This post was originally published by Alex Yoder on lessonly.com.
Selecting a knowledge management system can be a complicated process. Companies need to choose the right tool so team members can be more productive and efficient. Our newest blog series examines three crucial features that every great knowledge management tool should offer to enable teams. Now that we’ve learned about building and sharing content, let’s learn why search functionality is key.
Business is booming, teams are surging, and the new product updates are flowing in. Excitement fills the all-team meetings as daily growth is continuously announced. With the influx of changing processes and products, your team needs to stay organized in order to hit their increasing revenue goals. So, how can your team implement a solution that empowers members to effectively and efficiently find the information they need, when they need it?
Search tools within a knowledge base.
The benefits of searchable content
Searching within a knowledge base makes it easy to seek and find the information employees need so they can do their best work. Directors, managers, and subject-matter experts can simply spend time creating and sharing knowledge related to new info and changes in existing processes. Then, they can easily share this within a centrally located spot. An individual contributor can then quickly retrieve knowledge using search within this knowledge repository.
When it comes to searchability, there are numerous benefits. Here are some of the top advantages:
Save time
In an article from McKinsey, 20% of employees spend their work week searching and gathering information. Let’s think of an easier way to relate to this. Out of a five-day work week, one of those days is spent searching for information. Out of a year’s work schedule, 52 days are spent seeking information. That’s crazy, right? Imagine what else employees could be doing with that valuable time. Sales reps could have more time to prospect, customer experience managers would have time to work on upselling opportunities, and enablement leaders have time to develop new onboarding paths. When team members can easily search for exactly what they need within the knowledge management base they get back hours in their week, which is crucial to success.
Develop on-demand learning
Deeply understanding and staying up-to-date with the constant changes taking place with products and processes is not an easy feat. Right when a teammate masters something like a new software integration, another new training regarding the next product updates is released. Things are not slowing down, and honing in on how to be effective and efficient when it comes to seeking information is critical for success. Easily searching for new updates, changes, competitor information, and other critical work knowledge provides a method of on-demand learning that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. This function of searchability is no longer an option, but rather a necessity.
Deliver a positive customer experience
In a study from PWC, 73% of consumers reported that their purchasing decisions are influenced by positive customer experiences. An increase in customer experience starts with more knowledgeable reps. More knowledgeable reps start with easy access to information for learning, practicing, and performing. Simply searching keywords and finding accurate information within seconds not only establishes credibility but also creates a memorable customer-employee relationship. Searchability features are crucial for finding explicit knowledge and aligning dispersed teams on change.
