a little more convincing, here are seven reasons your knowledge base will increase productivity for your business:

1. Everyone has fast access to information

Every week, UK office workers spend more than 1 million hours looking for documents. The value of this wasted time comes to around £20 million!   

Of course, a knowledge base application doesn’t include lost or misplaced invoices and orders. But, it can still help you reduce the number of wasted hours significantly.  

When you have a place where your employees can find all they need to know about a specific issue, they won’t spend time checking out old files or digging into their inbox for answers.

All they have to do is type the right keywords in the search menu to access the information they need. Better yet, they can be confident that the data stored in the knowledge base is accurate and updated.

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Many problems find their solutions faster when you have a knowledge base because your employees can learn about best practices from previous similar cases. This way, they won’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they encounter an error.

2. You have an efficient tool for training your employees

A knowledge base can be a great tool when you have new employees to train, as it contains essential guidelines regarding the company’s policy and internal processes.  

New employees have access to information about products, FAQs, how-to guides, and any other relevant information that can help them integrate faster with the company.

Employees can learn on their own rhythms, as they can access the documents individually. And, they can go back through the same information as often as they need to familiarise themselves with a specific topic.

Every employee has the chance to access the information they need, with little or no help from other team members.

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In the long run, not only learning is more efficient, but you can also trim expenses. The true cost of training a new employee costs you an average of £1,000, whether you do the training in-house or through third-party companies.

If you use your knowledge base as a training tool, your costs can go down significantly and increases productivity.

On top of that, the data in your internal knowledge base helps your entire team, from the new employees to veterans. Thanks to the case studies, presentations, reports, and all other information you publish, all staff can stay updated on company processes.

3. A solid knowledge base facilitates collaboration between departments

As your business grows, you have to develop multiple projects, with more teams to manage at the same time. You need to work with people from various departments, consultants, and international experts.

A knowledge base is a common ground for all these people who have to work together. It’s the equivalent of an online collaboration platform, like Google Docs or Share Platform, where everyone can access updated information and ideas. They can even contribute articles themselves.

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Such a tool substitutes hundreds of back and forth communications between departments. No more forwarded emails, followed by the updated version, and then the update of the update!

Your team members won’t lose track of vital details as they continue with their projects. People can share information quickly, avoiding double tasks and minimising communication errors.

As it facilitates communication and collaboration, a knowledge base maintains workflows and increases efficiency.

Employees work better, deal with less stress, and stay happy! And the great news about happy employees? They are more productive, as they step up their efforts during working hours.

4. Your customers have accurate answers before asking their questions

Perhaps the most significant advantage of building a knowledge base is that your customers can find answers to their questions without the need to contact support staff.

Self-service customer care is becoming the preferred medium by most customers, as the modern way of finding information fast. By taking the time to put together a collection of user manuals, FAQs, and how-to guides, you give your customers a critical resource.

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The buyer behaviour has changed to keep up with the digital era. Both B2B and B2C buyers pay more attention to content than they used to in the past. In fact, in 50 to 80 percent of cases, a buyer’s decision-making process in B2B is complete before the appearance of a salesperson!

People make more informed decisions, as they dedicate more time to individual research online. Fail to give them all the answers, and you miss out on your chance to connect with your audience.

Customers like to have access to information. And they want to solve their problems with a few clicks. No one has the patience to call customer care anymore, especially since Google or YouTube has a solution to almost any problem.

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Moreover, a relevant knowledge base is a cost-effective way of improving customer relationships and the customer experience (CX). The more information you provide to your customers, the higher your chances of delivering an optimum CX.

This has positive effects on your internal procedures, as well. With more customers solving their own problems, you have fewer employees involved in dealing with minor issues.

Your staff will have more time to dedicate to more complex issues, which can generate innovative business solutions and increased productivity.

5. Your external knowledge base can boost your SEO

Nothing helps SEO like well-curated content. Which is what you provide with your company knowledge base: unique information, well researched and backed up with facts and accurate data.

All the presentations and reports that you share online add value to your website, and this generates repeated visits from various users. You get to increase engagement and reduce bounce rates, as well as improve metrics like time spent on page.  

An optimised knowledge base can increase your organic reach significantly, as Google ranks websites with good metrics and user experience.

If you update your information on a regular basis, your customers will thank you for it.

6. You have a solid starting point for future projects

The good and bad thing about productivity is that it can always be improved. So, with every new project you start, you must set new goals to be reached when it comes to efficiency.

How can a knowledge base help you achieve this? By giving you background information.

British businesses lose around £37 billion a year due to failed IT projects alone. Lack of communication, not enough planning, or missing documentation are all possible causes for this loss.

What if you used all the information your staff knows to minimise project failure? All the experience your teams have accumulated in past projects can be stored in your internal knowledge base.

Why make the same errors in new projects when you can learn from your past actions?

All the details remain with your company even if key employees have changed their jobs or are on holiday.

No information is lost. And all your teams from various plants, in all parts of the world, can benefit from the tips and advice contained in the company knowledge base.

You can plan and develop projects with strong foundations. This way, your staff will have no problem with handling their tasks and respecting deadlines. And you get to bring more projects to an end.  

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7. You get more with less resources

By creating an adequate knowledge base tool, you get to solve a wide range of internal issues.

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You get to support workflows, improve communication, and collaboration between departments, as well as providing advanced customer support, and improving your online image.

You get to streamline business processes on many levels by putting together key documents and useful information in centralised place.

A knowledge base is a small investment that has the potential to improve procedures and increase productivity in all departments, from Development and Purchasing to Marketing and even more.

Final thoughts

A knowledge base alone won’t optimize your company’s activity, nor will it skyrocket your revenues. But it will create new business opportunities, by reducing OH and helping your employees to work better and become more efficient. Additionally, this helps your customers to train themselves.

Apart from the tremendous benefits of giving your customers what they seek, training employees faster, reducing costs, and improving SEO, your knowledge base portal actually makes your entire company more productive – and that translates into a more agile and competitive business.

If you’re looking for a best knowledge base software for your company, you’ve come to the right place! With awesome collaboration features and an unrivaled authoring experience, Document360 is your perfect solution! Get in touch today!

Christina Comben

Apr 19, 2018

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