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09.01.05
Top
7 Ways A Knowledge Base Program Can Improve Your Office
 By
Brandon Doyle
One of your employees has just tried to print something and he/she gets a printer
error. The error says, "Out of paper." Well the employee knows that the printer
is not out of paper and it does not have a paper jam. What to do?
Well the traditional answer is to call technical support. But wait. Hasn't someone
else in the office seen this error before? Can it be corrected faster with the
help of a co-worker? In this article we will review 7 ways a Knowledge Base program
can improve overall office communication.
1. The biggest
reason to use a Knowledge Base program is to keep track of software problems.
Almost all offices have three dynamics to their software: Operating System, Productivity
Software, and custom built software for your business. Entrusting all your business
computers to all of this software is indeed a brave move. A Knowledge Base program
allows your employees to enter detailed information on a variety of software topics
including; how-to(s), program errors, settings and options, hardware settings,
and many others.
2. A Knowledge Base program is perfect for storing… well,
knowledge. Quite often your office will have an employee who has been with the
business for several years and then suddenly submits their two week notice for
a variety of reasons. This employee takes all of his/her knowledge with them.
This leaves other less informed employees to fill their shoes. Not an easy task.
It doesn't need to be that way any more. With a Knowledge Base program, an employee
can be required to make at least one entry a week. If you have 5 employees, that
is 260 entries in your Knowledge Base per year!
3.
How does one define knowledge? A Knowledge Base can be basically anything you
desire. Quite often we have contact information, vendor information, and policies
and procedures stored in hundreds of files over the whole hard drive; or worse,
papers all over the office. A Knowledge Base makes it easy to have all that information
in one place. If the Knowledge Base has a robust search engine; a search can be
completed in a few seconds.
4. Customer Relations.
A Knowledge Base can improve customer relations. Customers can now have advanced
knowledge of polices and procedures and well as product and service pricing, and
with a quick response from the employee.
5. More accurate answers. Often, you simply give up trying to find the
information and take your best guess at what you think the material contained.
While this may be acceptable to you some of the time, it may not be acceptable
to the customer or client you are talking to.
6. Improve
Office productivity. The same employee that had the "out of paper" error message
found out from the Knowledge Base that he/she needed to re-install the printer
driver. This saved the employee twenty minutes out of the work day.
7. Beat the competition. The competition may have never even
considered using a Knowledge Base program in the office. By having this basic
idea and software in place, you will be able to work smarter, save time, and save
money. The competition will be left in the dust!
Bonus Tip:
Research the best Knowledge Base software for your business. Knowledge Base(s),
sometimes called Knowledge Management comes in many different flavors. Check out
the vendors! Make sure they have a free demo or product information on their website.
About the Author:
Written by Brandon Doyle of Doyle Publishing http://www.DoylePublishingUtah.com |
